9:53 "There are three modes - APS-P for panoramic, APS-H for high definition, and APS-C..." holy fuck it's like a lightbulb went off in my head! So THAT'S why crop DSLR sensors are called that!
I had the Canon EOS IX. Coolest things about APS over 35mm: 1) Prints would have the capture date/time, speed, aperture recorded on the back 2) Ordering reprints was super easy -- just look at the index print, hand the canister to your processor and tell them "i want #10, 12, 35". No more fumbling through a drawer/envelope of scratched negatives, holding negatives up to the light to see if it's the right picture, etc. 3) Mid-roll change. You could take half a roll of color, then change it out for the C-41 black and white. Then switch back to color. 4) No chance of accidentally opening the film door and losing your pics. 5) The impossibly small size of the Canon Elph. Frustrations: 1) Often the canisters were fragile and the plastic cogs/door/etc. would break when being wound/rewound/etc. 2) Poor image quality due to the stupidly small negative size. 3) Limited film choices. There was a good option to scan APS, BTW -- Nikon made an APS adapter for their CoolScan products. (If anyone wants to buy one, get in touch!)
Very futuristic! The images looked like smartphone shots format-wise. I still regret not objecting to my niece when she asked which system to go for back then. Mistakes were made. But the main idea is to take pictures in the end, so all is not bad. And it comforts me to read all the positive comments about the system. Thank you for a great review.
Man, just found this channel. It's been impossible not to keeping binging. You got a great vibe and everything is very informative. I really appreciate the effort you put in, it shows. I'm also just sooooo happy to find a film channel that goes into the history of the film and camera's we love. Pumped to see more!!!!!!
Man what a great video... i love film but for some reason just ignored this format amd lumped it in with 126 etc. Really informative video. Great work man
I was given one of the point and shoot APS cameras by my mom for a birthday... or Christmas... not really sure. But boy did that thing take a beating and keep on chugging right along up until I started taking a photographable class in high school. Didn’t even think twice about it until I learned they made SLRs for the system. Now I’ve become somewhat obsessed.
I got one of those canon APS SLR camera's and I Love it! Got a wide angle lens on it for awesome landscape photography. I shoot everything in the 4x7 format, native picture size for APS. This is one format that's super fun to shoot and really wish Kodak or any film company such as Lomography would bring back. Totally awesome and while I still have tons of film the results leave much to be desired. The Darkroom.com does a awesome job at developing APS. Write all the remaining film manufacturers and tell them to bring back APS!
I have a bunch of these IX240 film canisters and that Kodak catalog case. I just got into film photography so I was really confused when I found these in our basement. One of the canisters is even unprocessed. I'm looking forward to sending it away for processing and scanning.
Great video. This is like a documentary about the history of photo technology rather than a camera review. I like stories about "what were they thinking" failures too, this one sits right on the line and makes it even more interesting.
Great stuff, it sure brought back some memories. I did invest in some of the APS, bought me a Minolta Vectis S-1 and lenses, plus later a Canon IXUS of the smallest kind they made to be able to take the camera everywhere. It would be fun to see a review of the Minolta Vectis APS system cameras and your take of the system and lenses.
My daughter was born 1992... & photos have never been developed.. When you mentioned bout the the number 3... I have 12 with the white mark on 4..But 3 of the cartridges are on 3... I do hope they are the ones I've been looking for all these years... Now it's finding some where who might develop them for me...
My friend used to develop aps or advantix film and he said he hated it because it was so much extra work to set up the equipment required for the process.
I saw this video a while ago and decided to test the APS waters by myself. I got myself a Canon EOS IX (arguably the only good looking Canon SLR or DSLR out there), and a little Kodak Advantix Preview just for the sake of it. Good news, I love that you can swap your film between them without risking any empty frames. Love the compact SLR size, and love the cartridge’s versatility, portability and ratio possibilities. Bad news, I will need to ship my film to the US in order to get it developed. Apparently there’s not one lab in Mexico still processing these. Thanks for bringing this system to my attention!
Had a nice waterproof APS Camera and it floated unlike recent waterproof digital cameras which sink like stone as I found out when Digital Camera went over board !!
Try Rapide System I like my vectis APS Canera ut was small neat well made and i had the weatherproof one great for sailing and as a point and shoot very acceptable..
Great review. You deserve a lot more subscribers. My first APS camera was a P&S disaster of a camera by Fuji (would never focus correctly, so many blurred photos) and then I moved to Elph Jr.... absolutely loved it. It lasted til the digital P&S started getting a foothold. Also got a Nikon Pronia 6i kit from Ritz when they did clearance.
I recently grabbed an Olympus iZoom 2000 from a Good Will where I live, I bummed a roll of APS off a pal of mine who had some dusty ones sitting on a shelf at his house. I can't wait to see what I get from this roll.
Actually they had APS on the front of 2 issues: March 1996 popular photography magazine August 1996 popular photography magazine I think i still have a camera that takes Advantix film. I found the film extremely convenient. I would like to have that archive case full of 12 new rolls of 400 speed film. I still love APS!
I grew up using this film format, after I graduated from 110. Lol I’d love to see a continuation of this series, maybe the next episode could be about Instamatics. And maybe shoot and test a modified 126 cartridge.
Hello Azriel, I got a nice Canon EF from 1975 and you definitely should try out one of these! It takes normal 625 Batteries,it has a Metal Blade Shutter that works vertically and it feels like Butter.Its very solid and the Light metering is very acurate. I love this Camera,maybe because its the same production year than myself :-)
I have an old Point and Shoot APS in a drawer someplace. I bought it just to try it out. I shot maybe 5 or 6 rolls of film with it. That was about it. Then in 2000. I bought my Fujifilm MX-2900 Zoom 2.3mega pixel digital camera. I now use a Canon 5D mark III and a Canon 80D. For Film shooting I use an old Canon Rebel G.
