Dude, you are simply awesome, I have no other words. You did this video so well: professional talking, editing and filming; history of the format with commercials from the time; aquiring film from the last generation (that is likely to work); buying a proper camera, getting out there doing an actual field test; developing the film and showing properly done scans. This is how i´ts done guys and fellow TH-camrs out there. Most of the people would have either only talked about the history, or only shown the camera. If they would have gotten as far as taking pictures, they would have probably done it with long expired film which would not work without exposure compensation. They would most likely not have shown how you develop the film, and they for sure wouldn´t show proper scans or scans at all. Those are the videos you get angry about, and there are many out there of that kind. You proved that it can be done differently. Thank you!
The Disc 4000 was my first camera and I used it through my entire elementary school years. For me, the cons were: only 15 exposures, and you couldn't get discs with more due to the geometry of the disc; grainy pictures, as you said; the cost per 15-exposure disc was high compared to the cost of a 110 film roll; and, the cost to get them developed was higher as well. That being said, my 4000 was reliable enough to last a long time in the hands of a child, and I got a lot of use out of it because it was so portable. And yes, it was loud - the shutter and the mechanism to advance the disc both were pretty noisy compared to the more popular 110 cameras that were contemporaneous to the disc format.
Rooting around in an old negative box, I found 6 disk negatives! My dad was a camera buff back in the day, so he must have been intrigued to own a disc camera. If I look hard enough, I bet I can find the developed pics from them, but I'd actually would like to have the negatives scanned and indexed - but I don't necessarily want to spend a lot of money doing this (as I don't think there are priceless pics on them). It was a walk down memory lane watching Azriel use this camera :)
I worked at a photo lab in the late 90's and these would occasionally come in. Usually they'd been sitting around for years. The development process was a pain. It had its own machine and by the time a roll would come in the chemicals had been sitting so long that they'd probably gone bad so we had to drain the machine, refill with new chemicals and go through the process. Most of the time the disk was blank.
i had completely forgotten about this little 'beauty'! This, and the instamatic pocket 200 we had are the reason our family snaps were so crap during the 1980s!!!
Hey Azriel. I've just found your videos through dumb youtube luck but I'm so glad I did because they're great! I love the awesome pop culture references and the awesome 80s intros. Great cameras and information as well. Keep up the amazing work Mr. Knight!
That was fun to watch thanks. I'm surprised you got so much dust if you developed right away. Maybe it was where you hung it to dry. I don't get the dust labs were giving me if I process at home and scan promptly.
Just picked-up a Kodak disc 3100 tonight. I didn't know anything about it. I paid less than $1 for it, so if it doesn't work, it'll just be part of my nostalgic 1980's collection, along with VHS tapes, audio cassettes, and old boom boxes. I do want to find a disc and try taking some pictures. There is a certain charm to those old grainy pictures. I wouldn't document an important event with this thing, but I would love to have some fun with it.
I have a disc 6000 that hasn't been used since the mid 80's , and when i opened and closed the front panel, the battery and motor still worked! I still can't figure out how to remove or replace the battery though!
sir i have a kodakdisc8000 its vibrating when i click the captured button. but thr flash is not working. is it need to be have a film to work the flash or battery issue?
I worked at Kodak in the early 1980's so I didn't see the cameras before anyone else, BUT I handled the film developing it months before it was launched. Now I own one; a Minolta disc-7 with the support and attachment for the worlds first Selfie-stick! No, it wasn't invented with the mobile phones, it was by a Minolta engineer for their disc cameras.
Hi there great video, I have several disc negative's but i want to get a digital copy of them. What is the best way to get them scanned, I have seen video where u have to cut them, but dont wanna do that if I damage the negative they are the only ones that exist. I dont have original photo's to scan. Thank you and hope you can help me out
Would you make a video of yourself taking apart one of the broken ones you bought? Got mine for cheap at a vintage shop and its totally broken so I wanted to take it apart but I can't find screws or anything on the outside so I'm not sure where to start?
I had one just like the Disc 3600 camera you had there. I got as a 11th birthday present January 1987, replacing my hand me down, late 60's Kodak Instamatic 126 camera which was becoming harder to find flashbulbs for. I would say that the built in flash was the only benefit to the Kodak Disc as the pictures were not anywhere as good as the 126 camera that was a much larger film size (close to 135, but a 1:1 ratio rather than a 2:3 ratio). I think I used the disc little over a year and found my negatives in a box somewhere and I did run quite a bit of film through it as a kid as it was a convenient camera to shoot. Soon after I did switch to 35mm when my grandfather gave me his old Argus C3 which was about as opposite as you could get to the disc both in image quality and in ease of use. By the way, possibly the dis-colorization was due to the age of film, however I remember it being pretty grainy when it was new, so all in all, that 22 year old disc film did hold up pretty well (or at least looks as bad as it did back in the day, rather than worse) and, yes, those cameras were always that noisy. The 1980's were the beginning of the end for Kodak as not only was this camera a failure, but right before this they were dealing with Polaroid's lawsuit concerning Kodak's (far superior) Instant film and Instant film cameras.
Thanks so much for the info on developing. I found a "Perry" brand with an exposed film disc inside. It also came with a new/old unopened disc. Got everything for about $1 at an estate sale. Thanks
do you know where I can get a manual for a kodak disc 6000 camera or can you tell me how to replace the battery.. I just found it my shed..have NO idea how it got there-but it look almost new..THNXX
Manuals on Google. Most models did not have replaceable batteries and require modification. Some wot fire unless they have film in them as well.
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Nice vid - I would've liked mention of how many various models Kodak released. On top of those mentioned in the video, there were the 460, 470, 2500, 3000, 3100, 3500, 3550, 3600. 4100, 6100 and Hawkeye 7000 models plus Medalist I, Medalist II and Medalist Tele. Probably a couple more as well. 3:02 - Not very convinced that is German...
