Summer is just around the corner and it's time to start making plans for fun with family and friends in the sun, the waves, the forests, the hills, the highways and wherever else the warm summer breeze might take you. While making your plans, its time to start thinking about which disposable camera or simple-use camera you want to pack in your suitcase!
How to pick a disposable camera for Summer
No matter what your summer plans are, there’s a disposable camera that’s perfect for you! When considering which camera is going to work best, it’s a good idea to keep the main thing that affects all cameras and film in mind - LIGHT! A day at the beach filled with lots of sunshine from above and reflecting off of the sand and waves requires a much different camera than if you’re hiking through the woods or heading off to summer camp. Knowing a few details about each of the cameras that are out there will help you make the right choice. So here’s a list of the disposable cameras currently available and our recommendations on how they can best be used to save your summer memories!
Kodak Funsaver Disposable Camera
The Kodak Funsaver is a great summer camera. This camera comes loaded with ISO 800 film, which means its more sensitive to light that some of the other cameras out there. This camera is easy to hold on to and super simple to use. It’s generally a square, but has some curves that help your gripe the camera. The only problem is that these curves add to the bulk of the camera and make it difficult to fit into some pockets.
This camera works great outdoors and indoors (with the flash). In sunlight, you can capture big scenes of mountains, groups of friends, activities, busy streets, and whatever you can fit in the frame. The Kodak film inside produces vibrant colors and relatively good sharpness considering its plastic lens. You do have to be careful of really bright places, like snow covered mountains or fields or light colored sandy beaches. Many of our customers overexpose their images in these situations and end up with super grainy beach shots with distorted colors from over exposure.
Indoors and in shady spaces, you’ll be relying upon the flash and your ability to take pics will be limited to subjects within 1 to 3 meters (3 to 9 feet). Outside of that range, images will be too dark or too bright. At a concert or in a large event at night, you can possible get a good shot of the stage, if it’s well lit, but if you’re sitting way back in the cheap seats, you won’t get much detail.
Kodak Funsaver Disposable Cameras are great for
Summer Camps
Hiking
Camping
Parks and picnics
Outdoor and Indoor Parties
Kids events
Outdoor Weddings and indoor receptions
Kodak Funsavers will work at
Indoor concerts
Night events
Kodak Funsavers do not work well at/in
Bright beaches during daylight
Snow covered ground or mountains during daylight
Large indoor or night concert venues
Dark rooms without the flash
Kodak HD Powerflash Disposable Camera
The Kodak HD Powerflash is another great summer camera. This camera comes loaded with ISO 800 film also, so much of what we said about the Kodak Funsaver also applies.. This camera is easy to hold on to and super simple to use. The Kodak HD Powerflash has a thinner profile and more square shape, meaning that it fits better in pockets and purses. While it doesn’t fit as nicely in the hand as the Funsaver, the HD Powerflash is still easy to hold on to even while moving or running.
The Kodak HD Powerflash works great outdoors as well as indoors. But the camera lives up to its name, Powerflash, providing a lot more illumination in dark places. Bars, wedding receptions, dorm rooms, camp bunks, worship events, and many other generally darker places can benefit from the built-in flash that comes on the Kodak HD Powerflash.
But just like the Kodak Funsaver, this camera can also be easily overexposed. Bright sunny beaches, sunny snowy days, and taking selfies too close will result in some severely over exposed photos. We recommend these cameras to our wedding customers because of how well they perform in darker places, but when those wedding guests begin to take selfies with the camera too close, it can leave you looking at best washed-out and at worst, ghostly.
Kodak HD Powerflash Disposable Cameras are great for
Summer Camps
Hiking
Camping
Parks and picnics
Outdoor and Indoor Parties
Kids events
Outdoor Weddings and indoor receptions
Kodak HD Powerflashes will work at
Indoor and outdoor night concerts
Night events
Kodak Funsavers do not work well at/in
Bright beaches during daylight
Snow covered ground or mountains during daylight
Dark rooms without the flash
Taking Selfies
Fujifilm Quicksnap Disposable Camera
Differing from the Kodak single-use cameras, the Fujifilm Quicksnap comes loaded with 400 ISO film, making it less sensitive to light. The Quicksnap comes with a flash that has a dedicated on and off rather than a flash charging button like the Kodak disposable cameras offer. Combined with his lower light sensitivity, the ability to leave the flash “on” will help prevent you from getting a totally dark image when you forgot to charge the flash.