Azriel Knight I feel like I have the perfect camera set with my Rebel G for film. My 5D mark III for its full frame sensor and my 80D for a well built crop framed sensor. I love your channel and how you review them. I started out on my Dads Minoltas. An SRT-201 and his Minolta X-9. I have an adapter for those lenses so I can shoot with them on my Canons.
What I liked about the format is that relatives who took pictures seemed more likely to keep the cartridges around where the film was safe compared to other loose film formats where negatives and slides were either tossed after prints were made or all lumped together in a box to be scratched and stuck together when later someone wanted to scan the originals. Having the original negative is better than scanning the print from that negative every time, but other than that, larger film formats win out on quality if one has the originals.
My two aps cameras a Yashica compact (170£) and a APS SLR were good to use and were handling wise very much like the Digital Cameras that replaced them. I suppose they were test bed for features to come..
Love this series man, I learned a ton from it when I was just startig out. Have you had a look into the Yashica Electro 35? It is an early 70s rangefinder with early aperature priority. I bought a few not knowing what they were and have learned a ton by fixing them up.
I bought a kodak APS Point and shoot to try it out and I liked it. I still have my film and prints and had some put onto my kodak photo CDs . I wish I could find where I put the camera. It's in a box somewhere. In 2012 when I bought my first DSLR. A canon T3i i didnt hit me right away that they reffered to the cropped sensor as an APS-C size sensor and that it's the same size as this film. But now i get 32.5MP out of my 90D.
@@AzrielKnight I even have some of those cases to hold my film cartridges in too. Now if only I could find my camera lol plus tommorow in the mail I'll be getting a brand new Portable Kodak photo CD player I found online.
I know this is an older video but I've always been curious about this film and cameras. Really cool video and information. I would never use this system though. It's too expensive for what I shoot.
I’d completely wiped the entire system from my memory, and I found the video fascinating! I have a couple of EOS cameras so I can use my modern glass and it really does make a difference. Great video that I thoroughly enjoyed and personally I’d love a review of the Olympus OM system next, but I think I might have mentioned this before.
The only APS film camera I have is my mom’s old Minolta Vectis 2000. She doesn’t use it anymore I rarely use it. Only twice. Good results the first time with Expired Kodak and horrible the second time.
I was fascinated with the small size of aps cameras when i was a student but never bought into it because it was generally more expensive than 35mm and offered no real useful advantages to justify the extra cost. I’m curious to try out aps cameras now but i wonder if it possible re-use an aps cartridge by rolling in some fresh film from bulk. I don’t want to be stuck with expired films
You should do a review of the Minolta SRT 102 (303 in europe, Super in japan). The flagship of the SRT series, and one of the best clockwork cameras ever made.
No surprise that a format based on ease of use manages to make everything more complicated. Imagine what someone confounded by loading a 35mm cassette would make of the rear of the Canon : / APS was a solution looking for a problem. In fact every innovation by Kodak was an attempt to reduce film costs, lower image quality and hog the market, in the guise of democratising photography. APS was pure novelty and appealed to novelty seekers only.
Maybe a review on the Kodak "Instamatic" format would be good. Its somehow similar to Aps since it was designed to simplify film loading.Maybe show how to reload the old 126 cartridges with 35mm. You could also focus on 110 since they still make that.
WOW. Azriel You really nail it well info. you have informed this info. very well I love what you did you have all the resources about APS FILMS I never knew about it the part that blew my mind was in this video is that KODAK had cameras that used to have LCD ability to see picture on the camera in colors like the Digital DSLR but intead it is a film camera besides having the three options of Film Plant sizes like Panorama, Squere or Regaler Film Plant Negative and they also had device where you can see on TV the picture you took before and also film case to store it films with photos and oreganal film in case too but I agree that it is true KODAK didn't think about the distribution capabilities of the business wisely for consumer to find places where peoples can go to devilopes ther films and a reasonable price. what they needed to is opening a new store in this country.
Great Vid - I love APS and still shoot a lot of it through my IX - In fact I used up two rolls this weekend. I've always enjoyed the multi-format photos. There is a active usergroup on Facebook.
These days I view APS film as a high-end subcompact system. Words of warning to those wanting to try it out : (1) Buy your film SEALED or make sure you TRUST the seller. (2) MAKE SURE the tab to the right of the number 3 on the cartridge has NOT been broken. I have not seen one YT vid that addresses this issue. It is easy to tamper with the cartridge to make it look like a new roll. (3) Film can get stuck in the camera. Soooo not good!
Hi Azial I find your film dev videos very useful. As for what camera to review next; How about Bronica etrsi with P series lenses also the fugi 6/7 against the Mamiya.
Professionals was sceptic towards APS film system from day one, and with the reason. On the other hand, some of the features APS had will possibly be revoked in Reflecta Kickstarter project if it survives, like stored metadata...
Wonderful video, very informativel. Thanks for pointing this out to me. Now I have to watch all the others in the series. :-) BTW, you missed the number one reason why pros did not buy into the system. What film is in the camera? As early the Nikon F2, there was a slot in the back to hold a box top. The later 35mm cameras had a window so you could read the film type directly off of the cartridge. APS cameras? No slot, no window and no indication on the LCD. I can understand it on a point and shoot, but the Pronea 6i, Vectis S1 and EOS IX were high end cameras at high end prices. (you can read the ISO) Since you can't open the camera without working batteries, and the film is wound back into the cassette, I have seen many APS SLRs that were sold as back door stuck. When they arrived, they still had film in them. :-)
What a great synopsis, Az! I was just a casual consumer back then, but I had several APS cameras during that time. I DROOLED over the Nikon Pronea but just couldn’t afford them so I opted for the Nuvis. I have purchased a few Proneas this past year just trying to get a working one; each one has a “dying” motor and gives me just error messages. I got a Nuvis too, which seems to work ok, but I have yet to finish the roll. So, would we need to send the film to a specialist for developing then? We can still get APS film online maybe I should stock up a bit to make sure I get a little more life out of the cameras?
