Are Disposable Cameras Worth It?

Let’s admit it, there is something really cool about a disposable camera. The pictures have a certain look, and when you pull one out, everyone wants to be in the photo. But as film prices are rising, is it still worth getting a disposable camera in 2022?

The cost of using a Disposable CAmera

Before we can really address the question of “Are Disposable Cameras Worth It?”, we should probably look at the total cost involved in using one. Disposable or Single-Use cameras are essentially economically made plastic cameras with a roll of 35mm film inside. Every time you buy a disposable camera, your essentially buying a new camera and a new roll of film. A quick check of prices today reveals that most color-negative disposable cameras are costing between $16 and $22 each. Most of the time, you will have to order them as fewer and fewer stores are carrying them in stock. Of course if you order one online, you’ll have to have it shipped, so for the sake of averages we will say that the average disposable camera is going to cost you $20 to purchase.

After you’ve shot your 27 exposures, the disposable camera must be developed. Prices for processing vary from lab to lab, but we are going to assume you will be using us, Shutter Junkies, to process your film. For camera processing, the cost is $12. You can add prints to your camera for an additional $12, but we won’t take that into consideration as must customers are happy with a digital copy only. Of course, you have to mail your cameras in to almost every lab, so we will add an additional $5 for shipping so we can truly capture all of the costs.

So here’s the break down of costs of using a disposable camera:

• Purchase the Disposable Camera - $20

• Developing the Disposable camera - $12

• Postage - $5

• Total Cost of Using a Disposable Camera- $37

Compare the Cost of Disposable vs. Digital

When it comes to comparing the cost, its hard to make a case for disposable cameras when digital photos on your phone or camera are practically free. We could easily try to factor in the cost of the phone, or camera, the cost of the SD card, the cost of the cloud storage, but the truth is that all of those things are reusable and so the costs are spread out so much across the life of the device that it would practically nothing once you calculated how many photos you can take with a device over its life. The costs of using digital are practically nothing. So there’s that to consider.

The real benefits of using a disposable Camera

While the allure of the freeness of digital is extremely appealing, there are several aspects of disposable camera photography that make it worth the cost!

The Film Look of a Disposable Camera

The first thing you cannot miss is that classic film look. Disposable cameras are just cheap, plastic cameras, but they are still film cameras and produce that classic, retro vibe associated with film. We develop thousands of rolls of film and even the most mundane film photos still has a unique look to it that digital just cannot replicate. You can try throwing filters and effects at a digital image, but you’re always going to fall short.

The durability of Film

The other awesome thing about a disposable cameras is that the film they use lasts a really really long time, once developed. We return all of your negatives to you so that you can archived them and either scan or make optical prints from them later. Film can be rescanned over and over again, and it lasts for years. Even if you lose your phone, get locked out of your iCloud or can’t access your digital images, you’ve always got you negatives with you! They will probably outlive you!

Standing out in a crowd

Every form of social media is saturated with iPhone images with the same old filters. Your digital images are more than likely going to get lost in the thousands of other similar looking pictures. But your disposable camera photos are going to be unique enough to stop the scroll and get those likes! Don’t believe me- just search the hash tag #disposablecamera on any social media and take a look at the amazing images! Film images still attract a lot of attention, simply because they look different and as we scroll, the brain is subconsciously looking for different!

Conclusion - Are disposable CAmeras Worth it?

An objective answer to this question would have to be “sometimes they are”. At a cost of $37 to get your images, its not something you’re going to be shooting with every day. But they are definitely worth it for those occasions you want to remember and create a special set of images for. With a disposable camera, its not just about taking photos, its about creating memories that will last for years.

So plan those trips, concerts, dates, outings with friends, or family, or the kids and stock up on some disposable cameras because those moments are priceless and deserve far better treatment that a quick generic photo with your camera phone.

Where Can I Buy Peel-Apart Film?

The minute Fuji announced they would be discontinuing FP-100C peel-apart film for older polaroid cameras, then film began to fly off of the shelves. The Fuji made film which sold for around $20 per pack was often sold out at the normal places and prices began to increase as people were trying to buy up as much as they could to use or horde and sell later at a ridiculous profit. But because so many people purchased and held on to sell later, even years down the road it is still possible to find the Fuji film in color and black and white. You can even still occasionally find some very expired Polaroid peel-apart film. You also currently have then option to purchase some of the new One Instant pack film from Supersense.