What 8 models do you have and which ones allow for battery replacement? I know some models have replaceable AA or 9v batteries. Most models however, like my 4000 have welded 123 batteries. I soldered new batteries into my 4000 so I think it is just broken.
@@AzrielKnight The ultimate resolution for an ideal camera system is determined by the wavelength of light, which for the middle of the visible spectrum is about 520 nm. Unlike a camera, it is impossible to miniaturize this quantity. Thus, as a rule of thumb, the diameter of the diffraction spot measured in micrometres on the sensor or film, produced by a point source of light is about 1.3 times the f-ratio of the lens. For example, if the aperture is set to f/4, then a point source of light will make a spot that is never smaller than about 5.2 µm in diameter. In practice, imperfections and aberrations in a real lens spread out the spot size. Given this information, and applying the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem, it trivial to calculate the equivalent resolution of a film frame or sensor in terms of megapixels for any f-ratio under ideal conditions.
I blind bought a lot of cameras off ebay three months ago and in the lot was an ANSCO Quick Star Disc Camera. Long story short. it had an exposed disc in it, I still haven't developed it. It also uses a manual mechanical advance in place of an electric powered advance. At first I couldn't get the flash to work at all, but I took some time and found that I needed to clean off the battery terminals. Now it fully fires. The only other issue I suppose is finding the film. It pops up every now and then but, not as often as you'd think. Thanks for the review. I hope I can find some film and play with my disc camera soon.
I was 12 years old when this came out! I remember the commercials well, especially during any major US holiday. Call me old school, but it was Great to see the grainy pictures. Reminds me of where we were and where we are now. Thanks I have subscribed!
Thanks for the comment Shawn. I think the Kodak Disc is a neat little camera, I just wish the quality was a little higher so some of the film survived better :)
Your video partly inspired me to get my own. So I did just that! Ordered a 4000 a few days ago and a local antique shop has some discs so I am pumped to see how this goes.
i like the look on your face as your not willing to take any responsibility if the film development fails i wouldnt either when these came out they looked complicated i had one i never used it i did not like the change but in a way they saw the future photo mat lol great review i waited about 34 years to see how they worked and you have solved that riddle today thank you
Family had one of these growing up and much of my childhood was recorded on one of these. The pictures we always poor and disappointing when they came back from the lab. When ours broke I dissembled it just for fun to try and figure out how it worked. Good times, thanks for the video.
My mum had the Disc 4000. Yes, they were loud, but that was acceptable back then. The great thing was she could reliably take photos in situations that previously weren't easy or cheap to do in NZ in the early 80's, such as indoor or night scenes.
Hi Azriel - Great video covering these cameras! I have one - a Medalist I and darned if I can't figure out how to change the batteries. They seem hidden within it with no obvious battery compartment. Were these made to be used only until the batteries died? Or does it just require prying off the cover (which seems silly, but after watching your video I realize wouldn't be their only silly decision surrounding these cameras lol) Thanks for an informative overview of these! A great look back in time.
Thanks for the reply! The internal batteries must have lasted a long time because when I tested the camera a few months ago after getting it, it worked, so I didn't even think about the battery until I picked the camera up this week and it's dead. I'm sure they had some reason, but it seems so odd to make them that way! I guess they suspected these would just be novelties one day anyway.
They did release some models that took AA's but it's rare. If the film wasn't so small it would have lasted more than a few years past expiry. It would be nice to get my hands on some fresh stuff.
This was the first episode I came in on, because I had just bought a disc camera. I've now got three discs, I'm just waiting for the right opportunity to use them...maybe a night out with friends. I subscribed due to the fact you had done such a good job of this single vlog. Slowly catching up on others. Had you been cutting your own hair in vlogs #WTFU through to #New in box $25 challenge, did you use the $500 proscribed scissors? ;-)
Great video, I'm going to subscribe later when I have a chance to watch more. Stumbled on this while trying to research how to scan the discs (A different issue than this video.) My brother actually had one of these and I was jealous and he did love using his back in the day (He no longer has it but will probably kick himself knowing how much these go for now on ebay!). As a photographer I love developing film but haven't done so in years. Did you get the film from ebay as well as I don't know who or where you'd be able to get it with it being a discontinued camera?! Anyway, just wanted to say great video!!
For my scans I just laid the disc right on the glass, no holder. Can't say how sharp they are but if you're concerned about sharpness the disc probably isn't your film anyway ;) I think I got the film as part of a lot at garage sale. Thanks for the comment :)
Popped into an antique store for fun and picked one of these up for fun, still had a disk in it but the batteries were corroded, paid $5 USD for it, not sure if it works yet but the condition is poor as the plastic components have broken in a few places. Not sure why I felt compelled to get it but if nothing else looks great on a shelf.
I did but the pictures were too grainy to see much and the camera itself is broken, on the brightside people ask me about the odd camera propped up on a shelf.
The real reason it failed was because the labs that would develop the discs was a very expensive different processing and labs did not want to invest in it and that was Kodak’s vault
I’m a bit later but I picked up a 3600 model for $4 at my local goodwill. I had no idea what it was other than it obviously being a camera and this was the first video I’ve seen about it. Knew buying it was a good idea
I remember when these were new. What a failure. Back in the 80's camera/film manufacturers obsessed about the "ease of use", I guess they saw the below IQ 80 crowd as a lost market segment :P Many 35mm point'n'shoot cameras were actually physically smaller and people bought those by the bucketload instead.
I remember my family getting a disc camera in the early 80s. We only ever took one disc's worth of photos before going back to our trusty 35mm. Says it all!
I just picked up the Kodak Disc 4100 at a garage sale (for free!) and I hope to try it out soon. But even before I can go about finding some film on ebay I need to figure out where the batteries go in this thing!
