Kodak has announced a new single-use camera designed to reignite the hobbyist passion once had for disposable cameras, with a body pre-loaded with 27 frames of of the classic Kodak Professional Tri-X 400TX black-and-white film.
Even the best disposable cameras aren't as popular as they used to be, despite film photography as a medium re-emerging over the last few years with traditional dark room practices still taught in educational settings. By packing this disposable with Tri-X – believed by many to be the best film for 35mm cameras – Kodak hopes to reignite the passion for striking, contrasty shots among the masses.
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The new Kodak Professional Tri-X 400TX single-use camera is fitted with a 30mm f/10 dual element lens, claims to have the brightest flash in any single-use camera, and is designed with an automatic Power Flash with a double aspheric lens element (powered by an AA battery) to take away the worry of shooting indoors. The camera also features a fixed single shutter speed of 1/125 seconds with a focus range of 1.3m to infinity.
The camera can be taken to any lab that processes black-and-white film to be developed, and is convenient for processing in a home darkroom if the user chooses to do so. There are 'Tech Pubs' on Kodak's site that can be referred to for more information on home processing.
While it might seem a little wasteful to own a single-use product in a time of being eco-friendlier, this camera can be recycled to reduce environmental impact. Traditional analog cameras will always be preferable to single use-cameras from an environmental standpoint, but single-use cameras do have their own benefits when used in specific situations.
According to a factsheet from Waste Connect, Kodak responded to concerns over single-use cameras by beginning to recycle and re-use their disposable cameras. When a used camera is dropped off at a Kodak booth, the packaging will be shipped off to a recycling centre to be re-ground and used again. Other camera parts and batteries are tested and reused within the Kodak company with all recycled parts of the disposable camera taken to a Kodak manufacturing plant.
There is no news yet on pricing of the camera, though with contemporary disposables ranging from 10-35 bucks we're probably looking in that price range.
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