The Fujifilm Quicksnap Disposable camera produces amazing images outdoors in sun and shade. From the baseball field to the city streets, this camera loves daylight and produces beautiful images. Where the camera begins to struggle is indoors and at night. As long as you use the flash, photos taken in small rooms still look great. In larger rooms, the flash begins to lose its ability to light the subject and the background. In big spaces or outdoors in night or low-light, the camera can still illuminate the subject as long as they are within 3 to 9 feet, but you’ll notice in your images that the backgrounds become mostly black as the flash is not able to produce enough light to make an image on the 400 speed film. We see this a lot in wedding receptions, backgrounds are almost always completely dark and unseeable. This isn’t necessarily bad, just a characteristic that you should keep in mind while shooting.
We see a lot of these cameras used on school trips, trips to Disney Land, and summer camps, where they work extremely well. Dark bunks and Epcot both look amazing on the Fujifilm Quicksnap! They are rugged and durable and very easy to use, perfect for kids doing a lot of outdoors events.
Fujifilm Quicksnap Cameras are great for
Summer Camps
Hiking
Camping
Parks and picnics
Outdoor and Indoor Parties
Kids events
Outdoor Weddings and indoor receptions
Bright beaches
Snowy places
Fujifilm Quicksnap will work at
Indoor concerts
Camp Cabins
Fujifilm Quicksnap do not work well at/in
Dark spaces
Large indoor or night concert venues
Dark rooms without the flash
Kodak Sport Waterproof Disposable Camera
Going for swim, or dive? Or just don’t want to ruin your disposable camera to get damaged by water? You will want to pick up a Kodak Sport Waterproof Underwater camera. These cameras work great for diving and snapping pics of corral reefs and tropical fish but also work just as well at the local waterpark or your own backyard pool.
The Kodak Sport Waterproof Disposable camera is a more bulky camera but is covered in an easy to grip and hold on to rubber coating. The film advance is a breeze to turn, even if you have wet fingers or are underwater. It probably won’t fit in a pocket, but it does come with a rubber wrist strap that will help you to hold on to your camera no matter where you take it!
The Kodak Sport Waterproof also comes loaded with 800 ISO film, which it needs because it does not come with a flash. That’s ok though, a flash just wouldn’t work underwater! These cameras take great photos on land, but are susceptible to the same over-exposure issues of the other Kodak disposable cameras. Underwater, they still need a ton of light to produce good images. Clear water also helps a lot. We develop a lot underwater cameras and the biggest mistake our customers make is that they go too deep while diving and lose light, to the point that their images become grainy with distorted colors. Murky or muddy waters also produce some very poor images. 800 ISO film works in some dark places, but light disperses through water very quickly, so if you’re diving deep or diving close to the beginning or end of the day, keep in mind you might not have enough light to produce an image.
Kodak Sport Waterproof Cameras are great for
Swimming Pools
Rafting
Canoeing
Water gun fights
Water parks
Rainy days
Kodak Sport Waterproof Cameras will work at
Daylight events
Camping
Hiking
Kodak Sport Waterproof Cameras do not work well at/in
Dark spaces
Night events
Shade
Murky water
Early or late diving events
Fujifilm Waterproof Disposable Camera
The Fujifilm Waterproof Disposable camera works almost identically to the Kodak Waterproof camera. Unlike the Fujifilm Quicksnap, this underwater camera comes with 800 ISO film, giving it additional range since there is no flash installed on this camera. But just like the Kodak version, there are many limitations.
In our lab, the Fujiflm and Kodak waterproof cameras perform almost identically. Both are great cameras and availability might be the only determining factor for you when it comes to selecting which camera will work best for you.
FujiFilm Waterproof Cameras are great for
Swimming Pools
Rafting
Canoeing
Water gun fights
Water parks
Rainy days
FujiFilm Sport Waterproof Cameras will work at
Daylight events
Camping
Hiking
FujiFilmSport Waterproof Cameras do not work well at/in
Dark spaces
Night events
Shade
Murky water
Early or late diving events
Conclusion
Summer brings with it so many fun activities and events. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be taking pictures while you're making memories! While camera phones are the standard today, they may not be the best option for your summer activities. Disposable cameras are rugged and durable, don’t need to be recharged, don’t have delicate glass screens, and don’t cost you a monthly cellular connection fee. And whether it’s for you or your kids, disposable cameras have that cool vintage vibe that will help to make your summer memorable. Make a disposable camera a part of your summer plans and you’ll be able to enjoy your memories of summer on 35mm film forever!
Make sure you think about the light! That’s the biggest issues we see customers struggle with. They get the wrong camera for the situation and never have enough light to make their images look good. By getting the right disposable camera, you’ll make sure your images all turn out great!