C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Pentax IQZoom 160 is a fully automatic 35mm zoom compact camera introduced in 1996, featuring a 38-160mm zoom lens - an unusually long telephoto reach for a consumer-grade body in its class. Like all IQZoom-series cameras, it is designed for program-only operation: the user frames, the camera handles exposure, focus, and flash automatically. The IQZoom line was Pentax's mid-to-mass-market compact offering in North America through the 1990s, competing with the Olympus Stylus Zoom and Canon Sure Shot series.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Kodak UltraMax 400 is a versatile consumer-grade ISO 400 daylight-balanced color negative film with T-grain emulsion, delivering warm Kodak colors, fine-for-speed grain (PGI 46), and wide exposure latitude. Currently in production and available globally as a single-roll and multi-pack.
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About this camera
A mid-1990s consumer zoom compact with 38-160mm reach, built for the mass market at the peak of the point-and-shoot boom.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Lens | 38-160mm zoom (fixed) |
| Year introduced | 1996 |
| Focus | Autofocus (multi-point or zone) |
| Exposure | Program auto only |
| Flash | Built-in with auto and fill modes |
| Mount | Fixed (non-interchangeable) |
| Viewfinder | Optical zoom (tracks zoom range) |
The IQZoom name was Pentax's North American branding for a compact zoom line sold as "Espio" in Japan and parts of Europe. The IQZoom 160 sits at the top of the zoom-range hierarchy in this family - the "160" designates the 160mm maximum telephoto end. By 1996, consumer compact zoom cameras had become the dominant film camera format globally, with manufacturers competing primarily on maximum zoom reach as a spec-sheet marketing figure.
The 1990s ESPN marketing tie-ins referenced in Pentax promotional materials for certain IQZoom models positioned the cameras as action/sports companions - the long zoom lending plausibility to that pitch. The IQZoom 160 was aimed at consumers who wanted maximum versatility without complexity, particularly for travel and family photography.
By the late 1990s and early 2000s, the IQZoom line was winding down as digital cameras began to erode the consumer film compact market. The IQZoom 160 was one of the later entries in the series.
The IQZoom 160 does not have notable cultural significance on its own. It is a competent representative of the late-1990s consumer zoom compact genre - a camera built for convenience and maximum focal length rather than optical excellence. The 38-160mm range is ambitious; the practical image quality at 160mm on a camera of this price tier is limited by lens engineering constraints that budget zoom optics of the era could not overcome.
For film shooters today, the IQZoom 160 is a very low-cost entry into zoom compact shooting. It lacks the optical prestige of the Ricoh GR series, the cult following of the Olympus Mju-II, or the collector interest of the Contax T-series - but it works, it is cheap, and the long zoom is occasionally useful. It represents the mainstream of 1990s film photography rather than its creative edge.
C41
Kodak ColorPlus 200 is an affordable, consumer-oriented daylight-balanced color negative film at ISO 200. Known for warm, slightly muted color rendition, fine grain, and wide exposure latitude, it is currently in production and widely available in Asia and select global markets.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →Pentax IQZoom 160
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