I had my APS developed at the drug store. If you're in a major city you might be in luck. As far as I know, you have to seek out old rolls of APS film. Thanks for watching Dave, glad I could help you on your trip down memory lane ;)
Yeah, I don't have any problem shipping it somewhere if necessary, but I wouldn't want to do it all the time. I guess it depends on whether the shop has that expensive developing gear created for it. I imagine most places, if they ever had it, got rid of it long ago.
Now that I think of it, APS sounds like a 35mm version of Kodak's 126 Instamatic system. I saw it in the photo magazines of the time and passed, preferring the skills perfected by using Ye Olde Leica IIIa.
Not really a Leica fan, since the IIIa and a late IIIf are the models that I own. Cited as a basic, no-frills learning camera of the 1960's. As a user of rangefinder 35mm cameras, I much prefer a Canon P as my "Leica M3 substitute."
While i´ve sold aps Film in the past, i´ve never used it. I just don´t like being that limited in my own choices. even with the cheapest point and shoot i can push and pull film, or use lomo stuff etc.. Nice video anyway!
That's a good point. I think it has some merits though. Like if I want to shoot something with two different films, I can swap my film and it will advance to a fresh frame. Also sometimes I like going to the 1Hr photo and this gives me an excuse.
Interesting! Is it possible for hobbyists to process this film themselves? i.e. is the film still E-6 for slide-film, C-41 for color, and so forth? Or was the chemistry also different?
Yeah, same chems. I'm pretty sure all they made were c-41 based films. I successfully developed a roll once by just dumping it in the tank and hoping it didn't stick together, it didn't. The bare negative I used as an example is from that self process.
were you using a hand tank? did you dump the whole canister in or unroll the film and dump it in a bigger tank? wanna figure out how to process this stuff myself!
Azriel Knight I have. I just need to get it repaired. Also leicaflexes are pretty inexpensive for a vintage Leica. The r system is largely dead. So unless you buy fast lenses or exotic lenses, they're a great entry into Leica.
Man they should have made ups 35mm a (and eventually larger film sizes) and then licensed it. #NOW all film cameras would have the ability to "hot swap unfinished canisters, for different type film canisters" while out shooting using a version of APS drop in canisters. No one would be threading film and having threading accidents
It sucks that it failed. I’ve used aps on a Minolta and it seemed to be so easy and hassle free. I couldn’t believe it. Goes to show you how not everything that seems good could be a winner.
Thanks for the comment Rod! I can see why APS is divided, it's sorta like the new Macbook pros. Seamless workflow, but a little under powered and you can't get into them :)
@@AzrielKnight I just purchased a Moskva-4. It's on a journey from the Ukraine to California. I was on the hunt for an affordable 6x9 120 film camera and this unit was perfect. I looked at the Zeiss super Ikonta becuase it had a coupled range finder. They were running $300+. I read an article on the Moskva (meaning Moskow) cameras. They were produced after World War II in Russia instead of Germany and copied some of the same Parts as the Zeiss ikonta cameras. They're amazing looking folding bellows cameras with a massive negative. It would be a fascinating topic for a show unless I missed the video where you already covered that. I've seen almost all your videos. A good title might be "From Russia with Love"?
Probably what really killed aps, or at least the final nail in its coffin, was the digital revolution. Between 96 and 2k digicams started getting better and better and more and more affordable. By 2002 you could make decent prints from an entry-level DSLR. In 2004 there was a megashift when entire camera store inventories were appearing on Ebay and it seems that was the year the world went digital en masse. A couple years later you could get a brand new digicam for under 200 bucks that was good enough for 8x10 prints. APS could very well have been the next big thing if it hadn't been for digital. And the APS sensor size is with us to this day, and may even get good enough one day to make full-frame cams unnecessary. (Notwithstanding Nikon's and Canon's recent taking on of the full-frame mirrorless market)
It will never be possible to make an APS-sensor give as good images as a full-frame sensor because it is not possible to make the wavelength of visible light smaller. Think of light as being the brush with which you paint your picture. If you use a smaller canvas, but the brush remains the same size, then there will necessarily be less detail in the picture.
I wonder what would happen if digital cameras never came to market, or at least were delayed by maybe a decade. APS would have a much bigger influence than it did
I agree. It was a decent system for the average consumer. Would have been nice to see black & white and a way to develop at home without ruining the canister though.
I have. The cartridge is hard to open, especially in the dark. You could customize a spool I guess but I risked dumping in the tank on its own with the center column. Luckily I didn't get any overlapping. Scanning and sleeving will also be a pain. You can do what I did and practice on a mystery roll from an abandoned camera. My advice is most of the fun of APS is taking it in and getting the prints, At least for me. I only shoot it every couple years though.
I have another APS camera that I have been meaning to test. If you'd like to donate some film my address is as follows Azriel Knight PO Box 75100 Calgary, AB T2K 6J8 Thanks so much for the offer!
The penny has finally dropped why aps film failed Rosie O'Donnell in their advertising lol. I actually just found a unexposed roll a a drawer and several processed rolls that I might open and see how they scan.
im surprised they kept making the film for so long. I feel like by 07' or so the only people i knew who still used film were the ones who *really* liked it, and they always used 35mm or larger formats. Besides, did they really think it would compete with the emerging digital cameras? Even then they must have realized it was dangerous to put so much money into it, and i feel like it was a last ditch effort to keep film as the main photographic medium
Somebody know how to modify ISO value to overexpose in order to compensate the age on the film? To apply the rule of 1 stop overexposure for every 10 years.