Most have an internal battery. Some don't fire without it and some do. Many with an internal battery no longer work so be careful how much you invest :) Thanks for the comment Sharon. :)
I had one, a ''hanimex'' one, low price i bought in my country. The quality depended a lot of the lab. In fact, with a good lab, it was not so grainy and i could take almost good photos.
I love Kodak's disc format. So much fun to use and a lot of people don't know this but you can use those discs in viewmasters. I have several of these cameras juuuust waiting on that format revival...
I had one of these back in the 1980's; received as a Christmas present I think it was the base model (4000?). By the time I received it I was heavily into 35 mm film photography and the disk camera was intended as a replacement for a Kodak Instamatic X-15 126-format camera I had since my teens as a simple pocketable 'point and shoot and not think about anything' camera and in that regard it was fine. However the major issue for me was the poor print quality: even 'snapshots' were noticeably grainier than what I obtained with the 126 film format X-15 camera. The 'disk camera' was simply pointless for me; if I wanted a truly miniature 'snapshot' camera and didn't care so much about print quality I stuck with the little pocket 110 Instamatic I also had at the time. The 110-format hung on for a while longer than the disk format..good luck finding the 'disk format' cartridges now.
This has really lowered my expectations for the Disc 4000 I found in the Goodwill bins last year. I think I paid $0.20 or so... I'm gonna replace the batteries and then I'll give it a try. It is possible. The metal comes off the front fairly easily, and it just takes little 3V Lithiums. If I remember I'll follow up and let you know how it worked.
I recently (a week ago?) bought one of these (Kodak Disc 3000) at a rummage sale, then I bought some film online. The winding motor is weak or something, it's loud, but won't advance the film. Oh well, the camera and film set me back less than $10. Now I have a retro...paperweight?
What a great review! I owned the 4000, silver one. Ohhhh how I thought I was a bad bitch with my flashy new camera! It took decent, grainy shots, but I loved it ever so much! Thank you for taking me back down memory lane..
This was fun to watch; this was my first camera when I was 10 years old, in 1984. I kind of wish I still had it, so it could sit beside my rz67 and Intrepid haha!
1983-1985 I was a missionary in Japan. Due to lack of packing space, I decided to buy the latest and 'greatest' camera. Since I was dirt poor, I didn't get any of my film developed until half way through my mission. Boy was I disappointed in the quality! I bought a Contax, with a Zeiss 50mm and Sigma zoom. Used it for the rest of my time there, and for much of the first half of my marriage. Beautiful images! I'll never get back those images that I lost to the disk camera. Very disappointing that Kodak didn't pull the plug before they put it on the market. I've never trusted them since.
Great video. Brings back memories. I bought a disc camera before I went on my first school trip to Europe at age 11. I can't remember what brad it was, but it was white and It was terrible, and yes they were as noisy back in the 80s as you show in the video. The girls of Europe did seem to like it though. "So cute!" seemed to be the popular opinion. Subscribed!
I just watched your video. Very well done. I found 10 different types of cameras that belonged to my father. 4 of them had film in them. I took them to a camera shop. Waited excitedly for the call to say that they were developed. UGH!, what a disappointment. The film was so old. I can hardly make out who was is photo. Two rolls they couldn't develop. One was - process E-4 Kodak high speed Ektachrome color slide film daylight EH 135-20 ASA 160•23 DIN 20 exposures -24×36mm- the other was the Kodak disc film. They say they no longer process this. After watching this video, ( telling that only a few models had external batteries, cuz i tried to find them in this 4100 model) I put the disc in the camera and lo and behold it is making noise, like it is turning the disc around. O ly does it with the disc in. So, the camera works, and there's still a disc of film still in its package. BUT, where do I get these films developed? Camera shop suggested a place in Aurora, Colorado, but the reviews are horrible. Any suggestions? Do you develop other peoples film? I know there is little hope of seeing anything on the film. But I'm still curious
I still have my Minolta Disc 7 somewhere. My brother had the Kodak 8000...the Minolta was better quality (slighly), and we felt took better phots on Fuji Film. It also had the 1st selfie mode with its big mirror on front and has held up to this day. I might need to buy some old film and give it a go again. (The Minolta also had a stand built in and I think? it can mount to a standard tripod mount.)
I have this leclic camera from the 80s that's never been used yet, it needs this 'odd looking' film, I thought films are always 'battery-shaped', like the 35mm film. Now that I've realized that its film is a disc one, I don't know where to buy disc films since the 35mm film is the only available on my country this time (I think). I would love to use my leclic camera because my digital camera's broken.
Another great video. My mother would buy any new type of camera that hit the market and she had a number of these. Ive wanted to give it a go as its easy enough to pick up the cameras and I've got some film but the thing that puts me off is the cost of developing. the cheapest Ive seen is £28 and that kinda killed my interest. The photos are pretty cool
In our last place we had a down stair room that had no windows and was totally dark but this new place hasn't. It's something I will have to sort out. Thank you.
Awesome! This Old Camera is back, and it's a great episode too! Disc film has always struck me as a terrible format, I can see it's usefulness in being so sleek but 35mm cameras aren't that much bigger. Also the whole cartridge seems wasteful, I'm assuming they have a big square of film which gets cut to the small square shapes? Then the excess film gets wasted, seems like a lot to discard.
What I mean is in the manufacturing process, I imagine they have a square of film and a die cut process which cuts the shape of the disc, then the rest of the film must have to be discarded. Whereas with 35mm it's just a matter of perforating/tongue, and 120 can't have much waste at all.
I just got the Kodak disc 4000 and a Kodak Instamatic x-15 at a yardsale for a $1..lol I probably won't ever try to use them but they was only a dollar for both :)
Had one of these in the 80s and took many discs worth of pics at concerts since it fit in my pocket, crappy quality, but a nice document of a special time
for 8$ I got a 4000 and 6000 the battery is dead in the 6000 but the 4000 works came with a case and seven sealed packages of film. antique shops are magic gold mines at times.