If you’re looking for some film to shoot, here’s a break down of where you can still find Peel-Apart film for Polaroid cameras and what you can expect to pay as well as what you need to watch out for.

Where Can I Buy Peel-Apart Film for my Polaroid Camera?

ONE INSTANT by Supersense

Supersense is a great little group of creative individuals working hard to keep peel-apart film alive. I love their passion and ingenuity, but product isn’t quite the peel-apart film that we are used to. It requires a lot more care and concern when loading and the results are not as uniform as the mass produced FP-100C or even expired Polaroid film packs. With only one shot per paper pack, you have to be a little more careful when loading and you get less of a run and shoot experience. And at almost $40 for three exposures, ONE INSTANT is not the most affordable option for taking instant photos, but it is at least fresh chemistry and it works! And the guys are Supersense are a really great group of creative individuals, so you should definitely go support their efforts.

You can head on over to Supersense’s website to buy a few packs today if you want to give ONE INSTANT a try. CLICK HERE to go to their site.

You can actually purchase Fuji pack film from Supersense as well. They have the best and most consistent stock. The price is also reasonable considering that the film packs are in good shape. You can shop their store HERE.

Buy Fuji FP-100C on Ebay

eBay has been a good place to find Fuji FP-100C for years. The prices have fluctuated but have mostly settled. You can expect to pay at least $66.00 for a single pack of expired Fuji FP-100C. The newer (aka the later the expiration date) the film, the high the cost. You can also purchase bundles of film packs. When purchasing film from eBay, you want to make sure and find some that has been stored in a refrigerator. The liquid chemicals will dry out over time but keeping them cool keeps them from drying out. Most packs of FP-100C sell in the range of $75-$100 per pack.

Buy Polaroid Peel-Apart Film on eBay

Finding actually usable Polaroid pack film on eBay is quite a challenge. Most of the film out there has expiration dates in the 80’s or 90’s. Pricing starts in the low $20’s but that’s in unknown condition. Polaroid film, even when its expired is amazing as long as the chemicals aren’t dried up. I love it even more than the Fuji pack film.

At this point in time, buying Polaroid film is a gamble, but if you can find some that works, its an amazing experience! I’ve bought several packs on eBay, only to have a few work. But the results were well worth it.

Buy Fuji Peel-Apart Film on Amazon

While there used to be a large selection of Fuji FP-100C film on Amazon, it seems that the supply has mostly dried up. At the time of posting only one listing remains at a cost of $828.00 for 5 packs. Listings only appear occasionally so if you’re interested in picking up some real Fuji FP100C, this is your chance! CLICK HERE to go to the listing and place your order!

Buy Peel-Apart Film on Craigslist

Several people have had some luck finding Fuji film on Craigslist. The chances of finding it on your first look are slim, but if you check consistently you have a better chance of finding some for sale. The film used to be listed quite frequently but again, as supplies are being exhausted, they listings are disappearing.

Looking for Peel-Apart Film at Garage Sales

This is even a longer shot than Craigslist, but some people have found some really major scores. This is literally as difficult as looking for a needle in a haystack, but if you find some, its usually cheap!

You Can Still Buy Pull-Apart Film, But…

Your options are definitely limited and what options do exist out there are expensive. If you have the opportunity to pick up a pack of film, its definitely an experience like nothing else polaroid. The manual process of shooting, pulling, waiting, and then peeling, dealing with the sticky chemicals and discovering the beautiful image you’ve capture, its something every instant photographer needs to experience at least once before all of the film is gone!

If you own a Polaroid Land Camera and want to still find a way to use it, New Land Camera is working on an integral film back for Land Cameras. CLICK HERE to read more about the work they are doing!

Don’t forget to check out our other article discussing if Polaroid would be bringing pull-apart film back by clicking HERE!

Disposable Cameras - Everything You Need to Know!

Disposable Cameras in 2021

That’s me on the far left. I was beyond awkward. And this amazing moment was captured with a disposable camera!