I LOVED APS it was the perfect point and shoot film format. lower quality? nope. only if you blew it up. for 99% of people in 99% of usages they will NEVER notice a difference. if your more advanced (pro or otherwise) your going to have nice gear. my Canon 5Ds woops my IX's ass of course. 🙂 I still have my original ELPH and was super stoked to now get an ELPH 2 for $12 mint! :-) also if you want to play don't get the IX LITE get the IX or IXE (same cam just japan release) its built like a freaking TANK !! Metal ! I wish I had known about this 20 years ago though I doubt I could have afforded it then 😞 I also grabbed a pronia and a vectus (nikon and minolta) for shiggles. they are so cheap now !!! I got my IX for $22 shipped !! mint! I am hoping to work on making my own "film cutter" since its pretty hard to get film at a reasonable price anymore though I did just score 12 rolls of 40exp for $35 $3 a roll ? I can live with that. some people are insane trying to ask $18 a roll !!! Being able to slap my nice Canon Glass on here is so nice!! I wonder if I can mod it to accept EFS glass. optically it should work fine its purely mechanical that it won't fit. with them being so cheap to buy I might snag another and try hacking up the EF mount a little. right now I primarily use my 40mm STM or my 70-200 2.8 mkii on it. the 40mm is fantastic on this. just the right all around mm's excellent quality fit perfectly like it was made for it!
@@AzrielKnight Nice it has a few lenses but also takes niko f mount. there is also the minolta vectus you can get pretty cheap !! I got the pronia 6i and what really cool is I also got a kodak dcs 330 which is based on the pronia 6i body !! cool. no idea if it works or not. hoping I can build a new battery for it.
I worked in photographic retail in the UK from 1994 through to 2006 and I can assure you this was nothing more than a cash generating collaboration. They wanted to give a reason for the public to have to replace their perfectly acceptable 35mm cameras. Most of the advertised 'features' were not supported by the processing labs and the quality was never on a par with 35mm. We resisted selling them until we were inundated with requests which just goes to prove that advertising really does work on a gullible public. Awful system. Awful.
"this old camera" has got to be the best video series I've ever seen
+Martin Lopez holy shit thank you!
9:53 "There are three modes - APS-P for panoramic, APS-H for high definition, and APS-C..." holy fuck it's like a lightbulb went off in my head! So THAT'S why crop DSLR sensors are called that!
lol, yup, pretty neat :)
I love this series. I used the APS all thru college. It was great from a consumer standpoint but too little too late. Digital FTW.
I had the Canon EOS IX. Coolest things about APS over 35mm:
1) Prints would have the capture date/time, speed, aperture recorded on the back
2) Ordering reprints was super easy -- just look at the index print, hand the canister to your processor and tell them "i want #10, 12, 35". No more fumbling through a drawer/envelope of scratched negatives, holding negatives up to the light to see if it's the right picture, etc.
3) Mid-roll change. You could take half a roll of color, then change it out for the C-41 black and white. Then switch back to color.
4) No chance of accidentally opening the film door and losing your pics.
5) The impossibly small size of the Canon Elph.
Frustrations:
1) Often the canisters were fragile and the plastic cogs/door/etc. would break when being wound/rewound/etc.
2) Poor image quality due to the stupidly small negative size.
3) Limited film choices.
There was a good option to scan APS, BTW -- Nikon made an APS adapter for their CoolScan products. (If anyone wants to buy one, get in touch!)
Very futuristic! The images looked like smartphone shots format-wise.
I still regret not objecting to my niece when she asked which system to go for back then.
Mistakes were made. But the main idea is to take pictures in the end, so all is not bad.
And it comforts me to read all the positive comments about the system.
Thank you for a great review.
Great stuff. I loved my Minolta APS cameras. There was a fun yellow under water one I used when scuba diving.
Nice, having something compact but semi pro underwater must have been nice.
Man, just found this channel. It's been impossible not to keeping binging. You got a great vibe and everything is very informative. I really appreciate the effort you put in, it shows. I'm also just sooooo happy to find a film channel that goes into the history of the film and camera's we love. Pumped to see more!!!!!!
Man what a great video... i love film but for some reason just ignored this format amd lumped it in with 126 etc. Really informative video. Great work man
Thanks very much Bill!
I was given one of the point and shoot APS cameras by my mom for a birthday... or Christmas... not really sure. But boy did that thing take a beating and keep on chugging right along up until I started taking a photographable class in high school. Didn’t even think twice about it until I learned they made SLRs for the system. Now I’ve become somewhat obsessed.
It is a neat little system.
I got one of those canon APS SLR camera's and I Love it! Got a wide angle lens on it for awesome landscape photography. I shoot everything in the 4x7 format, native picture size for APS. This is one format that's super fun to shoot and really wish Kodak or any film company such as Lomography would bring back. Totally awesome and while I still have tons of film the results leave much to be desired. The Darkroom.com does a awesome job at developing APS. Write all the remaining film manufacturers and tell them to bring back APS!
I have a bunch of these IX240 film canisters and that Kodak catalog case. I just got into film photography so I was really confused when I found these in our basement.
One of the canisters is even unprocessed. I'm looking forward to sending it away for processing and scanning.
Great video. This is like a documentary about the history of photo technology rather than a camera review. I like stories about "what were they thinking" failures too, this one sits right on the line and makes it even more interesting.
Yeah, I'd imagine This Old House didn't always have episodes about houses so that's where I justify the name ;)
Thanks,I just found my mom didnt process one of those so I'm gonna do it to see our old family photos lost in time hehe
Great stuff, it sure brought back some memories. I did invest in some of the APS, bought me a Minolta Vectis S-1 and lenses, plus later a Canon IXUS of the smallest kind they made to be able to take the camera everywhere.
