35mm disposable cameras. what's their strength?

Paul Howell · Dec 11, 2015

There are many fixed lens point and shoot 35mm still around. Vivitiar, Time, even Avon, gave them away as promotions. A step above were camera with scale focus, a couple of different shutter speeds, as noted by others a few had motor wind. The next step up are fixed lens AF cameras, shutter speeds up to 1/300 of a second, either thumb advance or motor drive, lens usally ran from 2.8 to 3.5, glass and coated, used either AA or AAA batteries. My favorite is a Vivitiar with an AF 35mm2.8 fixed lens, built in flash.

Sirius Glass · Dec 11, 2015

ericdan said:
For example which one?

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They are all recycled. The film processors get money for returning the used bodies and the manufacturers refurbish the bodies and then sell them again.

railwayman3 · Dec 11, 2015

Alan Gales said:
When my cousin got married they had all these Kodak disposable cameras sitting at the reception tables. When we were done we turned them them into the bride and groom. My cousin said that she and her husband loved the photographs and they were cherished just as much as the professional photographs. Pretty neat!

Exactly what my wife and I did at our own wedding, and the results (with a bit of sorting through!) made an excellent casual record to add to the formal photos. The focus seems to be set for a medium distance (small groups) and the flash is not all that powerful, but they are quite suitable for use at social occasions and parties.
And their disposability avoids any worries about possible spilled wine, kid's sticky fingers, granny sitting on them, etc.

blockend · Dec 11, 2015

PDH said:
There are many fixed lens point and shoot 35mm still around. Vivitiar, Time, even Avon, gave them away as promotions. A step above were camera with scale focus, a couple of different shutter speeds, as noted by others a few had motor wind. The next step up are fixed lens AF cameras, shutter speeds up to 1/300 of a second, either thumb advance or motor drive, lens usally ran from 2.8 to 3.5, glass and coated, used either AA or AAA batteries. My favorite is a Vivitiar with an AF 35mm2.8 fixed lens, built in flash.

The great thing about cheap point and shoots is their speed of use; no turn-on, shutter or AF lag, just a sprung shutter giving "sharp" results from about 5-25 ft. My favourites have simple lenses, flash, fixed aperture, manual film advance, manual film rewind, no DX coding and batteries only power the flash, but there are alternatives depending how battery dependent the user is prepared to be, and how much control over the finished result they desire.

mrjr · Dec 11, 2015

ongakublue said:
I am going to pick up one of those Ilford single use cameras for an upcoming trip.

Good idea, for so many reasons.

ongakublue said:
For example, the aperture is pretty small so portraits with nice bokeh is I guess ruled out.

Not to sound harsh at all, but if you're going on a trip, why on earth would you thinking about portraits with shallow depth of field?! Shouldn't you be looking to make portraits that *include* the background, to show the place and the context, instead of trying to obscure it?

ongakublue said:
Any tips or ideas from the use of these?

Yes. Shoot all your environmental portraits with it. The wide-ish lens and the small-ish aperture are perfect for this application, in my opinion.

Tips? Avoid shooting in light dimmer than "bright overcast" and avoid pointing it directly at the sun. Apart from that, just make amazing photos, and then share them with us.

GarageBoy · Dec 11, 2015

I'd take any eBay sub $10 point and shoot over a point and shoot

ivanlow · Dec 12, 2015

At such a low price, it's good for a backup camera. You never know the most basic camera can capture the most beautiful moment, at the time need it most.

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Sirius Glass · Dec 12, 2015

They are reasonably water proof and if one is in you pocket and you fall on it skiing the worst that happens is that you get a small bruise. Even I will not ski with a Hasselblad.

MattKing · Dec 12, 2015

You can buy them at the local drug and grocery stores.

And they continue to be the source of business for the remaining amateur film processing businesses.

Alan Gales · Dec 12, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
Even I will not ski with a Hasselblad.

That's what a GoPro is for.

Sirius Glass · Dec 12, 2015

GoPro did not exist in the early 1970's.

theart · Dec 12, 2015

I used to use them back when I needed to document projects that generated a lot of abrasive dust.

Loren Sattler · Dec 15, 2015

theart, maybe you should try one again, there is a lot of abrasive dust around here!

Sewin · Dec 15, 2015

They have another use too:-
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35mm disposable cameras. what's their strength?

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