In the late 1990s, disposable cameras were all the rage. As a completely irresponsible teenaged high school student, my parents would have never trusted me their real camera, so every time I went on a trip or out with friends, I always had to stop and pick up a disposable so I could at least record a few of the moments from the event. They were available everywhere and getting them developed and prints made was easy. But then came camera phones, the internet, social media, and the film industry and infrastructure took a huge hit. People stopped using disposable cameras and companies stopped producing as many of them, but they never stopped producing them! You can walk into any Walmart or CVS or Walgreens and still pick up a disposable camera! And, let me tell you, they are still completely amazing! If you’ve never shot with one, you absolutely should! They are a great way to get into film and with the resurgence of film photography in the last few years, the infrastructure is building back up to get your images developed and scanned!

What is a Disposable Camera?

It’s a very simple, very cheap pre-loaded roll of 35mm film loaded into a plastic body with a simple mechanical shutter and film advance and some very basic electronics and a battery. Originally, they were made to simply be dropped off at the local film collection center so you didn’t even have to deal with disposing of the camera and they could be easily recycled. Nothing is adjustable - everything operates in a fixed mode. The lens is fixed and plastic, the aperture is fixed, the shutter speed is also fixed at around 1/100th of a second. The only variable is the film speed. You can usually purchase disposable cameras in ISO 200, 400, and sometimes 800. The flash is usually decently powerful and is normally off. You normally have to press a button to charge the flash before you click the shutter. The recharge button has to be pressed each time so that you can have the flash charged for each shutter click.

These cameras are still made to be taken/sent directly to a film lab for processing, but they can easily be processed at home and if you want to save money on postage when you send your film in, you can open up the camera and send the roll of film in by itself.

Disposable cameras all come loaded with film, there are several different options ranging from basic color to black and white to some crazy film stocks. Disposables come in a lot of different film speeds also, so it gives you a lot of flexibility

Where Can I get a Disposable Camera?

Disposable cameras are available at a lot of places! They are sold in-store at CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, and Target. Mostly these stores either carry a Fujifilm or Kodak disposable in a single pack, a multipack, and a waterproof model.

You can also pick them up online from Amazon and several other retailers. Amazon and other online retailers have a much better selection!

Store	Description	Price
CVS	Fujifilm QuickSnap Flash 400 Camera	$14.99
CVS	Fujifilm QuickSnap Flash 400 Camera, 2 Pack	$25.99
CVS	FujiFilm QuickSnap Waterproof Camera	$23.99
Walgreens	Kodak HD Power Flash Single Use Camera	$19.99
Walmart	Fujifilm QuickSnap Flash 400 Camera	$14.96
Walmart	Fujifilm QuickSnap Flash 400 Camera, 2 Pack	$24.96
Walmart	FujiFilm QuickSnap Waterproof Camera	$11.75
Target	Fujifilm QuickSnap Flash 400 Camera	$12.99
Target	Kodak HD Power Flash Single Use Camera	$12.99
Target	Kodak Water Proof Camera	$18.99

How Do You Use a Disposable Camera?

Disposable cameras are great because they are so very easy to use. The only thing you need to worry about is buying the right camera/film speed. Because the settings are all locked, there’s no flexibility in exposing the film. While you could maybe use a 200 ISO film in a darker room, an 800 ISO film might not be the best for a bright sunny day. Fortunately, the cameras are all labeled with what lighting environments they are best suited for. All you need to do is make sure you select the right one.

After that, you literally just point and shoot. The focal range is pretty big on these cameras. The biggest thing you need to remember is that the minimal focal distance is going to be your biggest concern. You can’t put the camera right in your face and expect the image to be in focus. Generally, I’ve found that about an arm’s length away is the minimal focal distance for these cameras. If you’re in the shade or a shady area, you should definitely always use the flash. In fact, even if you are out in the sun, use the flash any way as it helps to fill in the harsh shadows on the face. In most situations, you can never have enough light!

It is important to note that when you are taking a photo, looking through the viewfinder only gives you an approximation of the image you are taking. There is no optical view finder or ranger finder, its simply a hole in the top of the camera for you to look through. You need to take parallax into consideration when taking photos of objects close to you as it might change the final composition of the actual image.

Where Can I Get My Disposable Camera Developed?

