What happened to all the non photographers film cameras?

rayonline_nz · Dec 24, 2020

Just wondered about this. We haven't moved much, just 1 address in the many years so we still have our cheap plastic nasty point and shoot cameras. Not used thou. One of them is also APS which the store guy sold me after producing those great prints, LOL yeah tell me about it (!). APS cameras were as far I recall were more expensive, more trendy the film was more expensive and the development also.

Many individuals and families had these cheap point and shoot cameras. Where have they all gone to? Surely most of them didn't make it onto an auction site or to a second hand store or garage sales. Were they maybe tossed out to the landfill?

Seasons Greetings guys

Cheers.

Cholentpot · Dec 24, 2020

I've got a nice chunk of them. I get them from relatives and friends who in turn get it from other relatives of theirs and they get funneled to me. For every 10 pieces of junk there's a gem that floats to the top.

AgX · Dec 24, 2020

They ended in my pile of stuff.

Typically these were the cameras that actually made photography.

AgX · Dec 24, 2020

APS in many aspects was the superior system. Though typically rejected here at Apug. Also it was introduced by several film and camera manufacturers cooperating, which is remarkable.

But for those already having a type135 film camera the changeover was questionable, even in hindsight. And the system came too late.

BradS · Dec 24, 2020

My mom saved every one that she and my father had ever owned - more than two dozen. A few years ago, she gave the whole box of them to me. I went through them, tossed almost all of them because they either did not work or took an expensive battery or were not interesting to me.
I sold one - a Minolta Freedom Zoom
and kept one - a Nikon One*Touch Zoom90 AF Quartz Date.
It uses a CR2 battery and seems to make nice photos.

Mavericks

Union Station, Los Angeles

Ariston · Dec 24, 2020

I have a box of some. Not really worth the effort to sell. Maybe a YouTuber or blogger will mention one and quadruple its value someday...

Ko.Fe. · Dec 24, 2020

I won't mix total garbage a.k.a. APS or whatever this never really lived crap is called and 135 traditional film format P&S.

rayonline_nz · Dec 24, 2020

Things like these, haha.

https://collectiblend.com/Cameras/Nikon/Nuvis-75i.html

https://www.depop.com/products/loafcameras-canon-af-10-id-87000274-the/

Karl K · Dec 24, 2020

The APS (Advanced Photo System) did have some remarkable features.
The problem was the processing.
If the lab did not have the complete APS processing equipment, they downplayed the advantages of APS.
Many one-hour labs, which were the mainstay of film processing in the US before digital, refused to shell out thousands of dollars to purchase the complete APS processing equipment.
So they processed and printed APS film, but did not offer the three different sized print formats: 4x6, 4x7, and 4x11.
Instead, the delivered prints were 4x6 in most cases.
In the early stages of APS, Eastman Kodak Processing Labs were charging the same price for APS-C (4x6), APS-H (4x7), or APS-P (4x11) prints.
It was amazing to see 50 panoramic prints ( two each x 25 exposures) come back from Kodak's lab in Fair Lawn, NJ with a retail price under $20.
Kodak quickly adjusted their pricing structure.
APS left a legacy for us....the APS-C digital sensor in many DSLR cameras.

rayonline_nz · Dec 24, 2020

Karl K said:
View attachment 262214
The APS (Advanced Photo System) did have some remarkable features.
The problem was the processing.
If the lab did not have the complete APS processing equipment, they downplayed the advantages of APS.

Yep that was right. The cheap places simply just gave the same size prints no matter if the camera was set to panoramic mode. The proper more city 1hr 2hr expensive labs did give me the pano prints but then as a newbie back then I was a bit shocked when given the bill. The more suburban mall shops some of them didn't do Photo CDs. This was back in the day when digital wasn't so affordable yet ie $2,000 for a 3MP Canon IXUS. The days of Geocities and MSN Messenger.

Here in New Zealand anyway, the normal labs did charge a bit more but the cheap places which I was back then before I got into photography. Kmart etc .. charged something like 50% higher. You were lucky. The labs charged us more the different output sizes, I think the selector was CHP.

rayonline_nz · Dec 24, 2020

Cholentpot said:
I've got a nice chunk of them. I get them from relatives and friends who in turn get it from other relatives of theirs and they get funneled to me. For every 10 pieces of junk there's a gem that floats to the top.

Thanks for that. For those who had some knowledge with those who passed away. Were their photographic equipment slowly cleared and sold over the years before or was it just left for their estate to deal with? Were most of the items still working?

AgX · Dec 24, 2020

With the introduction of reasonable digital compact cameras the compact AF film cameras became practically worthless. Thus they stayed in closets. Until they were brought to a fleamarket directly or given to acquaintances who had a stand there, or to charities. Or finallly ended at estate clearancers. Some ended as add-on with a film SLR sold at a camera store.

ic-racer · Dec 24, 2020

People have no issues throwing away electronic devices. So, plastic cameras would have been tossed away just like fast-foot containers.

AgX · Dec 24, 2020

But there are still people presenting me their 1999 bill of 150€ or more for their AF-compact and who cannot believe that I am seriously only offering them 3€.

Cholentpot · Dec 24, 2020

rayonline_nz said:
Thanks for that. For those who had some knowledge with those who passed away. Were their photographic equipment slowly cleared and sold over the years before or was it just left for their estate to deal with? Were most of the items still working?

The people who passed on like my Grandfather had their Leica thrown away because it was useless junk. Thanks Auntie.

Most people who were into photography never sold their stuff. Either they assumed it was worthless and it didn't take up all that space or they spent so very much on it back in the day that they wouldn't sell it below the price they paid. I have a few cameras on 'loan' from spouses and children of type B because Grandpa and Father-in-law won't give camera away so their kid just loaned it to me and never asked for it back. Owners never asked about it again and the family cleared out what they called junk. Everyone is happy.

