Question on brands of DISPOSABLE cameras

[chisnpeke]

I wanted to ask if anyone has used off brand disposable cameras as opposed to Kodak or other name brand cameras and what they think of the quality?

I take disposable cameras in addition to my digital camera on my cruises and have noticed that generic brand cameras made by CVS, Walgreens, or Kroger are often about half the price of Kodak cameras so what I'd like to know is, is the quality the same?

I'd like to save some money if I could.

 

[minty]

If you look closely you may see that some of the store brand cameras may be old Kodak cameras with a new label on them. This is because these cameras are not "disposable" so much as they are reusable. They're just like any other film camera, it's just that the film lab will return the camera body back to Kodak (or Fuji...) when it gets dropped off. Or sometimes, they'll give the camera bodies to third party vendors that repackage and rebrand the camera shells. So there really might not be too much difference between the physical cameras they are selling.

What you are buying when you buy a Kodak camera is the guarantee of quality. Kodak is going to have higher quality manufacturing standards than Bob Joe's Camera company because they have the brand name to back up.

The film is the other difference from brand to brand. It's all pretty good these days. Film is a very mature technology, so it should all give you similar results. Fuji film has a 4th color layer in the film that gives you better contrast in your reds, if that is important to you- otherwise it's just more marketing hype to put on the box.

 

[klmall]

In 2002 and 2005 when I buying disposables in quantity for our group canoe and raft trips I found a couple of online sites that had good prices on both Fuji and Kodak and guaranteed fresh film. I bought Fuji for our Idaho/ Salmon River trip and they worked out well. I used Kodak in 2002 for our Maine trip. One of the parents also found a local store selling disposables for a good price at the time (Staples I think) that even included processing.

 

[Groucho]

What you are buying when you buy a Kodak camera is the guarantee of quality. Kodak is going to have higher quality manufacturing standards than Bob Joe's Camera company because they have the brand name to back up.

Uhhh... well, hate to tell to you, but I worked one summer years ago at a small factory making Kodak disposable cameras, and I'm not sure that we were putting too much thought into quality. You basically have a set of boxes in front of you with the different components and you snap 'em together, including the lens. This wasn't exactly military-grade spyglass we're talking here, just a clear piece of plastic.

I would guess that much of the difference in cost between a Kodak and an off-brand disposable is due to the film, in the same way that generic film costs a lot less than Kodak film. As far as I know, even though the camera itself is cheap, you're getting the same Kodak film in a disposable as you would buy separately.