It would be fun to see a review of the Minolta Vectis APS system cameras and your take of the system and lenses.
I added a listing on eBay to my watch list so I remember that....you never know ;)
I loved getting those panoramic prints back, it was so cool. But expensive to develop.
My daughter was born 1992...
& photos have never been developed.. When you mentioned bout the the number 3...
I have 12 with the white mark on 4..But 3 of the cartridges are on 3...
I do hope they are the ones I've been looking for all these years... Now it's finding some where who might develop them for me...
Well done! Just purchased my first APS camera to try out. :)
Come hang out on the Discord and let us know how it turns out! discord.gg/4XndbGvV
My friend used to develop aps or advantix film and he said he hated it because it was so much extra work to set up the equipment required for the process.
I'm curious what they would have to do.
I saw this video a while ago and decided to test the APS waters by myself. I got myself a Canon EOS IX (arguably the only good looking Canon SLR or DSLR out there), and a little Kodak Advantix Preview just for the sake of it. Good news, I love that you can swap your film between them without risking any empty frames. Love the compact SLR size, and love the cartridge’s versatility, portability and ratio possibilities. Bad news, I will need to ship my film to the US in order to get it developed. Apparently there’s not one lab in Mexico still processing these. Thanks for bringing this system to my attention!
That sucks no one is there to develop it, I hope they come back ok.
Had a nice waterproof APS Camera and it floated unlike recent waterproof digital cameras which sink like stone as I found out when Digital Camera went over board !!
It's -titanium- metal, you idiot.
Try Rapide System
I like my vectis APS Canera ut was small neat well made and i had the weatherproof one great for sailing and as a point and shoot very acceptable..
Great review. You deserve a lot more subscribers. My first APS camera was a P&S disaster of a camera by Fuji (would never focus correctly, so many blurred photos) and then I moved to Elph Jr.... absolutely loved it. It lasted til the digital P&S started getting a foothold. Also got a Nikon Pronia 6i kit from Ritz when they did clearance.
Elph jr is a great little camera, I've had a lot of fun with it. How did you like the Pronia?
I recently grabbed an Olympus iZoom 2000 from a Good Will where I live, I bummed a roll of APS off a pal of mine who had some dusty ones sitting on a shelf at his house. I can't wait to see what I get from this roll.
Would love to find out how it goes.
Great to see this series back, more more more :)
Thanks Richard!
Ive got a Leica C11 APS camera...the design is so beautiful and minimalist and you should see the white plastic case....
A Leica aps, that's crazy!
Actually they had APS on the front of 2 issues:
March 1996 popular photography magazine
August 1996 popular photography magazine
I think i still have a camera that takes Advantix film.
I found the film extremely convenient.
I would like to have that archive case full of 12 new rolls of 400 speed film.
I still love APS!
I grew up using this film format, after I graduated from 110. Lol I’d love to see a continuation of this series, maybe the next episode could be about Instamatics. And maybe shoot and test a modified 126 cartridge.
I am for sure going to touch on the other formats. Thanks for the suggestion :)
Hello Azriel,
I got a nice Canon EF from 1975 and you definitely should try out one of these!
It takes normal 625 Batteries,it has a Metal Blade Shutter that works vertically and it feels like Butter.Its very solid and the Light metering is very acurate.
I love this Camera,maybe because its the same production year than myself :-)
I have an old Point and Shoot APS in a drawer someplace. I bought it just to try it out. I shot maybe 5 or 6 rolls of film with it. That was about it. Then in 2000. I bought my Fujifilm MX-2900 Zoom 2.3mega pixel digital camera. I now use a Canon 5D mark III and a Canon 80D. For Film shooting I use an old Canon Rebel G.
Rebel G is a solid camera. I'm still rocking a 5D Mark ii!
Azriel Knight I feel like I have the perfect camera set with my Rebel G for film. My 5D mark III for its full frame sensor and my 80D for a well built crop framed sensor. I love your channel and how you review them. I started out on my Dads Minoltas. An SRT-201 and his Minolta X-9. I have an adapter for those lenses so I can shoot with them on my Canons.
What I liked about the format is that relatives who took pictures seemed more likely to keep the cartridges around where the film was safe compared to other loose film formats where negatives and slides were either tossed after prints were made or all lumped together in a box to be scratched and stuck together when later someone wanted to scan the originals. Having the original negative is better than scanning the print from that negative every time, but other than that, larger film formats win out on quality if one has the originals.
That's a good point.
This film or camera failed me at my cousin’s wedding. Never used it again
My two aps cameras a Yashica compact (170£) and a APS SLR were good to use and were handling wise very much like the Digital Cameras that replaced them.
I suppose they were test bed for features to come..
Never heard of this camera. Pretty cool ideas!
Love this series man, I learned a ton from it when I was just startig out. Have you had a look into the Yashica Electro 35? It is an early 70s rangefinder with early aperature priority. I bought a few not knowing what they were and have learned a ton by fixing them up.
Thanks for the comment Nick I'm glad I could help. I think I came across one of those once but it didn't work. I'll keep my eyes peeled!
Excellent stuff, a great trip down memory lane ( yes I'm that old lol) :-P
lol, to be fair you could still buy this in stores within the last decade ;)
I bought a kodak APS Point and shoot to try it out and I liked it. I still have my film and prints and had some put onto my kodak photo CDs . I wish I could find where I put the camera. It's in a box somewhere. In 2012 when I bought my first DSLR. A canon T3i i didnt hit me right away that they reffered to the cropped sensor as an APS-C size sensor and that it's the same size as this film. But now i get 32.5MP out of my 90D.