Great Video i had Disc and APS at different times APS Much better but sad about disc non camera had lots of missed shots due to misloading so the phone camera is a god send for aunties at christenings etc as you get fair shot and can send to family Have you ever tested the Agfa Rapid System like 35mm with film cassette but no spool if i remenber correctly. I wentva distant relatuves wedding and ohotographer didnt show i had bought along my old Rollei B35 i remember the shock when i iffered to take a few shots as photogrspher hadnt arrived and to to locsl photo shop which did a 2 hour service they came out well not progfesiinal But everyone surprised how good from such a small camera.... As they only had a little Triotar lens but Rollei knew how to make em...
Ryan Heath yes, it's only a little better than 16mm motion picture film. The frame size of disc film is 8mm by 10.5mm compared to 16 mm film, which has a frame size of 10.26 mm by 7.49 mm.
can you show us results of setting a camera wrong say a pentax 1000 with an incorrect aperture setting this may go against your professional side but with your experience if you could i would like to see the results i am dyslexic if this is a bad idea please disregard have a great day
Thanks for the question Paul. Setting the wrong aperture really depends on what you are shooting and personal opinion. Have you seen my videos on agitation? I purposely screw up there to show the different results.
I had one of those in 1983. It got stolen fairly soon after I got it, but I still got to see how badly the image quality absolutely sucked. A negative needs to at least bigger than a ladybug. Everything just looked marbled because the film grain was so bad. I'm surprised that it took so long for the format to lie in the grave.
Its funny to think Kodak spent 5 years developing the disk camera but were basically sitting on digital camera technology. Good call guys!
lol, yup.
Yeah, they also came out with APS film when digital was starting to become more mainstream.
Dude, you are simply awesome, I have no other words.
You did this video so well: professional talking, editing and filming; history of the format with commercials from the time; aquiring film from the last generation (that is likely to work); buying a proper camera, getting out there doing an actual field test; developing the film and showing properly done scans.
This is how i´ts done guys and fellow TH-camrs out there.
Most of the people would have either only talked about the history, or only shown the camera. If they would have gotten as far as taking pictures, they would have probably done it with long expired film which would not work without exposure compensation. They would most likely not have shown how you develop the film, and they for sure wouldn´t show proper scans or scans at all.
Those are the videos you get angry about, and there are many out there of that kind.
You proved that it can be done differently. Thank you!
Thanks for the compliments. It's nice to see my hard work appreciated :)
The Disc 4000 was my first camera and I used it through my entire elementary school years. For me, the cons were: only 15 exposures, and you couldn't get discs with more due to the geometry of the disc; grainy pictures, as you said; the cost per 15-exposure disc was high compared to the cost of a 110 film roll; and, the cost to get them developed was higher as well. That being said, my 4000 was reliable enough to last a long time in the hands of a child, and I got a lot of use out of it because it was so portable. And yes, it was loud - the shutter and the mechanism to advance the disc both were pretty noisy compared to the more popular 110 cameras that were contemporaneous to the disc format.
Thanks for sharing that story, and confirming my suspicions about things like how loud it was. :)
Rooting around in an old negative box, I found 6 disk negatives! My dad was a camera buff back in the day, so he must have been intrigued to own a disc camera. If I look hard enough, I bet I can find the developed pics from them, but I'd actually would like to have the negatives scanned and indexed - but I don't necessarily want to spend a lot of money doing this (as I don't think there are priceless pics on them). It was a walk down memory lane watching Azriel use this camera :)
I worked at a photo lab in the late 90's and these would occasionally come in. Usually they'd been sitting around for years. The development process was a pain. It had its own machine and by the time a roll would come in the chemicals had been sitting so long that they'd probably gone bad so we had to drain the machine, refill with new chemicals and go through the process. Most of the time the disk was blank.
Yeah not exactly high resolution.
Azriel, this is fantastic. Really appreciate the effort you go to. This episode was really interesting and informative.
Thanks brummer. I had a lot of fun with this one!
Kinda late to the party but this video was dope. Learned so much. More like this please!
Charles Leonard awesome glad you liked it!
Your videos inspired me to pick up some basic chemicals to develop my own black and white film today! You're like the mythbusters of the darkroom.
lol, best compliment ever, thanks :)
Let me know how it goes!
@@MrCharlesLeonard His video inspired me to stick with Digital, lol
Hi I’m in the UK. I had a Dixon’s Disc Camera. Were there many other companies producing this type of camera system?
i had completely forgotten about this little 'beauty'! This, and the instamatic pocket 200 we had are the reason our family snaps were so crap during the 1980s!!!
LOL the negatives are super tiny.
Hey Azriel. I've just found your videos through dumb youtube luck but I'm so glad I did because they're great! I love the awesome pop culture references and the awesome 80s intros. Great cameras and information as well. Keep up the amazing work Mr. Knight!
Thanks Stuart! I really appreciate the compliment.
That was fun to watch thanks. I'm surprised you got so much dust if you developed right away. Maybe it was where you hung it to dry. I don't get the dust labs were giving me if I process at home and scan promptly.
Just picked-up a Kodak disc 3100 tonight. I didn't know anything about it. I paid less than $1 for it, so if it doesn't work, it'll just be part of my nostalgic 1980's collection, along with VHS tapes, audio cassettes, and old boom boxes.
I do want to find a disc and try taking some pictures. There is a certain charm to those old grainy pictures. I wouldn't document an important event with this thing, but I would love to have some fun with it.
Good luck I hope it works!
