New products from Ilford

[BTMarcais]

It is pretty easy usually. A flathead screwdriver helps.
The cameras come with the film all wound out of the cassette- everytime you take a photo and wind on to the next frame, you're actually rewinding one frame of film. Wind on all the way until it's loose after the last shot and you'll know all the film is in the cassette.
Take off the cardboard/paper covering
Then you'll either need to pry open a little door/hatch on the bottom of the camera by the right hand grip, or pry apart the front and back of the camera. You'll probably see where the camera was snapped together.
If you do it carefully, without breaking anything off, you can reuse the camera.

-Brian

 

[thegman]

Let's hope it is a gateway drug.

Precisely, I think for people who have only ever seen photos on screens from phones, a box of black and white prints might be an eye opener. I know my first roll of film (XP2) was quite enlightening.

 

[Tom A]

Disposable cameras tend to fall under the horizon - they are still available in stores, museums and places like DisneyWorld etc.
In Nakano, home to Cosina, Mr Kobayashi "inherited" a friends collection of these. 4200 of them! They are now displayed in a camera store. His friend collected all the variations he could find, technical differences (wide angles, panorama, under water etc) as well as the various cameras made as advertising vehicles. 4200 different versions all in all! They do represent a slice of our society - mainly the 80's and 90's. They were cheap and plentiful. You could buy them in vending machines etc.
Yes. you can dismantle them and re-load - or pry the lens out of it and drill a hole in a lens-cap and glue it on. You could also salvage batteries, flashes etc. However, when you take the flash out - beware of the capacitor - even though the film is used up - it still packs a punch (been there - felt it!).

 

[btgc]

>party and wedding celebrations

It all depends if newweds or some of key figures at wedding have experienced situation "$1000 in a soup or wine" or "total recall". If they do they'll spend rather on disposables and have prints done right after wedding instead of hearing "sorry, I lost all my pictures from your wedding" back from guests 🙂

 

[sevo]

Tangential question - is it easy to get the film out of these?

If you do not intend to re-use it, it is trivial, as you can break the tabs that keep it together, cut all tapes covering the seams etc.

The actual mechanisms vary a little - on some it is as easy as removing the camera from its cardboard cover and opening the case at the four tabs clasping it together, or removing the adhesive sticker across the cartridge compartment cover, on others, the mechanisms are puzzling enough that you'll have to break one or two to learn the type. But all disposable cameras I have ever disassembled spool the film straight into a standard canister, so once you are finished, you can simply take apart the camera by whatever means necessary and collect the canister.

Beware: Keep the fingers off the flash - even discharged caps might still give you a painful shock.

 

[zauhar]

Brian, Sevo, thanks very much!

I will give it a try, and see how careful I can be.

Sevo, thanks for the warning re: the flash...

Randy

 

[kxl]

I think it's a fantastic idea, although the XP2 makes more sense than HP5+ at weddings and other events. If I were hosting an event with 300 guests, and 100 of them used these disposables, that would mean 100 rolls of film. I'm not about to take one that task with my 2-reel Patterson tanks, so I will likely send them out. Now, if I have to send them out, they may as well be C41 film.
For much smaller events with maybe less than 30 guests, then home-developing the HP5+ may make sense.

 

[charjohncarter]

Precisely, I think for people who have only ever seen photos on screens from phones, a box of black and white prints might be an eye opener. I know my first roll of film (XP2) was quite enlightening.

There is also something very different about a disposable camera. Something like the Holga phenomenon.

I even made a disposable lens for my IIIF:

 

[Photo_Smith]

I think it's a fantastic idea, although the XP2 makes more sense than HP5+ at weddings and other events. If I were hosting an event with 300 guests, and 100 of them used these disposables, that would mean 100 rolls of film.

That's not how it works, you put one camera on each table at the meal, the bridegroom/bestman asks people to take pictures and leave them in the box by the door.
The idea is to shoot the reception, most people use a wedding photographer for the day and then these at night.

 

[kxl]

I get that, but I have been at wedding receptions where there are three of these disposable cameras per table, and with 30 tables, that's still 90 cameras.