Thanks for sharing, The APS system is fun to pick up every now and then, for sure.
@@AzrielKnight I even have some of those cases to hold my film cartridges in too. Now if only I could find my camera lol plus tommorow in the mail I'll be getting a brand new Portable Kodak photo CD player I found online.
I know this is an older video but I've always been curious about this film and cameras. Really cool video and information. I would never use this system though. It's too expensive for what I shoot.
I’d completely wiped the entire system from my memory, and I found the video fascinating! I have a couple of EOS cameras so I can use my modern glass and it really does make a difference. Great video that I thoroughly enjoyed and personally I’d love a review of the Olympus OM system next, but I think I might have mentioned this before.
Thanks very much Mark. If I every get my hands on an Olympus that works, I'll at least do a first impressions.
I really wish APS was actually not discontinued, it would be a very good film format
The only APS film camera I have is my mom’s old Minolta Vectis 2000. She doesn’t use it anymore I rarely use it. Only twice. Good results the first time with Expired Kodak and horrible the second time.
I was fascinated with the small size of aps cameras when i was a student but never bought into it because it was generally more expensive than 35mm and offered no real useful advantages to justify the extra cost. I’m curious to try out aps cameras now but i wonder if it possible re-use an aps cartridge by rolling in some fresh film from bulk. I don’t want to be stuck with expired films
Never tried rerolling, might be tough to put one of those spools back together.
I used this! Jeez, I've got all that stuff stored up someplace. Probably no way to process it again these days.
My local London Drugs still takes APS film, you'd be surprised.
Great review thanks never gave aps a thought as I'd gone digital early on. Now I'm back with film going to give it try. Thanks again.
You should do a review of the Minolta SRT 102 (303 in europe, Super in japan). The flagship of the SRT series, and one of the best clockwork cameras ever made.
No surprise that a format based on ease of use manages to make everything more complicated. Imagine what someone confounded by loading a 35mm cassette would make of the rear of the Canon : / APS was a solution looking for a problem. In fact every innovation by Kodak was an attempt to reduce film costs, lower image quality and hog the market, in the guise of democratising photography. APS was pure novelty and appealed to novelty seekers only.
While it is fun to look back on these and play with the system, I have to agree to some extent.
Maybe a review on the Kodak "Instamatic" format would be good. Its somehow similar to Aps since it was designed to simplify film loading.Maybe show how to reload the old 126 cartridges with 35mm. You could also focus on 110 since they still make that.
I did an episode on The Pentax Auto 110 but I wasn't very happy with it.
th-cam.com/video/I7y_BRChw8I/w-d-xo.html
WOW. Azriel You really nail it well info. you have informed this info. very well I love what you did you have all the resources about APS FILMS I never knew about it the part that blew my mind was in this video is that KODAK had cameras that used to have LCD ability to see picture on the camera in colors like the Digital DSLR but intead it is a film camera besides having the three options of Film Plant sizes like Panorama, Squere or Regaler Film Plant Negative and they also had device where you can see on TV the picture you took before and also film case to store it films with photos and oreganal film in case too but I agree that it is true KODAK didn't think about the distribution capabilities of the business wisely for consumer to find places where peoples can go to devilopes ther films and a reasonable price. what they needed to is opening a new store in this country.
I think the instamatic series would be a great next step.
I’m hoping the rolls of film I sent in October made it safely over to you Azriel.
+Glen Rea they did thanks so much. Doing a mailtime soon.
Azriel Knight excellent. I was worried about them as I couldn’t get a tracked delivery service!
Great Vid - I love APS and still shoot a lot of it through my IX - In fact I used up two rolls this weekend. I've always enjoyed the multi-format photos. There is a active usergroup on Facebook.
S. Templeton how do you get your film ? Give me advice plz I recently got a TIX and wanna get good results with it
Hol’ up… was that McMurray in the commercial at the beginning!?
How do you develop aps film
A nice history lesson as to where APS & APS-C sensors come from....
Thank you :)
Wow, great video. Thanks for putting this together.
Thanks very much!
Next format to Review
AGFA RAPID CARTRIDGE
Like 35mm but no spindle !!
I think a review on 126 would be cool. There is a company that 3D prints cattridges you can load with 35 yourself. I think 126 was a forgotten format.
Could you please send me the link to that company?
I PMed it to you. It is called the Fakmatic made in Italy.
These days I view APS film as a high-end subcompact system.
Words of warning to those wanting to try it out : (1) Buy your film SEALED or make sure you TRUST the seller. (2) MAKE SURE the tab to the right of the number 3 on the cartridge has NOT been broken. I have not seen one YT vid that addresses this issue. It is easy to tamper with the cartridge to make it look like a new roll. (3) Film can get stuck in the camera. Soooo not good!
Sorry for my late reply. this was incorrectly marked as spam.
Thanks for the tip!
Hi Azial I find your film dev videos very useful. As for what camera to review next; How about Bronica etrsi with P series lenses also the fugi 6/7 against the Mamiya.
I would love to shoot those cameras but I'm afraid it comes down to a budget issue. Someday ;)
Professionals was sceptic towards APS film system from day one, and with the reason. On the other hand, some of the features APS had will possibly be revoked in Reflecta Kickstarter project if it survives, like stored metadata...
Looks like the format survived in sensors anyway.
Amazing episode, thank you Azriel!
Thanks so much :)
This was really interesting. Thanks for a terrific video. Video ideas ... How about a history of Photo Booths?
Please continue this segment.
Working on a new episode now :)
@@AzrielKnight Yay thank you I'll be turning notifications on :)
Went to thift store and it had a weird looking flim in it. Thank you for the video!!!!
lol, no problem.