As for condition, most cameras still worked. Maybe needed some TLC, maybe new seals or the battery compartment cleaned out.

Another phenomenon (doo doo do doo doo) I've bumped into time and time again is the owner upgraded to a P&S digital back in the early days and hated the quality and gave up on photography all together. A p&s 35mm and late 90's early 2000 digital were no comparison. I think these people couldn't bear to go back to film once they switched.

BradS · Dec 24, 2020

Cholentpot said:
......the owner upgraded to a P&S digital back in the early days and hated the quality and gave up on photography all together. A p&s 35mm and late 90's early 2000 digital were no comparison. I think these people couldn't bear to go back to film once they switched.

Yes! I’ve never thought about it this way but yeah, I know a whole bunch of people who “went digital” early on an just completely gave up on photography within a few years or so. Weird.

Cholentpot · Dec 24, 2020

BradS said:
Yes! I’ve never thought about it this way but yeah, I know a whole bunch of people who “went digital” early on an just completely gave up on photography within a few years or so. Weird.

This happened to my parents and relatives. Back in the day the'd spend $500 on a decent SLR or bridge camera but they would spend a few hundred at most on a point and shoot and wonder why it was so slow and unresponsive. Tie that together with lack of computer skills and kids growing up they found no need for photography. By the times the grandkids started showing up cellphone cameras had filled in the niche.

My mother shot so much film she destroyed the shutters in two SLRs over the course of a decade. One day she just stopped shooting photos altogether. I have the cameras and lenses now. My family thinks I'm bonkers for shooting film when I have a decent DSLR. They think I'm even crazier for shooting 110. But when the 4x5 comes out they really really can't wrap their minds around it. Does not compute.

I revel in it.

Alan Edward Klein · Dec 25, 2020

A neighbor and friend threw out his Hasselblad system when he thought film was over.

Alan Edward Klein · Dec 25, 2020

Cholentpot said:
This happened to my parents and relatives. Back in the day the'd spend $500 on a decent SLR or bridge camera but they would spend a few hundred at most on a point and shoot and wonder why it was so slow and unresponsive. Tie that together with lack of computer skills and kids growing up they found no need for photography. By the times the grandkids started showing up cellphone cameras had filled in the niche.

My mother shot so much film she destroyed the shutters in two SLRs over the course of a decade. One day she just stopped shooting photos altogether. I have the cameras and lenses now. My family thinks I'm bonkers for shooting film when I have a decent DSLR. They think I'm even crazier for shooting 110. But when the 4x5 comes out they really really can't wrap their minds around it. Does not compute.

I revel in it.

I started 4x5 this year although my back complains about it constantly. But whenever I set it up, there are people who come over to see what's up and are fascinated by it. I have to chase them away unfortunately due to the virus. But other than the usual question, "they still make film?", most people seem interested.

Cholentpot · Dec 25, 2020

Alan Edward Klein said:
A neighbor and friend threw out his Hasselblad system when he thought film was over.

Your neighbor is a dentist.

My Crown Graphic is lighter than my DSLR setup. I have a bad left wrist and though using the Crown would be an issue. It's fine, I use it as a rangefinder and it's a joy to carry around. No-one calls the police on someone with a Graflex

Sirius Glass · Dec 25, 2020

Cholentpot said:
Your neighbor is a dentist.

My Crown Graphic is lighter than my DSLR setup. I have a bad left wrist and though using the Crown would be an issue. It's fine, I use it as a rangefinder and it's a joy to carry around. No-one calls the police on someone with a Graflex

Why always dentists? What is the deep seeded hate of dentist on this website? I never knew a dentist that was also a photographer, let alone one that owned a Hasselblad.

All the camera went to KEH which gave me lots of choices.

MattKing · Dec 25, 2020

Sirius Glass said:
Why always dentists? What is the deep seeded hate of dentist on this website? I never knew a dentist that was also a photographer, let alone one that owned a Hasselblad.

I have a friend who is a recently retired dentist who is an excellent photographer - not a Hasselblad user, but none the less skilled and perceptive.
From a former camera sales perspective though, I will say though that dentists tend to buy better cameras.

ced · Dec 25, 2020

I think they ended up in the land fill.

rayonline_nz · Dec 25, 2020

Cholentpot said:
This happened to my parents and relatives. Back in the day the'd spend $500 on a decent SLR or bridge camera but they would spend a few hundred at most on a point and shoot and wonder why it was so slow and unresponsive. Tie that together with lack of computer skills and kids growing up they found no need for photography. By the times the grandkids started showing up cellphone cameras had filled in the niche.

My mother shot so much film she destroyed the shutters in two SLRs over the course of a decade. One day she just stopped shooting photos altogether. I have the cameras and lenses now. My family thinks I'm bonkers for shooting film when I have a decent DSLR. They think I'm even crazier for shooting 110. But when the 4x5 comes out they really really can't wrap their minds around it. Does not compute.

I revel in it.

Maybe it is that digital or the phones now can produce decent quality photos with so much ease and they can spend more family time and they are not specifically into either that digital or that film approach but any approach that suffices? Maybe it is just so hard to give that up. My barber used to have darkroom in his place and he developed BW and E6 film as well as Process 41 not C41 he said he ha to shine a 200W bulb at the film. He also now just use digital with his Olympus gear the larger one not the current OMDs but he uses his older Olympus lenses. He still has his Minolta film scanner which he has been digitising his film.

AgX · Dec 25, 2020

ced said:
I think they ended up in the land fill.

Never been to a flemish fleamarket?

Some of my stuff I bought there.

What happened to all the non photographers film cameras?

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