Kodak Instamatic 155X

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Anyway, back to the camera at hand:

Going from one easy to use camera to another, this is the Kodak Instamatic 155X.

I already went through the history of Kodak in my 200 Color Plus and Instamatic Pocket 10 posts. So, lets jump right in.

As we know from the Instamatic 33, when a camera in the Instamatic series has a 100 in the name or that it has an X in the name, is that it is based off of previous iterations. But it seems that the 155X doesn’t fall into this category.

The only camera I can find that is close to being a previous version is the Instamatic 55X from 1971 (Filmphotography.eu 2026).

Instamatic 55X. Image Source:
https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/images/Kodak-Eastman-Instamatic-55X.jpg

The possible reason for why the 155X doesn’t have any other earlier variations (besides the possible 55X), is that the camera came out in the 1970s, when the Magicubes were the preferred flash over the Flashcubes (see the Instamatic 104 post) and the flash holder (see the Instamatic 50 and X-15F post). So instead of making cameras that are called the Instamatic 55, or the 155, is because Kodak at this time just chose to embrace the Magicube (see the Instamatic Pocket 10 post).  

Now, like the Instamatic 33, the 155X doesn’t have much of a history to make it stand out. But unlike the 33, the 155X at least looks better and more appealing. Unfortunately, the 155X body isn’t that unique, because many other cameras have this same look. Examples include the 177X, the 255X, the 156X and many others.

Instamatic 177X. Image Source:
https://vintagecameradeals.co.za/image/cache/catalog/vintagecameradeals/products/VCDdecember2017img130-3000x3000.jpg

Instamatic 255X. Image Source:
https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/3191402340_68e1cec9b4_o.jpg

Instamatic 154X. Image Source:
https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3103/2665685478_d45d9c83f5.jpg

Which most likely added to the 155X’s lack of history and inability to really stand out.

But I did find some facts about the camera. One is that it was made and sold in the UK, Germany and Brazil (Filmphotography.eu 2026). This camera was also the camera that replaced the 133X (the Magicube variation of the Instamatic 33) and according to Halgand (2023), the 155X was part of the new series of cameras where Kodak changed “the look of its most popular Instamatic cameras, adopting a brushed aluminium front panel. The film advance lever became standard. Viewing was improved by the addition of a light frame in the viewfinder.”  

Anyway, let’s have a closer look at the camera at hand, the Instamatic 155X. Released in 1971-1977 (Filmphotography.eu 2026), the camera is mostly plastic, with some metal and aluminium, especially the faceplate (Halgand 2023). It has the weight of 300g (Patrick Nicolas 2026) and it size is 4.36 x 2.71 x 2.30 inches (The Camera Collector 2020).

Now time for the examination. Starting with the front.

The lens-

It is a fixed focus lens with a focal length of 43mm with a f/stop of 11 (The Camera Collector 2020). And according to Camera-wiki, the lens is a Kodar lens (see the Kodamatic 980L post), but I think that it is actually a meniscus lens (see the Instamatic Pocket 10 post), as this is the more popular lens type used for Instamatic and cameras that are similar.   

The lens is what also separates it from the 55X, because the 155X lens has an outer ring that allows the user to change the shutter speed.

The settings to switch between two shutter speeds is indicated next to the lens. Similar to the Instamatic 50, the indicators are images of a sun, for sunny or well-lit conditions, and of a sun with lines through it, alongside an image of a bulb, which is used in cloudy or darker conditions. The second (cloudy) setting is also the best setting when using a Magicube. But the Magicube can be used in the first (sunny) setting.

Now the two speeds that the camera has is 1/80 second when in sunny and a slower speed of 1/40 second for the cloudy setting (The Camera Collector 2020), to allow for more light to enter.

Above the lens, on the far right corner-

 Is the viewfinder. Similar to the Instamatic X-15F, the viewfinder is a good upgrade to the very small and irritating viewfinders of the Instamatic 104 and 50. It also looks like the viewfinder has a tint or light filter on it. There is also a frame outline, similar to the Halina Super 35X, but the frame on the 155X is very faint.

But although the viewfinder is bigger, it is a bit of a down grade, because at least the 104 and 50 had their viewfinders above the lens. On the 155X it is off centre and thus can lead to images being off centre as well. But I would rather take the bigger misaligned viewfinder than the small lens adjacent viewfinder.

Then on the other side of the viewfinder is the shutter release.

The shutter button on the 155X keeps up with the tradition of having the L-shaped piece of metal as the shutter release. And the shutter is also most likely the same as the other Instamatics on my blog i.e. a leaf shutter.

On top-

Is only the Magicube socket.

This socket is connected to the film advance and cocking mechanism, which can be problematic because if the user doesn’t switch to the cloudy setting, the magicube flash will still go off, even if it is in the sunny setting.

On the right side-

 Is a single eyelet for the wrist strap.

On the other side-

Is the film compartment cover release/lock. It is in the same position as the Instamatic X-15F, 33 and even the Halina X101.

To release the cover, the user must push the lever up.

The back-

Is the film compartment cover.

On this cover is the film counter window.

Above the cover is the film advance lever.

This lever is a combination of a lever from the 104 and 50 and the wheel of the 33 and the Halina X101.

This lever is also directly connected to the Magicube socket, which turns on the first pull. Then the user must pull for a second time, so that the camera cocks. But sometimes the lever will turn the socket and cock the camera at the same time on one pull.

Like the other instamatics, this camera has a hook that hooks into the film sprocket and holds the film in place. This hook, like the X-15F, is connected to the cocking mechanism and the film advance lever.

Then finally there is the film compartment and well… by now you should have guessed that since it is an Instamatic, it takes 126film cassettes (see the Instamatic 104 for more information) with 28mx28m negative format (Camera-wiki).

And that is it. Although similar to the Instamatic 33, I would say the 155X looks cooler. I really like the shade of blue they used and the mix of black and silver. But I still think that the Instamatic 50 and 104’s classic style looks better.

What do you think? Do you like the way this camera looks or do you think the 33 looks better? Do you agree that the 50 and 104 is better? Do you want 126film to make a comeback? Let me know in the comments.

And as always, thank you for making it to the end and I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did researching it.

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List of sources:

Camera-wiki. Kodak Instamatic 155X. https://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Kodak_Instamatic_155X

Filmphotography.eu. 2026. Kodak Instamatic 155X.  https://filmphotography.eu/en/kodak-instamatic-155x/

Halgand, S. 2023. Kodak Instamatic 155X. https://collection-appareils.fr/x/html/page_standard.php?id_appareil=621

Patrick Nicolas. 2026. N9205 Camera Analogue Kodak Instamatic Camera 155X Vintage Germany. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335469267733

The Camera Collector. 2020. KODAK Instamatic 155X. 1971. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=779NsU7HlXc#:~:text=KODAK%20Instamatic%20155X.%201971%20%2D%201977%20126,Shutter%20Sunny%201/80s%20Cloudy%20(X%20%2D%20Magicube)