I have a disc 6000 that hasn't been used since the mid 80's , and when i opened and closed the front panel, the battery and motor still worked! I still can't figure out how to remove or replace the battery though!
battery is integrated. Look for a "challenger" that takes 2 AA's
sir i have a kodakdisc8000 its vibrating when i click the captured button. but thr flash is not working. is it need to be have a film to work the flash or battery issue?
May I ask how to replace the battery? Any tutorial? I just got from eBay but I have no idea how to replace the battery☹️☹️
Many of them had the battery built in. Some people have posted ways to swap them though.
@@AzrielKnight Do you have a site where they were able to swap them out? I have a 8000 model
Hi, thanks for that awesome video, but I have still a question. What about the batteries? Can I change it?
Mostly, no, a few models have batteries you can change.
I worked at Kodak in the early 1980's so I didn't see the cameras before anyone else, BUT I handled the film developing it months before it was launched.
Now I own one; a Minolta disc-7 with the support and attachment for the worlds first Selfie-stick!
No, it wasn't invented with the mobile phones, it was by a Minolta engineer for their disc cameras.
10:30 yep very grainy quality makes it feel more like photos from the late 70s.
Hi there great video, I have several disc negative's but i want to get a digital copy of them. What is the best way to get them scanned, I have seen video where u have to cut them, but dont wanna do that if I damage the negative they are the only ones that exist. I dont have original photo's to scan. Thank you and hope you can help me out
Have you checked your lab to see if they can handle it? Slim chance but who knows. Otherwise a flatbed film scanner, and "cut" in photoshop.
Just got a 6000, does it need a battery if so what kind?
Thank you 🙋♂️ great video and work 👌👍
Thanks for watching :)
Great video, just got a 6000 at a house clearance anybody know where the batteries go? Or are there any?
Usually they are built into the camera, unfortunately.
Uggh--I think I still have one of these cameras with a disc jammed in it.
There could be something on it!
LOL--but that means I'd have to look for the darn thing!!
Could be a million dollar photo in there you never know ;) Let me know if you need help developing.
Awww--THANKS!
Would you make a video of yourself taking apart one of the broken ones you bought? Got mine for cheap at a vintage shop and its totally broken so I wanted to take it apart but I can't find screws or anything on the outside so I'm not sure where to start?
I'm not a camera fixer. I tend to just sell them broken. Wish I could help.
@@AzrielKnight ah ok! thankyou anyway! loved the video :)
I had one just like the Disc 3600 camera you had there. I got as a 11th birthday present January 1987, replacing my hand me down, late 60's Kodak Instamatic 126 camera which was becoming harder to find flashbulbs for. I would say that the built in flash was the only benefit to the Kodak Disc as the pictures were not anywhere as good as the 126 camera that was a much larger film size (close to 135, but a 1:1 ratio rather than a 2:3 ratio). I think I used the disc little over a year and found my negatives in a box somewhere and I did run quite a bit of film through it as a kid as it was a convenient camera to shoot. Soon after I did switch to 35mm when my grandfather gave me his old Argus C3 which was about as opposite as you could get to the disc both in image quality and in ease of use.
By the way, possibly the dis-colorization was due to the age of film, however I remember it being pretty grainy when it was new, so all in all, that 22 year old disc film did hold up pretty well (or at least looks as bad as it did back in the day, rather than worse) and, yes, those cameras were always that noisy. The 1980's were the beginning of the end for Kodak as not only was this camera a failure, but right before this they were dealing with Polaroid's lawsuit concerning Kodak's (far superior) Instant film and Instant film cameras.
Thanks so much for the info on developing. I found a "Perry" brand with an exposed film disc inside. It also came with a new/old unopened disc. Got everything for about $1 at an estate sale. Thanks
do you know where I can get a manual for a kodak disc 6000 camera or can you tell me how to replace the battery.. I just found it my shed..have NO idea how it got there-but it look almost new..THNXX
Manuals on Google. Most models did not have replaceable batteries and require modification. Some wot fire unless they have film in them as well.
Nice vid - I would've liked mention of how many various models Kodak released. On top of those mentioned in the video, there were the 460, 470, 2500, 3000, 3100, 3500, 3550, 3600. 4100, 6100 and Hawkeye 7000 models plus Medalist I, Medalist II and Medalist Tele. Probably a couple more as well.
3:02 - Not very convinced that is German...
What 8 models do you have and which ones allow for battery replacement? I know some models have replaceable AA or 9v batteries. Most models however, like my 4000 have welded 123 batteries. I soldered new batteries into my 4000 so I think it is just broken.
Also here is a database for all Kodak disc cameras made kodak.3106.net/index.php?p=205
I don't remember all the models but it included a 4000, a 3100, and a couple 6000's.
Thanks for the link!
What happened the audio during the development?
The music used used to be creative commons but was changed. I was forced to mute it.
Thanks for making such a comprehensive video!
Thanks :)
That's awesome, would you say that to achieve the same 35mm quality today the only possibility is through a Full Frame Canon or Sony a7R?
Not sure actually. The exact megapixel of a 35mm film frame is debatable but I have heard as high as 50MP depending on lens sharpness.
@@AzrielKnight The ultimate resolution for an ideal camera system is determined by the wavelength of light, which for the middle of the visible spectrum is about 520 nm. Unlike a camera, it is impossible to miniaturize this quantity. Thus, as a rule of thumb, the diameter of the diffraction spot measured in micrometres on the sensor or film, produced by a point source of light is about 1.3 times the f-ratio of the lens. For example, if the aperture is set to f/4, then a point source of light will make a spot that is never smaller than about 5.2 µm in diameter. In practice, imperfections and aberrations in a real lens spread out the spot size. Given this information, and applying the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem, it trivial to calculate the equivalent resolution of a film frame or sensor in terms of megapixels for any f-ratio under ideal conditions.
