Is APS totally dead?

[Photo Engineer]

As noted several times in this OLD thread, APS was a joint venture by several film and camera manufacturers. The size of the image was selected to duplicate the size of a digital imaging sensor. Those that complain about bad image quality better watch out. The APS images were the same size as today's digital images.

PE

 

[faberryman]

The APS images were the same size as today's digital images.

Same size as ASP-C sensors.

 

[MattKing]

-) facilitated printmaking at the industry, at higher quality

-) repeatable image quality with re-prints

These!

 

[cmacd123]

REcalling when I worked behind a camera counter, I can see things like the "return Negatives in the Cassette" as being a great way to protect the consumer from Him or Her self. I have had to avoid cringing when someone came to the counter clutching their negative between thumb and forefinger, and inquiring about an enlargement.

To offer that one feature the Lab had to have a machine to detach the film from the spool, another to trim the end of the film, and a machine to spool the Processed negatives back into the cassette. Unless you knew the trick, the negatives were impossible to extract in the consumers hands. I suspect that the desire to maintain that feature was responsible for the lack of enthusiasm for home developing equipment.

Like Disk - the twin-check was no needed as the film package and the film itself had a unique number. SO high volume labs could probably just feed order envelopes into the process and have the film number printed on the envelope, when the cartridge was fed into the processor. Likewise, the developed cartridge likly could be fed into the Higher end printer and the order prepared automatically.

the print would have the film number and teh exposure printed on the back, so no one had to look at (or Touch) the negative to order reprints. (also like DISC)

 

[Theo Sulphate]

From what I had read at the time, when a customer chose different aspect ratios, the costs of such prints were extremely high. There were many complaints from customers who were unpleasantly surprised.

 

[Fin]

I'm quite interested in all this APS stuff, seeing as I recently discovered that my mum has several undeveloped APS films. I've already done 2x 135 Ferrania (Boots chemist branded) films and a Kodak Funsaver, all expired pre 2008 with not bad results...

For handling the cassette there were dedicated tools, a reel would have to be adjusted to the film width

I'm based in the East rather than the West Midlands. I do work in Birmingham quite a lot however, so I've channeled my inner Brummie for this. The correct tool is indeed a hammer, as it is for most if not all jobs! It will be a hammer used inside a daylight bag obviously, I'm not a complete neanderthal! (Joking of course, that video link from YouTuber Techmoan, shows how to open an APS cartridge)

So what is the verdict? Has anyone figured out how to reload the cartridges and process the film in a daylight tank?

I might take a Sawzall to some crappy plastic reels and see how I get on.

 

[Photo Engineer]

I often unwind APS film and print and then rewind.

PE

 

[Meyer Trioplan]

So what is the verdict? Has anyone figured out how to reload the cartridges and process the film in a daylight tank?

Developing: I've done this with success using an FR plastic tank.The centers around the core are both about 12mm from the flanges so if you push the top reel all the way down, it's a perfect fit to load APS. It's not ratchet load like most plastic tank but it does work. I use a toothpick to extract the start of the film, trim the edges at the end to curve inward slightly as they approach the end for less resistance when loading. In a historical irony, I've also transplanted the 24mm wide stock into recycled 126 cartridges - resulting in a slightly odd take on the term "sprocket shots."

I had one idea for reloading the APS cartridges that involves stripping the center 16mm of an unused film cartridge and splicing in 16mm microfilm in the dark but I never followed through to completion.

 

[jtk]

Don't know if this has been mentioned, but when I managed sales for a large commercial (pro) lab, Kodak leaned on us to add a machine to process/print the DISC...
We had plenty of money so we did that, just to keep Kodak happy. Was maybe $10K. Was thrown out the back door within the year.

They also provided a brochure with elaborate market research explaining why the lousy quality of the disc would be so good for our business: everybody would always have the camera with them, the film would never be out of focus because of the mini format , and the film had absurd range of sensitivity.

Kodak stated formally and in print that the prints would look terrible but that customers would be happy to see in-focus and ok-exposure, would THEREFORE order many more prints because that's all they really wanted.

Kodak died from brain cancer but not quickly enough. They made a digital camera years earlier and I saw it in action.

 

[cmacd123]

They also provided a brochure with elaborate market research explaining why the lousy quality of the disc would be so good for our business: everybody would always have the camera with them, the film would never be out of focus because of the mini format , and the film had absurd range of sensitivity.
Kodak stated formally and in print that the prints would look terrible but that customers would be happy to see in-focus and ok-exposure, would THEREFORE order many more prints because that's all they really wanted.

this is one of the reasons that Cell Phone and compact digital cameras caught on, with the phone camera being the winner. if course it also allows sharing photos without the need of making prints.

