Disposable cameras

Single-use box cameras with preloaded film and focus-free lenses

Disposable cameras, usually loaded with twenty-four-exposure rolls of color print film, became instant hits with consumers. The simple cameras appealed to those who preferred easy-to-use technology, who needed a camera at a moment’s notice, who preferred a less expensive or lighter-weight camera for use during outdoor activities, or who wanted a simple starter camera for a child.

In 1986, one century after the Eastman Company’s “You press the button, we do the rest” slogan opened the door to amateur photography, Fujifilm introduced the first disposable, or single-use, camera, the QuickSnap. One year later, Kodak introduced its own single-use camera, the Fling. The two easy-to-use and inexpensive plastic cameras soon became popular with the consumers of the 1980’s, who by this time were demanding products that were affordable and readily available. The single-use camera, which could be purchased at virtually any retail store, became a popular gadget during a time when the marketplace was buzzing with high-tech products inspired by an expanding high-tech society. The cameras were especially popular with youth and young adults, inspiring a new craze for taking snapshots.

Kodak had introduced its first camera for nonprofessionals in 1888, and in 1900 it had developed its even more popular Brownie camera, which sold for only one dollar. Shooting snapshots became a part of everyday life in the twentieth century, leading to further developments in camera and film technology, including the QuickSnap and the Fling in the 1980’s.

Like the early Kodak cameras, the 1986 single-use cameras also involved little more than “pressing the button” and letting the manufacturer “do the rest.” However, the single-use cameras of the 1980’s were not returned to the consumer; only the photographs were returned, while the cameras were often partially recycled. Some were even remanufactured and then resold with a new lens and, for models with a flash, new batteries. This practice led Kodak, Fujifilm, and others to warn of potential problems with “used” single-use cameras. The Fujifilm camera used Super HR 400 35mm color print film. It came with a thirty-five-milimeter f/11 lens and a single shutter speed of 1/100 second. The Kodak camera was equipped with Kodacolor VR-G 200 print film in 110 format. It had a twenty-five-millimeter f/8 lens and a shutter speed of 1/120 second.

Within a few years, various models of single-use cameras were made for underwater use or for use in rainy or damp conditions. Built-in flashbulbs allowed for indoor shots. Some cameras could take panoramic shots or pictures in 3-D. Soon, they could take black-and-white photos and even instant Polaroid “Popshots.” In the early twenty-first century, the cameras were offered in digital format, and single-use cameras also were sold through vending machines placed in what Kodak called “point of picture” locations.

Impact

The single-use camera introduced to 1980’s consumers provided ease of use, affordability, and convenience. The cameras were simple and straightforward, requiring nothing more from the consumer than pointing and shooting; they were inexpensive (costing around ten dollars); and they were convenient, available everywhere. The QuickSnap and the Fling helped reinvigorate amateur photography, which, even into the 1980’s, had a reputation as a hobby for those with money and technical savvy. To be able to purchase a camera for little more than the cost of two movie tickets and immediately begin taking pictures was a milestone in the history of photography, and it marked 1986 and 1987 as years to remember.

Bibliography

Ford, Colin, and Karl Steinorth, eds. You Press the Button, We Do the Rest: The Birth of Snapshot Photography. London: D. Nishen, 1988.

Medintz, Scott. “Point, Shoot, Toss.” Money, July, 1999, 143.

West, Nancy Martha. Kodak and the Lens of Nostalgia. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000.