This canister looks like Yashica's digifilm scam!
you are now my fav TH-camr, hi from peru
Thanks Mel :)
Wonderful video, very informativel. Thanks for pointing this out to me. Now I have to watch all the others in the series. :-)
BTW, you missed the number one reason why pros did not buy into the system. What film is in the camera?
As early the Nikon F2, there was a slot in the back to hold a box top. The later 35mm cameras had a window so you could read the film type directly off of the cartridge. APS cameras? No slot, no window and no indication on the LCD. I can understand it on a point and shoot, but the Pronea 6i, Vectis S1 and EOS IX were high end cameras at high end prices. (you can read the ISO)
Since you can't open the camera without working batteries, and the film is wound back into the cassette, I have seen many APS SLRs that were sold as back door stuck. When they arrived, they still had film in them. :-)
That is a good point.
Wow, amazing video! Great review! Didn't know this system at all
Thanks so much! It is an odd format for sure.
Super fascinating! Thank you!!
Thanks :)
What a great synopsis, Az! I was just a casual consumer back then, but I had several APS cameras during that time. I DROOLED over the Nikon Pronea but just couldn’t afford them so I opted for the Nuvis. I have purchased a few Proneas this past year just trying to get a working one; each one has a “dying” motor and gives me just error messages. I got a Nuvis too, which seems to work ok, but I have yet to finish the roll.
So, would we need to send the film to a specialist for developing then? We can still get APS film online maybe I should stock up a bit to make sure I get a little more life out of the cameras?
I had my APS developed at the drug store. If you're in a major city you might be in luck.
As far as I know, you have to seek out old rolls of APS film.
Thanks for watching Dave, glad I could help you on your trip down memory lane ;)
Yeah, I don't have any problem shipping it somewhere if necessary, but I wouldn't want to do it all the time. I guess it depends on whether the shop has that expensive developing gear created for it. I imagine most places, if they ever had it, got rid of it long ago.
Now that I think of it, APS sounds like a 35mm version of Kodak's 126 Instamatic system. I saw it in the photo magazines of the time and passed, preferring the skills perfected by using Ye Olde Leica IIIa.
A Leica guy huh? I review my first in today's video (coming out about noon EST)
Not really a Leica fan, since the IIIa and a late IIIf are the models that I own. Cited as a basic, no-frills learning camera of the 1960's. As a user of rangefinder 35mm cameras, I much prefer a Canon P as my "Leica M3 substitute."
Great content once again Azriel. Keep 'em coming.
(still keeping my eyes peeled for the Fuji Mirrorless review) ;-)
While i´ve sold aps Film in the past, i´ve never used it. I just don´t like being that limited in my own choices. even with the cheapest point and shoot i can push and pull film, or use lomo stuff etc..
Nice video anyway!
That's a good point. I think it has some merits though. Like if I want to shoot something with two different films, I can swap my film and it will advance to a fresh frame. Also sometimes I like going to the 1Hr photo and this gives me an excuse.
Interesting! Is it possible for hobbyists to process this film themselves? i.e. is the film still E-6 for slide-film, C-41 for color, and so forth? Or was the chemistry also different?
Yeah, same chems. I'm pretty sure all they made were c-41 based films. I successfully developed a roll once by just dumping it in the tank and hoping it didn't stick together, it didn't. The bare negative I used as an example is from that self process.
were you using a hand tank? did you dump the whole canister in or unroll the film and dump it in a bigger tank? wanna figure out how to process this stuff myself!
Great video and info Azriel! Interesting stuff.
Thanks RUS!
Great overview, good work!
Thank you!
Wow, I thought this was a pure “point and shoot system”, incredible that they made SLR cameras for this film.
Really compact too. Thanks for watching.
I'd love to see a review on the Leica r system!
Happy holidays!
That would be a cash flow issue ;) Got a spare one kicking around? :)
Azriel Knight I have. I just need to get it repaired. Also leicaflexes are pretty inexpensive for a vintage Leica. The r system is largely dead. So unless you buy fast lenses or exotic lenses, they're a great entry into Leica.
Good to know thanks :)
Loved the video! *Subscribed* I wish APS was much easier to have developed.
Thanks :)
In defense of APS it kinda forces you to take it in like the old days to a 1 hr photo, which I think is important to keep alive.
Man they should have made ups 35mm a (and eventually larger film sizes) and then licensed it. #NOW all film cameras would have the ability to "hot swap unfinished canisters, for different type film canisters" while out shooting using a version of APS drop in canisters. No one would be threading film and having threading accidents
It sucks that it failed. I’ve used aps on a Minolta and it seemed to be so easy and hassle free. I couldn’t believe it. Goes to show you how not everything that seems good could be a winner.
Thanks for the comment Rod! I can see why APS is divided, it's sorta like the new Macbook pros. Seamless workflow, but a little under powered and you can't get into them :)
Predecessor of the APS-C digital format that we "Rebellionists" use ;)
Yuppers :)
Your videos are so entertaining. Another nice one.
That is very kind thank you.
@@AzrielKnight Really enjoy the content. Especially in these strange times. Keep it up.
Appreciate that. Any requests?
@@AzrielKnight I just purchased a Moskva-4. It's on a journey from the Ukraine to California. I was on the hunt for an affordable 6x9 120 film camera and this unit was perfect. I looked at the Zeiss super Ikonta becuase it had a coupled range finder. They were running $300+. I read an article on the Moskva (meaning Moskow) cameras. They were produced after World War II in Russia instead of Germany and copied some of the same Parts as the Zeiss ikonta cameras. They're amazing looking folding bellows cameras with a massive negative. It would be a fascinating topic for a show unless I missed the video where you already covered that. I've seen almost all your videos. A good title might be "From Russia with Love"?
Great video! Who developed your APS film?
