New toys! Biauma B-1 and Kodak Tele Disc :)

[LowriderS10]

My g/f likes looking at all sorts of junk in thrift shops...and I realized that if I go with her not only can I get mad brownie points, I can also find some incredibly cheap treasures....picked these little guys up for 50 cents each!

BEHOLD!!!

Biauma B-1 toy camera with (*drum roll*) a "Color Optical Lens"!

Only one control on this baby...an aperture ring, letting you select an ultra-fast f6.3, f11 or f16 for those scorchingly bright days! No seals to speak of, except for coarse plastic on plastic action. I'm guessing it'll be light leaks galore!

The second one is a Kodak Tele Disc camera. It uses (or used...I don't think I'll ever find the film for this) film DISCS. That's right. Huuuuuuuuuuge flop in the early 80s. Additionally, it has an awesome-tastic zoom lens in it. By pushing the flash to the left, it pops back out to the right, changing with it the lens and the viewfinder....ta-da! Telephoto.

(sorry for the less than stellar quality photos...taken with my cellphone, then hosted on Photobucket...I'll take better pics and host them on Flickr later ).

 

[Brac]

Disc film is long gone, although there are one or two labs in the world that will develop outdated rolls, at enormous expense. The other camera presumably takes 35mm film, so you will be able to try it out.

 

[paul_c5x4]

Just a wild and crazy thought courtesy of Monday morning caffeine... The back of the Kodak looks like it might accommodate a cartridge similar in construction to a 3½" floppy disk - If you could devise a reloadable device, you could use just about any currently available sheet film cut to suit.

 

[MattKing]

Disc film is long gone, although there are one or two labs in the world that will develop outdated rolls, at enormous expense. The other camera presumably takes 35mm film, so you will be able to try it out.

Disc film was discontinued in 1999. Dwaynes in the US will develop disc film at reasonable cost.

To those here who don't think much of Disc film, you might want to re-consider.

A lot of the problem with the format relates to the fact that with it's relatively tiny size, it really required specialized equipment in order to properly print it. Many of the labs who did Disc prints tried to use regular equipment.

The other thing to realize is that in order to develop the Disc format, Kodak did a tremendous amount of research and development, which resulted in improvements to emulsions and other facets of film production that served to benefit larger formats as well.

 

[LowriderS10]

Brac: yeah, I don't have any hopes of shooting disc anytime soon haha...if I can find a place to develop it I may...but I really just bought the camera for its weirdness factor haha. So far, everyone I've shown it to has replied with a "wow...I've never even heard of one!" Also, yes, the B-1 takes 35mm film, but with 3 digital bodies and 9 film bodies and counting, it's not at the top of my list to shoot with. If and when I start developing my own film again I'll probably shoot a roll of B&W through it for kicks, but that won't be anytime soon.

Paul: That was exactly what I was thinking, but I doubt it would work because of the position of the eyepiece. If I had time I'd probably give it a shot (or even just put a single piece of negative in there and shoot it, then take it out and develop it), but I'm much too busy these days for that haha

Matt: thanks for the info what's the "reasonable cost" for developing it?

 

[MattKing]

Brac: yeah, I don't have any hopes of shooting disc anytime soon haha...if I can find a place to develop it I may...but I really just bought the camera for its weirdness factor haha.

...

Matt: thanks for the info what's the "reasonable cost" for developing it?

You are welcome

It looks like that Dwayne's charges $9.00 for develop and one set of prints (plus shipping and handling).

Here is a link where they discuss their specialized services (note service times and special rules for blank films):

http://www.dwaynesphoto.com/newsite2006/disc-126-film.html

 

[LowriderS10]

Thanks, yeah, that's getting a bit too much for me...that's $13.50 (plus shipping it there) just to get it developed and it's a low-quality point and shoot...if I find a cheap (even if exposed) film disc for it, I'll pick it up for illustration purposes, but I doubt I'll shoot it anytime soon...but that's okay, I just bought it to add to the collection and to be able to flex my uber-dork muscles in front of anyone who'll pay attention

 

[derek andrews]

You are welcome

It looks like that Dwayne's charges $9.00 for develop and one set of prints (plus shipping and handling).

Here is a link where they discuss their specialized services (note service times and special rules for blank films):

http://www.dwaynesphoto.com/newsite2006/disc-126-film.html

Really interesting thread. Just acquired a disc 4000 in a job lot. It came with a 'wide angle' , 'telephoto lens' and an unexposed film. Also the built in battery still winds the camera! Is it worth much?

 

[AgX]

Interesting is that Agfa never jumped on the Disc wave, not even with Disc films.

However the german camera manufacturer King Regula fell over the Disc cameras.

 

[blockend]

Interesting is that Agfa never jumped on the Disc wave, not even with Disc films.

However the german camera manufacturer King Regula fell over the Disc cameras.

Surprising that Agfa never went Disc, they were still a mainstream producer when the format was popular. Agfa were my favourite film and paper manufacturer, and are still missed. I keep old prints in Agfa Brovira and Portriga boxes, which is quite poignant.