Even if a disposable camera was already in pro-
duction in 1887 and the first Kodak camera was in
concept, if not in price, close to a disposable cam-
era, it was in the late 1980s that the modern dis-
posable camera appeared in the world market. The
idea is the same behind disposable razors, bottles,
or almost everything in modern society, use and
dispose of. It was a sign of the times when resources
and environmental consciousness were less devel-
oped. The modern disposable camera with its very
good technical quality and low price was only pos-
sible with modern plastic production technologies,
modern optic design, allowing for a fair quality in
single elements lens design, and above all to mod-
ern film technology with high speed, fine grain, and
a large exposure latitude, allowing for good results
with a fixed exposure lense.
From a marketing point of view, these cameras
are addressed to a public who did not want or is
not able to afford a sophisticated camera, with its
price, bulk, weight, and technical needs. Children
and travelers are the main market targets. These
cameras are promoted also as a mean to preserve
the ‘‘real cameras’’ from dangerous environments
like sand, sea, or snow.
The first modern disposable camera introduced
by Fuji in 1986 used the then current 110 film
format; it was unable to give a good enough tech-
nical quality. However, a year later, the ever-pre-
sent 35-mm film found its way into a disposable
camera, the Fuji Quick-Snap, allowing surprisingly
good technical quality. The two key elements for
this quality are a simple (usually single element)
lens of good quality and a film with wide exposure
latitude, particularly in overexposure.
The first disposable cameras were just a cheap
and simple way of getting pictures, but soon manu-
facturers saw increased potential in these humble
cameras, and all film manufacturers started produ-
cing them. Beach or snow use were among the main
concerns of their consumers, so, new models
appeared enclosed in a plastic box capable of getting
the camera under water, if not to a deep dive, at least
to 10 feet. There was even a complete underwater
housing made to take a disposable into deeper
waters. Panoramic, or pseudo-panoramic, was a
fashion of the 1990s made possible by the use of
disposable cameras with a wider lens (24 mm or
even 17 mm) and a film gate keeping the wide part
of 35-mm film (36 mm), but reducing the smallest
dimension of the film from 24 mm to 12 mm. This
format was also used in compact auto-focus cam-
eras and even in SLRs, but most tried it first with a
disposable camera. The telephoto disposable cam-
era was not a big success, but manufacturers kept
trying a useful concept for them, and in the summer
of 2001 Ferrania introduced a new model using
mirrors in the light path to keep with the small
size. With a plastic body with some cardboard
printed external parts, they were also a good pro-
motional tool for companies and events, making
them a favorite for a cheap camera collection.
The modern revival of black and white photo-
graphy led to the disposable black and white cam-
era using traditional film or modern films based in
color negative film technology, and able to be
developed in the ever present ‘‘one hour lab.’’
Konica even started producing their black and
white chromogenic film first for use in disposables
and only then sold it as a separate film. Even
instant photography went into disposable, with
the added difficulty of the price of some camera
parts, mainly the rollers needed to develop the film.
The APS format launched in 1996 was sup-
posed to be a revolution in disposable cameras.
The basic idea of reducing the film frame, as it
was more than adequate for the small prints
most costumers wanted, was that it could be
applied to the disposable camera market. Cam-
eras could be made smaller with shorter lens and
greater depth of field (useful in fixed focus cam-
eras). The panoramic format could be used in the
same camera along with the two other APS for-
mats. Most important was the idea that the
newer APS disposable cameras could give a
start to the changes in photo-finishing business
needed to adopt the new format. As with most
things in this format, things actually were not up
to what was expected and APS seems to repre-
sent only a small part of the single use camera
market, even if these new cameras are smaller
and, sometimes, pretty.
Disposables did not meet the same success in
every market. Japan seems to be the place where
the concept met a higher success, with a series of
accessories, including motor drives and optical
complements, available for disposables. The cur-
rent shift towards digital seems to have cooled
down the disposable market; however, disposable
camera image quality is still much better than
cheap digital cameras can achieve.
The term disposable is not a very accurate one.
The cameras are not actually disposed of, most of
its parts are reused or recycled. The terms ‘‘ready to
photograph’’ or ‘‘single use camera’’ seem more
accurate. The unpublicized fact that the cameras
are user re-loadable and quite simple technically
led to its use in school projects, making it a cheap
way of getting a large number of simple and good
quality cameras; it has also found favor in someCAMERA: DISPOSABLE