I blind bought a lot of cameras off ebay three months ago and in the lot was an ANSCO Quick Star Disc Camera. Long story short. it had an exposed disc in it, I still haven't developed it. It also uses a manual mechanical advance in place of an electric powered advance. At first I couldn't get the flash to work at all, but I took some time and found that I needed to clean off the battery terminals. Now it fully fires. The only other issue I suppose is finding the film. It pops up every now and then but, not as often as you'd think. Thanks for the review. I hope I can find some film and play with my disc camera soon.
Glad I could be of some help. You will find disc film with complete setups as many came with a box of disc film, so keep an eye out for that.
I was 12 years old when this came out! I remember the commercials well, especially during any major US holiday. Call me old school, but it was Great to see the grainy pictures. Reminds me of where we were and where we are now.
Thanks I have subscribed!
Thanks for the comment Shawn. I think the Kodak Disc is a neat little camera, I just wish the quality was a little higher so some of the film survived better :)
I have a negative disc and I'm curipus about your scanning process for these
I just lay the whole thing on the scanning bed then crop in post.
Your video partly inspired me to get my own. So I did just that! Ordered a 4000 a few days ago and a local antique shop has some discs so I am pumped to see how this goes.
I hope it works for you, I had to buy nine before I found one. If this one fails, look for one that takes AA's
@@AzrielKnight Just tried it out, and.....it doesn't work lol. Just ordered another one and this next one comes with 4 discs!
i like the look on your face as your not willing to take any responsibility if the film development fails i wouldnt either when these came out they looked complicated i had one i never used it i did not like the change but in a way they saw the future photo mat lol great review i waited about 34 years to see how they worked and you have solved that riddle today thank you
Thanks! Glad I could help!
Family had one of these growing up and much of my childhood was recorded on one of these. The pictures we always poor and disappointing when they came back from the lab. When ours broke I dissembled it just for fun to try and figure out how it worked. Good times, thanks for the video.
Thanks for the story Craig :)
Hi, the process is the same as color?
Thanks.
Hello! Yes colour disc film was a C-41 develop. :)
thanks bro.
My mum had the Disc 4000. Yes, they were loud, but that was acceptable back then. The great thing was she could reliably take photos in situations that previously weren't easy or cheap to do in NZ in the early 80's, such as indoor or night scenes.
Hi Azriel -
Great video covering these cameras! I have one - a Medalist I and darned if I can't figure out how to change the batteries. They seem hidden within it with no obvious battery compartment. Were these made to be used only until the batteries died? Or does it just require prying off the cover (which seems silly, but after watching your video I realize wouldn't be their only silly decision surrounding these cameras lol)
Thanks for an informative overview of these! A great look back in time.
Hey thanks for the comment! The batteries were built in to the camera but I have seen tutorials.
Thanks for the reply! The internal batteries must have lasted a long time because when I tested the camera a few months ago after getting it, it worked, so I didn't even think about the battery until I picked the camera up this week and it's dead. I'm sure they had some reason, but it seems so odd to make them that way! I guess they suspected these would just be novelties one day anyway.
They did release some models that took AA's but it's rare. If the film wasn't so small it would have lasted more than a few years past expiry. It would be nice to get my hands on some fresh stuff.
The development stage is so spa, I love it!
You should try a Minox subminiature camera. I carry one, loaded with either T-Max 100 or Adox HR-50 all of the time. The negatives are 8X11mm.
I think I have one somewhere. Where do I get fresh film?
thanks 4 the cool video. I think the grain of your pics are really cool
Glad you liked it :)
This was the first episode I came in on, because I had just bought a disc camera. I've now got three discs, I'm just waiting for the right opportunity to use them...maybe a night out with friends.
I subscribed due to the fact you had done such a good job of this single vlog. Slowly catching up on others.
Had you been cutting your own hair in vlogs #WTFU through to #New in box $25 challenge, did you use the $500 proscribed scissors? ;-)
Be careful with those Kodak disc cameras, I had to buy nine to find one that worked for my review.
How do you scan the photos on the disk?
I used a photo scanner and just rotated as I went.
Great video, I'm going to subscribe later when I have a chance to watch more. Stumbled on this while trying to research how to scan the discs (A different issue than this video.) My brother actually had one of these and I was jealous and he did love using his back in the day (He no longer has it but will probably kick himself knowing how much these go for now on ebay!). As a photographer I love developing film but haven't done so in years. Did you get the film from ebay as well as I don't know who or where you'd be able to get it with it being a discontinued camera?! Anyway, just wanted to say great video!!
For my scans I just laid the disc right on the glass, no holder. Can't say how sharp they are but if you're concerned about sharpness the disc probably isn't your film anyway ;)
I think I got the film as part of a lot at garage sale.
Thanks for the comment :)
Thank you so much for such a useful information and explenation about this Nostalic item! Cheers.
Thanks very much
this deserves more views, period.
Thanks very much :)
I have a 8000 model, it still works, but Im worried the built in battery will erode eventually, anyone know how to take out battery?
I've seen a tutorial here and here but you're better off looking for a "challenger" model, which takes AA's
Popped into an antique store for fun and picked one of these up for fun, still had a disk in it but the batteries were corroded, paid $5 USD for it, not sure if it works yet but the condition is poor as the plastic components have broken in a few places. Not sure why I felt compelled to get it but if nothing else looks great on a shelf.
You should develop that disk and see if anything comes of it!
I did but the pictures were too grainy to see much and the camera itself is broken, on the brightside people ask me about the odd camera propped up on a shelf.
The real reason it failed was because the labs that would develop the discs was a very expensive different processing and labs did not want to invest in it and that was Kodak’s vault
I’m a bit later but I picked up a 3600 model for $4 at my local goodwill. I had no idea what it was other than it obviously being a camera and this was the first video I’ve seen about it. Knew buying it was a good idea
I remember when these were new. What a failure. Back in the 80's camera/film manufacturers obsessed about the "ease of use", I guess they saw the below IQ 80 crowd as a lost market segment :P
Many 35mm point'n'shoot cameras were actually physically smaller and people bought those by the bucketload instead.
smaller and quieter!