There are still quite a few places out there that process film. Unfortunately, most of them are not local for the majority of us. I created a blog post talking about your options for getting your disposable cameras developed. Check out that blog post HERE! There’s a lot of great information there that will also help you with disposable cameras. Walmart, Walgreen, and CVS still process film, but you won’t receive your negatives back. Even if you’re new to film, one thing you need to know is that YOU ALWAYS WANT YOUR NEGATIVES BACK! If a service doesn’t return your negatives, don’t use them. If you have your negatives, you can reproduce the image as many times as you want. The digital scans are no replacement or substitute for the film negatives.

We also offer disposable camera processing! Unlike some of our competitors, we handle your images ourselves and we always return your negatives. Click HERE to get your order started! You can also send it off to a number of really great labs out there. Richard Photo Lab is great as well as The Darkroom. Almost all labs will give you scanning options as well as prints and other options. If you’re mailing your film in, you. might want to remove it from the camera so save on postage. If the lab you are sending your film to offers a pre-paid label, I would just send the whole thing in. Most labs have places to recycle the cameras and batteries and it beats throwing all of that away yourself.

How to Get Disposable Camera Pictures on Your Phone

Almost every lab the processes your negatives will offer scanning services. With The Darkroom, you can have your images scanned and they go to a gallery where you can download them onto any device, including your phone. I usually opt for higher resolution scans so that when I download them to my phone or tablet, I’m getting an image that’s decent enough quality that it could be printed. You can also purchase a film scanner yourself and scan your negatives. It is a little more work but it gives you a little more control over the scans and the final product.

Simple Use Vs. Single Use Cameras

There are two other types of cameras out there on the market which fall into the disposable camera family, in my opinion. Recently, Lomography.com released a new line of cameras call Simple Use Cameras which shared the design and simplicity of a disposable camera, but were made to be reloadable. Disposable cameras have to be essentially broken to get the film out and while you can reload and tape up the camera and use it again, it’s pretty much trashed. Lomography’s Simple Use Cameras come pre-loaded with film and are easily reloaded and reusable. The price for these cameras is significantly higher than traditional disposables, but you have to take the reusability into consideration when looking at the price.

Single-use cameras are merely a rebranding of disposable cameras. With sustainability and conservation being very popular some companies decided to move away from the disposable moniker because of negative connotations associated with the word disposable. Single-use cameras are no different than normal disposable cameras.

Disposable Cameras are So Much Fun!

I have a large number of cameras, both film and digital I can shoot from at any given moment, and I still love using these disposable cameras! They’re just fun and almost stress-free! And I love the look of the images they produce! These are great to give to the kids to take on trips but they're also great to grab and have some fun with friends. As a camera, they are way less intimidating than a mirrorless or an SLR, or even a cell phone. Anyone can pick one up and start shooting and that’s the magic of these cameras and why they have never gone away in spite of the roller coaster that film has gone through.

Jump on Amazon and check out what’s available or run down to your local Walmart and pick one up and have some fun! You won’t regret it, I promise!

Fujifilm Announces the New Instax Mini 40

Just in time for Summer, Fujifilm has announced a new camera with a vintage vibe along with a new instax mini film style (Contact Sheet Film)!

Both of the big instant film makers, Fujifilm and Polaroid are constantly releasing new cameras and boarders for films in the hope of boosting sales. What we often see are basic cameras, repackaged with little to no improvements. From all that I’ve read so far, the new Instax Mini 40 camera is just another repackage.

The camera offers very simple operation, really almost bringing to down to the cell phone level of just pointing and shooting and mostly getting a good image. The body is make of plastic and the leather looking surface is just textured plastic.

I look forward to getting my hands on one and giving it a test drive, but from all of the specs I’ve read, it appears to be lacking in new features or functionality.

I am, however, excited about the contact sheet film which draws its inspiration from color contact sheets printed in a dark room. Its a cool look and as long as the price isn’t increase dramatically I’ll definitely be picking up several packs for the aesthetic.

If you’re interested in checking out the new camera - Amazon already has it listed here - Its not available for order yet, but it will be shortly!

Fuji Instax Mini 90

If you’re looking for a Fuji Instax Mini camera with a classic vibe you can pick up today - I really love the Fuji Instax Mini 90. Its a solid camera, I’ve used mine a lot and love it! It also has a similar look as the Mini 40.

Amazon also has a great deal on a 4-pack of colored-frame film - great colors for summer! I went ahead and ordered some for myself, you should too!