London Drugs
I would like to see something on 127-film. Or anything.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Pentax Auto 110 system what kind of film to use to reload the cartridges
I don't think you can reload them.
Great video. What was the iso of the film that you shot on? 200?
100 for the colour and 400 for the B&W
Probably what really killed aps, or at least the final nail in its coffin, was the digital revolution. Between 96 and 2k digicams started getting better and better and more and more affordable. By 2002 you could make decent prints from an entry-level DSLR. In 2004 there was a megashift when entire camera store inventories were appearing on Ebay and it seems that was the year the world went digital en masse. A couple years later you could get a brand new digicam for under 200 bucks that was good enough for 8x10 prints. APS could very well have been the next big thing if it hadn't been for digital. And the APS sensor size is with us to this day, and may even get good enough one day to make full-frame cams unnecessary. (Notwithstanding Nikon's and Canon's recent taking on of the full-frame mirrorless market)
It will never be possible to make an APS-sensor give as good images as a full-frame sensor because it is not possible to make the wavelength of visible light smaller. Think of light as being the brush with which you paint your picture. If you use a smaller canvas, but the brush remains the same size, then there will necessarily be less detail in the picture.
I wonder what would happen if digital cameras never came to market, or at least were delayed by maybe a decade. APS would have a much bigger influence than it did
I agree. It was a decent system for the average consumer. Would have been nice to see black & white and a way to develop at home without ruining the canister though.
Always nice 👍🏽 videos !
Thanks Ramon!
Hey Azriel!
I was wondering if one would be able to develop this on their own? ( same as 35mm film)
I have. The cartridge is hard to open, especially in the dark. You could customize a spool I guess but I risked dumping in the tank on its own with the center column. Luckily I didn't get any overlapping.
Scanning and sleeving will also be a pain.
You can do what I did and practice on a mystery roll from an abandoned camera.
My advice is most of the fun of APS is taking it in and getting the prints, At least for me. I only shoot it every couple years though.
@@AzrielKnight Oh i see, Thank so much!
Do you still have that camera I got some of that film that I'm not using.
I have another APS camera that I have been meaning to test. If you'd like to donate some film my address is as follows
Azriel Knight
PO Box 75100
Calgary, AB T2K 6J8
Thanks so much for the offer!
So good
Hey Azriel, the link to the Kodak page deosn´t work. Could you maybe repost that please?
It's possible they removed it.
@@AzrielKnight Oh, well, not so great customer service...
The penny has finally dropped why aps film failed Rosie O'Donnell in their advertising lol. I actually just found a unexposed roll a a drawer and several processed rolls that I might open and see how they scan.
lol, you figured it out ;)
im surprised they kept making the film for so long. I feel like by 07' or so the only people i knew who still used film were the ones who *really* liked it, and they always used 35mm or larger formats. Besides, did they really think it would compete with the emerging digital cameras? Even then they must have realized it was dangerous to put so much money into it, and i feel like it was a last ditch effort to keep film as the main photographic medium
Awesome video!
Thank you :)
I always thought APS was magnetic tape. Please tell me I wasn’t the only one...
It is magnetized to hold information I think. Been awhile since I wrote this.
Oh shit a Snappy! I had one of those.
OOO, do tell!
I don't remember much about it unfortunately except that it was pretty awful. But you could use it to take screenshots from movies/TV.
I looked for one, no luck :(
Somebody know how to modify ISO value to overexpose in order to compensate the age on the film?
To apply the rule of 1 stop overexposure for every 10 years.
I LOVED APS it was the perfect point and shoot film format. lower quality? nope. only if you blew it up. for 99% of people in 99% of usages they will NEVER notice a difference.
if your more advanced (pro or otherwise) your going to have nice gear. my Canon 5Ds woops my IX's ass of course. 🙂
I still have my original ELPH and was super stoked to now get an ELPH 2 for $12 mint! :-) also if you want to play don't get the IX LITE get the IX or IXE (same cam just japan release)
its built like a freaking TANK !! Metal ! I wish I had known about this 20 years ago though I doubt I could have afforded it then 😞
I also grabbed a pronia and a vectus (nikon and minolta) for shiggles. they are so cheap now !!! I got my IX for $22 shipped !! mint!
I am hoping to work on making my own "film cutter" since its pretty hard to get film at a reasonable price anymore though I did just score 12 rolls of 40exp for $35 $3 a roll ? I can live with that. some people are insane trying to ask $18 a roll !!!
Being able to slap my nice Canon Glass on here is so nice!! I wonder if I can mod it to accept EFS glass. optically it should work fine its purely mechanical that it won't fit.
with them being so cheap to buy I might snag another and try hacking up the EF mount a little. right now I primarily use my 40mm STM or my 70-200 2.8 mkii on it. the 40mm is fantastic on this. just the right all around mm's excellent quality fit perfectly like it was made for it!
Thanks for sharing all that. I tend to agree. I also recently picked up a Pronia.
@@AzrielKnight Nice it has a few lenses but also takes niko f mount. there is also the minolta vectus you can get pretty cheap !!
I got the pronia 6i and what really cool is I also got a kodak dcs 330 which is based on the pronia 6i body !! cool. no idea if it works or not. hoping I can build a new battery for it.
I believe i also got the 6i and yeah looking forward to shooting my nikon glass with it.
I worked in photographic retail in the UK from 1994 through to 2006 and I can assure you this was nothing more than a cash generating collaboration. They wanted to give a reason for the public to have to replace their perfectly acceptable 35mm cameras. Most of the advertised 'features' were not supported by the processing labs and the quality was never on a par with 35mm. We resisted selling them until we were inundated with requests which just goes to prove that advertising really does work on a gullible public. Awful system. Awful.
Thanks for the comment David. I love reading about first hand accounts.
Do you know the model number off hand?