Throwaway Camera Brings Distant Action Up Close
If you’re gearing up for baseball season but don’t want to bother carrying an expensive camera to the park, check out Kodak’s latest invention, the single-use Telephoto 35.
Fifth in the Rochester, N.Y., firm’s line of Fun Saver throwaway cameras, the Telephoto 35 has an 85-millimeter fixed-focus Telephoto lens, which enables it to bring the subject 2.4 times “closer” than Kodak’s original 35-millimeter single-use camera.
The Telephoto 35 fits in your hand, weighs only four ounces and has a handy carrying strap. With a 24-exposure roll of high-speed Kodak Gold 1600 film, this camera is intended for picture-taking in daylight and brightly lighted areas.
It also has two settings: one for daylight, the other for floodlight situations. With the exposure lever in the down position, the lens aperture is set at f/22 for bright daylight photos; up position, f/11 for overcast daylight or floodlights. A yellow indicator flag is visible in the viewfinder when the camera is in the floodlight position. Kodak has also included on-camera diagrams for easy use.
The company recycles all throwaway cameras. After the film is developed at a photo processing shop, the cameras are returned to Kodak, disassembled and recycled as part of the company’s environmental program. Since May, 1990, Kodak says, more than 500,000 pounds of plastic and metal have been recycled from its single-use cameras.
Fun Saver Telephoto 35 cameras ($14.95) are available nationwide at camera stores, supermarkets, mini-labs, drugstores and theme parks. If you can’t find them in your area, call the Kodak information Center, (800) 242-2424.
Baseball Cards Are Put Into Place
Speaking of baseball, a Las Vegas woman has designed a baseball card filing system that could save card collectors valuable sorting time. It’s called Sort-EZ and is also available for basketball, football and hockey cards.
Toni Garrison calls Sort-EZ “a kitchen table enterprise” that she came up with after watching her brother trying to keep his baseball card collection indexed and in order with scraps of paper and index cards.
Each set of Sort-EZ comes with 60 sorting cards and 90 labels, including alphabet, team names and blanks for customizing special cards. The cards, 3 3/4 by 2 1/2 inches, fit standard top-load card boxes.
Sort-EZ ($4.95 per pack, plus $2 shipping and handling; $12.95, plus $5 shipping and handling for a complete set of all four sports) can be purchased from Sort-EZ, 3180 E. Desert Inn Road, Suite 1-191, Las Vegas, Nev. 89121; (702) 594-0710.
Concrete Block Patios Have Their Own Pals
Looking for a quick, easy way to build a patio or walkway?
The California company that three years ago introduced Patio Pals, plastic brick-laying forms that keep bricks permanently in place and weeds from growing in between, has developed Patio Pals for concrete blocks.
Designed by San Diego engineer Bob Goldman, each plastic guide holds four 8-by-16-inch blocks. One package, which contains five forms, would cover an 18-square-foot area. The forms interlock, and holes in the bottom allow for drainage.
Once you put 2-by-4 edging around the area where you want to build, you just put in two inches of sand, smooth it so it’s level, and mist with water. Then place the guides on the sand and put in the blocks. Fill the spaces in between with sand and mist again. That’s it.
Patio Pal block forms ($9.95 for a five-pack) or brick forms ($9.95 for a 10-pack for modular or standard bricks) are available nationwide in selected home centers and building supply stores.
Locally, you can find them at Home Depot or Home Club. Or you can order them from Argee Corp., 9550 Pathway St., Santee, Calif. 92071; (619) 449-5050. The manufacturer charges $7.50 shipping and handling for any number of packages.