That's not how it works, you put one camera on each table at the meal, the bridegroom/bestman asks people to take pictures and leave them in the box by the door.
The idea is to shoot the reception, most people use a wedding photographer for the day and then these at night.

 

[Photo_Smith]

Yes Keith some people think it's cheaper than employing a photographer to do reportage during the reception. Like this they employ a photographer for the ceremony and use these in the evening.
Could work out cheaper, I've never seen as many as three per table the normal when I do weddings is one, the bridal shops sell them in packs of ten.

 

[sepiareverb]

I imagine the educational market would consume 'disposable' b&w cameras for intro photo courses...

I'm absolutely going to use these next semester for my Photo 1 class. Great way to get them out and shooting right off, with a roll that will most likely have some decent exposures for the first developing session.

 

[charjohncarter]

I'm absolutely going to use these next semester for my Photo 1 class. Great way to get them out and shooting right off, with a roll that will most likely have some decent exposures for the first developing session.

I bet they thank you, this will show them the magic of silver right off the bat.

 

[icebear]

Due to Ilford the whole global market for BW photo film is about 15 million films p.a.
...

If this is correct, then it's just 1.5 Mill. users globally at 10 rolls a year, or 750,000 users at 20 rolls a year ... globally. That became a niche very quickly.

 

[kchoquette]

Interesting direction for Ilford to be going in, but it makes sense. The amount of people my age using disposable cameras now has gone up exponentially in the past few years, it seems like. Add the potential for taking photos with a more 'classic' appearance and I assume they're going to make a killing.

 

[raytoei@gmail.com]

i love disposable cameras. i bought a kodak underwater
camera (without the flash) and had a blast. some of the
pictures are amazing. i can't wait to get my hands on this
B&W version.

Incidentally, i saw the rollei single use camera yesterday
and i understand that it is very popular (among the SUC folks)
apparently it is easiest to reload.

here are some pictures from the kodak underwater camera, pp for colors.

raytoei

 

[Photo_Smith]

If this is correct, then it's just 1.5 Mill. users globally at 10 rolls a year, or 750,000 users at 20 rolls a year ... globally. That became a niche very quickly.

I would think for B&W that is pretty stable, even in the days when film was the main capture method conventional B&W was a tiny percentage of actual film shot (I think about 1%)
In fact the PMA report I had stated there were more blank colour negative films processed than B&W films sold (UK figures 1991)

Conventional B&W has been a niche since the 1970's I doubt the amount of conventional mono users has declined that much; in fact as a proportion of total film sales I'll bet it has actually risen over the last ten years.

 

[mwoenv]

It's keeping film in use so that's good.

Walmart here in NY State sells Fuji single-use cameras (27 exposures of 400 film) for $4.50 and recommends they be sent to Fuji for processing.

Walmart also sells rolls of 200, 400, and 800-24. It's not bad if you're out of pro film.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I get that, but I have been at wedding receptions where there are three of these disposable cameras per table, and with 30 tables, that's still 90 cameras.

Good grief! No wonder weddings are so absurdly expensive! How many people are typically invited?

Cheers,

R.

 

[Skiff]

I would think for B&W that is pretty stable, even in the days when film was the main capture method conventional B&W was a tiny percentage of actual film shot (I think about 1%)
In fact the PMA report I had stated there were more blank colour negative films processed than B&W films sold (UK figures 1991)

Conventional B&W has been a niche since the 1970's I doubt the amount of conventional mono users has declined that much; in fact as a proportion of total film sales I'll bet it has actually risen over the last ten years.

+1.
A very precise description. There were also reports from Photokina that Ilford, Kodak, Fujifilm, Adox and Maco has recently seen increased demand for their BW films.
But Kodaks and Fujifilm's BW film production is a very small niche in their whole film portfolio, color film is what keeps the lines running there.
Therefore, if you want to keep Fujifilm BW film and Kodak BW film alive, the best you can do is shooting their BW films, but also shooting their color films, because that's their backbone, and absolutely needed.
Give your Acros and Neopan some companians, put some Provias, Velvias, Superias and Pro 160 / 400 in your cameras.
Or some Portras with your T-Max.

Really shooting film, and all types of it, is what will keep it alive.