 

[BAC1967]

I shot some this winter in my Kodak Advantix 3200 AF camera using Kodak Advantix 200 film that expired 07/2000. The Darkroom in San Clemente, CA develops it, they charge a $3 premium over their regular developing fee. I still have a few rolls left then that's it for APS as far as I'm concerned. I thought it was a good idea when it came out but that thought quickly faded.

Snow at Stevens Pass by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

 

[Diapositivo]

The size of the image was selected to duplicate the size of a digital imaging sensor.

Isn't it the other way round? The dimensions of the sensors of digital cameras were called APS-C or APS-H as a comparison to the already existing APS film format. Digital photographers would compare digital to film in the early days: Full Frame or APS were film formats.

 

[Photo Engineer]

Both APS and digital were being developed at that time, but digital cameras already existed in that format. APS did not. It may have been either way, but digital sensors of that size existed before the APS camera.

The original sensors were the size of the "window" on EPROMS, quite tiny indeed.

PE

 

[kruiwagen]

Here is a nice video about the APS system and showing a slideshow on your TV:

 

[Dismayed]

Is APS dead? I sure hope so!

 

[AgX]

Long live disc film !
(Just today I bought two different pouches for the resp. cameras.)

 

[Bill Burk]

I once spent $500 on an Elph 490z.

I wouldn’t have done that except for the circumstances. I had just walked out the door of Adolph Gasser with an OM 24mm f/2 I wanted, and noticed a black speck right in the middle of the glass. They insisted “no returns” when I pointed out the defect. To save face, I agreed to exchange for store credit.

I wanted to get my dad a camera anyway so I looked over what they had and picked that APS camera.

He still uses it (I occasionally send him a roll of film when I come across it). He finds a way to get it developed.

It takes surprisingly flattering pictures, the swing out lens cover moves the flash far enough from the lens axis to avoid red-eye.

To this day, I don’t know any other camera with built-in flash that has such a separation.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Long live disc film !
(Just today I bought two different pouches for the resp. cameras.)

Disc film. Yes, I remember that.

When finally I could afford to, I moved up to a larger format: Minox 8x11.

 

[AgX]

The first selfie-stick camera ever was a disc camera!
I admit it did not start a rage back then...

But there never had been invented a camera type better to be carried at a belt.
Maybe except for the Minox...

 

[cmacd123]

It takes surprisingly flattering pictures, the swing out lens cover moves the flash far enough from the lens axis to avoid red-eye.

To this day, I don’t know any other camera with built-in flash that has such a separation.

The Canon Rebel Ti AKA Kiss5 AKA 300V film camera does have the pop up flash arranged on a stem almost the length of the Old Instamatic flash extender - (and later Magicube extender) {Not to be confused with the rebel DIGITAL Ti)

 

[Photo Engineer]

You know, APS was dead long before this thread was started and here the thread is, still going on and on.

Yeah, I know, you can sometimes get film, but go buy a new camera? I think not.

PE

 

[cmacd123]

You know, APS was dead long before this thread was started
Yeah, I know, you can sometimes get film, but go buy a new camera? I think not.
PE

let alone the "special Processing" with the film in the cassette and the custom made index print, and all that other fun stuff that the consortium thought consumers wanted.

APS is DEAD, Disk is Dead. Faint hope held out for 110 and 126, or even 127

Just be glad we still have 120 after 117 Years of Continuous Production. Now THAT is a format

 

[fdonadio]

Just be glad we still have 120 after 117 Years of Continuous Production. Now THAT is a format

Agreed. And I should note that I, for one, won’t ever go for a smaller format than 135.

 

[AgX]

You know, APS was dead long before this thread was started and here the thread is, still going on and on.
Yeah, I know, you can sometimes get film, but go buy a new camera? I think not.

I think well. Just yesterday I bought another 3 APS cameras. They cost me next to nothing. Finding APS film for cheap? Tell me where...
A great share of type 135 cameras still have a film inside. APS cameras hardly ever.

 

[Kodachromeguy]

Here is a nice video about the APS system and showing a slideshow on your TV:

Some of you may recall that a similar little box was sold by Kodak to display Kodak Photo CD on your NTSC television. I assume in Europe, where they used PAL and SECAM televisions, another version of the Photo CD reader was sold. I have some Photo CDs that need to be converted to TIFF files while the compact disks are still readable. I'll probably use the PCDMagic, which is supposed to interpret the Kodak colorspace properly.