How to: Polaroid Pathfinder 110A Packfilm Conversion

1 - spinanimThis is the real deal. My prior conversions of the Model 150 have helped me to learn enough about the process that I feel it is time to work on a 110A.

Unlike most Polaroids produced since the Pathfinders, the 110s give you manual controls. The lens it came with is top-notch, a Rodenstock-Ysarex 127mm in a Prontor-SVS shutter: speeds B-300, f4.7-f45. This makes the 110s highly desirable for conversion, especially to people like me who favor manual & mechanical.

Many who like to do this conversion, would love to use a 110B. But their rarity and usefulness for conversions keep their cost too high for most. A reasonable alternative is the 110A. Other than the dual window finder, it is identical in every way to the 110B; though it costs a lot less.

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The Model 900, though an electric-eye camera, shares the same basic body as the 110s; but, like the 110B, has a coupled finder. So its a logical assumption that you can replace the 110A finder with the 900 finder. This essentially makes your 110A into a 110B, other than the focus knob label.

Besides the fact a 110a takes unavailable film, it also has an off-center hotshoe only for proprietary Polaroid flashes at m-sync. The shutter itself has x-sync so I decided that this conversion could use a new hotshoe, centered, allowing the use of any electronic flash you might have.pchotshoe

I would not try this conversion if I didn’t know what could go wrong and how to avoid it. The last thing I want is to have to try and find another 110A in this good of condition. It is only because I have already converted two other Pathfinder-like models that I feel confident enough to convert a 110A.

I would highly recommend at least giving a cursory overview of my Model 150 conversion to get an idea of what the conversion of a 110A can entail.

I have set up this guide with the steps taken from start to finish found at the right side of the page. I did not label them “step 1, 2, 3” because I don’t feel its necessary to do every one of these steps, or in some cases, in the order they are presented here. I took great care in trying to document all the steps I took to get this camera converted.

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