Very well done. Very interesting. Liked your comment about selling less film for the same price.
Thanks Merlin!
Recommendations for next camera review. Nikon F or F2,Canon FT Or FTb & Canon F1 or New F1,Pentax Spotmatic,Olyumpus OM-1, OM-10.
Thanks for those ideas! I've added them to the request list!
Thanks for the info! I just bought one at an antique shop. I'm gonna try to see if it takes photos lol
Good luck, they have not held up well.
I remember my family getting a disc camera in the early 80s. We only ever took one disc's worth of photos before going back to our trusty 35mm. Says it all!
lol, yup
Does this camera take a battery?
Most of the time they are built in. Sometimes AA's.
Super interesting. A bit before my time and recollection. Thanks for doing a video in it!
Thanks! Glad you liked it!
Tengo una y no entiendo nada del video 😭
I just picked up the Kodak Disc 4100 at a garage sale (for free!) and I hope to try it out soon. But even before I can go about finding some film on ebay I need to figure out where the batteries go in this thing!
Most have an internal battery. Some don't fire without it and some do. Many with an internal battery no longer work so be careful how much you invest :) Thanks for the comment Sharon. :)
I had one, a ''hanimex'' one, low price i bought in my country. The quality depended a lot of the lab. In fact, with a good lab, it was not so grainy and i could take almost good photos.
wish i watched this video first, im in the uk, just bought an 8000 kodak and cant find anyone to replace the soldered in batteries, in the uk.
Love your Kodak disc video. i wish you did some more stuff with it. (KODAK DISC)
I was thinking about trying to make a darkroom print from one of the discs.
okay that sounds great.
witch Kodak disc camera do you like the most ?
"Im a gona get ya with the Kodak disc"
What/how did you develop the film?
Pretty sure I show that in the video.
I just picked up a 6000 and some film at a estate sale today
Had a couple of these cameras as a kid. They were as loud even back then.
lol, good to know.
7:18 "no hiss"
Hmm, I've never heard of that, good to know! Great video and presentation as usual Azriel ;)
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it :)
I love Kodak's disc format. So much fun to use and a lot of people don't know this but you can use those discs in viewmasters. I have several of these cameras juuuust waiting on that format revival...
I love the look of those photos!
Thanks very much :)
I had one of these back in the 1980's; received as a Christmas present I think it was the base model (4000?). By the time I received it I was heavily into 35 mm film photography and the disk camera was intended as a replacement for a Kodak Instamatic X-15 126-format camera I had since my teens as a simple pocketable 'point and shoot and not think about anything' camera and in that regard it was fine. However the major issue for me was the poor print quality: even 'snapshots' were noticeably grainier than what I obtained with the 126 film format X-15 camera. The 'disk camera' was simply pointless for me; if I wanted a truly miniature 'snapshot' camera and didn't care so much about print quality I stuck with the little pocket 110 Instamatic I also had at the time. The 110-format hung on for a while longer than the disk format..good luck finding the 'disk format' cartridges now.
This has really lowered my expectations for the Disc 4000 I found in the Goodwill bins last year. I think I paid $0.20 or so... I'm gonna replace the batteries and then I'll give it a try. It is possible. The metal comes off the front fairly easily, and it just takes little 3V Lithiums. If I remember I'll follow up and let you know how it worked.
Thanks for the comment Justin. There are some models out there that take AA's, that's how I finally found one that worked :)
I recently (a week ago?) bought one of these (Kodak Disc 3000) at a rummage sale, then I bought some film online. The winding motor is weak or something, it's loud, but won't advance the film. Oh well, the camera and film set me back less than $10. Now I have a retro...paperweight?
The built in batteries on most of these is really what kills it.
What a great review! I owned the 4000, silver one. Ohhhh how I thought I was a bad bitch with my flashy new camera!
It took decent, grainy shots, but I loved it ever so much!
Thank you for taking me back down memory lane..
Thanks for the kind comment :)
This was fun to watch; this was my first camera when I was 10 years old, in 1984. I kind of wish I still had it, so it could sit beside my rz67 and Intrepid haha!
When I feel nostalgic, I usually turn to eBay :)
In France, the advertising was : '' Si tu as un oeil et un doigt...'' means you only need an eye and a finger to take a pic.
1983-1985 I was a missionary in Japan. Due to lack of packing space, I decided to buy the latest and 'greatest' camera. Since I was dirt poor, I didn't get any of my film developed until half way through my mission. Boy was I disappointed in the quality! I bought a Contax, with a Zeiss 50mm and Sigma zoom. Used it for the rest of my time there, and for much of the first half of my marriage. Beautiful images!
I'll never get back those images that I lost to the disk camera. Very disappointing that Kodak didn't pull the plug before they put it on the market. I've never trusted them since.
Thanks for the story Kevin, it seems your issues were not unique.
Great video. Brings back memories. I bought a disc camera before I went on my first school trip to Europe at age 11. I can't remember what brad it was, but it was white and It was terrible, and yes they were as noisy back in the 80s as you show in the video.
The girls of Europe did seem to like it though. "So cute!" seemed to be the popular opinion.
Subscribed!
