Oh No! There’s a Disposable Camera Shortage!

We’ve searched everywhere and sadly, it looks like there is a big shortage on disposable cameras. Our supplier is out, other vendors, stores, and retailers are out or are imposing 2 to 5 camera limits on purchases. The world has ran out of Kodak disposable cameras

Why is it so hard to find disposable cameras

That’s a great question and to understand the problem, we have to go back to the Great Film Apocalypse that occurred between 2010 and 2012 when people were abandoning film and flocking to digital. There used to be a fantastic infrastructure to support all things film, all over the world. You could walk into almost any store and purchase 35mm film, disposable cameras, and also get that film or disposable camera developed almost anywhere in almost an hour. But after the film apocalypse, demand dropped, companies began to go out of business and the entire infrastructure crumbled. It remains in ruins to this day, which is why us, and several other companies often struggle to find supplies and equipment.

But there was a silver lining, in the midst of bankruptcy, a group of Kodak employees came together to save the company and created Kodak Alaris. This new form of Kodak a long with several movie directors and producers banded together to keep film production going, and they have for the past decade in the hopes of keeping the medium from dying off completely.

An unlikely thing happened…

Film held its own for many years, with many faithful photographers, myself included using film and pushing the #filmisnotdead movement. But in 2020, we all got hit with the pandemic and that changed everything. People found themselves with more free time than usual and began to experiment with new forms of creativity and film sales began to increase. Over the past two years, film sales have skyrocketed! No one could have predicted this would have occurred and what happened caught everyone by surprise, include Kodak Alaris and Fuji.

Film was back and with it, insane demand for 35mm film and disposable cameras!

The problem

So here we are today, and the problem causing our shortage is a logistical one. While Kodak is pumping out film as fast as they can, the real problem lies in companies and equipment to “finish” the film - aka cut it down, punch sprockets, put it in canisters and then into disposable cameras. No one ramped up for this because no one saw it coming. And now, the companies that were just scraping by with minimal film sales and demand are now completely swamped and unable to keep up with demand.

And here we are with the Disposable Camera Shortage of 2022.

What can we do?

The Kodak Funsaver is the camera is shortest supply. Kodak actually makes another camera, the Kodak HD Power Flash which many vendors still have in stock (us included). These are great cameras and in my opinion, better than the FunSavers. Picking up one of these is a great idea, but just know that they won’t be in stock for long!

Another option is to consider Black and White Disposable Cameras! Kodak makes a disposable loaded with its time-tested TRI-X 400 film and its amazing. Ilford also makes several Disposable black and white cameras. The real shortage we are experiencing is with color film so using a black and white model is also an option.

We produce our own affordable Black and White Disposable Camera called the GRIT. Its a Kodak Funsaver shell loaded with a unique black and white film! We love the results we get with the black and white images, just as much as we do the color!

When will the Disposable Camera Shortage End?

That’s a great question and as of fall 2022, we do not have an answer. We’ve been told to expect shortages well into 2023. This is going to be especially tough if you’re looking for large quantities of disposable cameras for weddings or other events. Wedding disposable cameras purchased new are the best quality and produce the best results, but there are some reloaded disposables out there you can use. We do not recommend them as the quality is just terrible, but if its all you can find, its all you can find.

If you’re planning on getting disposable cameras for your wedding, start ordering them as far in advance as you can. Disposable cameras have a two year shelf-life so you’ve got a lot of time to buy and hold on to them. And you don’t want to be three weeks away from your wedding and not be able to get any.

If you need help finding disposable cameras, feel free to send us an email on the Contact Us page and we will be glad to help you out!