Thanks for the comment :)
I just watched your video. Very well done. I found 10 different types of cameras that belonged to my father. 4 of them had film in them. I took them to a camera shop. Waited excitedly for the call to say that they were developed. UGH!, what a disappointment. The film was so old. I can hardly make out who was is photo. Two rolls they couldn't develop. One was - process E-4 Kodak high speed Ektachrome color slide film daylight EH 135-20 ASA 160•23 DIN 20 exposures -24×36mm- the other was the Kodak disc film. They say they no longer process this. After watching this video, ( telling that only a few models had external batteries, cuz i tried to find them in this 4100 model) I put the disc in the camera and lo and behold it is making noise, like it is turning the disc around. O ly does it with the disc in. So, the camera works, and there's still a disc of film still in its package. BUT, where do I get these films developed? Camera shop suggested a place in Aurora, Colorado, but the reviews are horrible. Any suggestions? Do you develop other peoples film? I know there is little hope of seeing anything on the film. But I'm still curious
3:01 That's not German.
I still have my Minolta Disc 7 somewhere. My brother had the Kodak 8000...the Minolta was better quality (slighly), and we felt took better phots on Fuji Film. It also had the 1st selfie mode with its big mirror on front and has held up to this day. I might need to buy some old film and give it a go again. (The Minolta also had a stand built in and I think? it can mount to a standard tripod mount.)
I think the least expired film will be dated about 1999, just in case you hit up eBay, good luck!
Anyone tried to open the cartridge and load a self cut film?
Not that I am aware of, good idea though.
I've never even heard of these. Thanks for this!
np, thanks for watching :)
Hell yeah my father just gave me thr kodak disc 4000 cant wait to use this
Let me know how it goes!
Great episode, good work!
Thanks!
I have this leclic camera from the 80s that's never been used yet, it needs this 'odd looking' film, I thought films are always 'battery-shaped', like the 35mm film. Now that I've realized that its film is a disc one, I don't know where to buy disc films since the 35mm film is the only available on my country this time (I think). I would love to use my leclic camera because my digital camera's broken.
Disc film is hard to come by, your best bet is eBay.
Another great video. My mother would buy any new type of camera that hit the market and she had a number of these. Ive wanted to give it a go as its easy enough to pick up the cameras and I've got some film but the thing that puts me off is the cost of developing. the cheapest Ive seen is £28 and that kinda killed my interest. The photos are pretty cool
If you are looking to get into developing film this is an easy format because you don't need a spool. Man that is expensive!!
Home developing is something I have to try,
hardest part is getting the film onto a spool in the dark.
In our last place we had a down stair room that had no windows and was totally dark but this new place hasn't. It's something I will have to sort out. Thank you.
Awesome! This Old Camera is back, and it's a great episode too!
Disc film has always struck me as a terrible format, I can see it's usefulness in being so sleek but 35mm cameras aren't that much bigger. Also the whole cartridge seems wasteful, I'm assuming they have a big square of film which gets cut to the small square shapes? Then the excess film gets wasted, seems like a lot to discard.
It's easier to leave them on the disc than cut the frames off. But archiving is another issue. Especially with the raised plastic center.
What I mean is in the manufacturing process, I imagine they have a square of film and a die cut process which cuts the shape of the disc, then the rest of the film must have to be discarded.
Whereas with 35mm it's just a matter of perforating/tongue, and 120 can't have much waste at all.
My first love!
I just got the Kodak disc 4000 and a Kodak Instamatic x-15 at a yardsale for a $1..lol I probably won't ever try to use them but they was only a dollar for both :)
Yeah don't pass that up. :)
Had one of these in the 80s and took many discs worth of pics at concerts since it fit in my pocket, crappy quality, but a nice document of a special time
My first camera was a Hanimex 120 disc camera. Not great quality but I remember taking it everywhere.
That's the most important part.
for 8$ I got a 4000 and 6000
the battery is dead in the 6000
but the 4000 works
came with a case and seven sealed packages of film.
antique shops are magic gold mines at times.
I love old antique shops, and you're right....they are also sometimes money pits ;)
I found a 6000 at my local Salvation Army for .99. I hope to find film for it, but where does the battery go?
The batteries are dead? Viva La batteria...!, change them with the new ones and see if the camera works.. :-D
Any luck on changing the battery in the 6000? I can't seem to find how.
Great Video i had Disc and APS at different times
APS Much better but sad about disc non camera had lots of missed shots due to misloading so the phone camera is a god send for aunties at christenings etc as you get fair shot and can send to family
Have you ever tested the Agfa Rapid System like 35mm with film cassette but no spool if i remenber correctly.
I wentva distant relatuves wedding and ohotographer didnt show i had bought along my old Rollei B35 i remember the shock when i iffered to take a few shots as photogrspher hadnt arrived and to to locsl photo shop which did a 2 hour service they came out well not progfesiinal
But everyone surprised how good from such a small camera....
As they only had a little Triotar lens but Rollei knew how to make em...
saw one of these in a £1 bargain bin and wondered how the hell it worked lol. don't the small little exposures on the disk give you crappy quality?
Ryan Heath yes, it's only a little better than 16mm motion picture film. The frame size of disc film is 8mm by 10.5mm compared to 16 mm film, which has a frame size of 10.26 mm by 7.49 mm.
wow you know your stuff. i might pick it up next time i go back to that charity shop just for novelty value
It's a fun display item.
Just got the 6000 in a grab bag auction from goodwill with 4 more cameras for $6 and shipping and hanlding.
I hope they work!
can you show us results of setting a camera wrong say a pentax 1000 with an incorrect aperture setting this may go against your professional side but with your experience if you could i would like to see the results i am dyslexic if this is a bad idea please disregard have a great day
Thanks for the question Paul. Setting the wrong aperture really depends on what you are shooting and personal opinion. Have you seen my videos on agitation? I purposely screw up there to show the different results.
thankyou
I had one of those in 1983. It got stolen fairly soon after I got it, but I still got to see how badly the image quality absolutely sucked. A negative needs to at least bigger than a ladybug. Everything just looked marbled because the film grain was so bad. I'm surprised that it took so long for the format to lie in the grave.
I figure the profit margins were so high they could afford it.
I guess the jokes on the robber ;)