Topic: Anybody remember disc film?

[johnha]

Hi All, The thread on 110 film has reminded me of the Disc film from the '80s. Essentially it was a carousel type film, 15 exposures in a flat 'rounded-squarish' disc shaped package. I had a Hanimex camera with a rotating lens turret (normal & tele) - built in flash (a first for me!) and AF (focus free).

Kodak was the main (only?) option, I presume only in ISO 100, 200 & 400 speeds?

john.

[EarlJam]

Yes. Intriguing concept, dreadful execution. One of the various cameras I bought my wife (Minolta 110, Kodak Disc, Olympus Stylus Jr) over the years, and decidedly the worst of the bunch. Fuji made disc film as well. There were apparently plans for a tabletop analog scanner that would connect to a TV, the "modern" version of the Kodak Carousel projector. I found the 5 or so discs we shot in 1984. They're almost impossible to scan due to the plastic hub in the center of the disc, that raises the film off the platen just enough to throw everything even more out of focus.

Re film speed, I don't recall anything other than ISO 200.

[Francois]

I so wanted one of those when I was a kid!
But yeah, quality was pretty bad when you look at it in retrospect.
Thing is everything was so small that they were reaching the limit of what the technology could do.

[EarlJam]

The primary upside to Disc was that we got T-grain emulsions. I know there are mixed feelings about TMAX vs Tri-X, but the grain structure on TMAX is remarkable.

Disc frame size was 8 x 10 mm, so about the same size as a double-perf 16mm frame.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Disc-110-135_Film_Comparison.jpg

[John Robison]

Trouble was, The Great Yellow Father, ie. Kodak, never gave up trying to make cameras fool proof. Now we all know that is an impossible dream because fools are so ingenious. From the 126 cartridge in 1963 to the 110 cartridge in 1972 to the Disc format about 1980 (and lets be clear, each successive format uses less film and silver) they never gave up. The Disc however was too much (or too little) and despite a brilliant and fast lens in the first series, the potential of 8X10 mm negs on automated D&P was limited. My sister in law wanted one as soon as it came out and her prints from that camera were never better than awful. I well remember looking at the negs with 10X magnifier and they should have been sharp enough for 3X4 inch prints but it didn't translate to sharp prints with automated processing.

It is interesting to me that Disc film was discontinued before 110 film if I'm remembering right. (But I may not be remembering right)

[Francois]

I think it was discontinued before 110.
110 had a fairly long life when you look at it.

[Faintandfuzzy]

While I still love and use 110 film, I never liked the quality from Kodak Disc.

[John Robison]

EarlJam,
Can't tell which SLR in the picture but nice hippy strap. 

[EarlJam]

EarlJam,
Can't tell which SLR in the picture but nice hippy strap. 

That screams "70s", doesn't it? It's my brother-in-law's camera, although I don't recall what he was using at the time, and there's not enough clarity in other images from that visit to even nail down brand. The lens looks vaguely Pentax-ish, so possibly a Ricoh KR-5 or its Sears-branded version. I'm reasonably sure it wasn't a Pentax KX or KM. By that point, I had my Pentax MX and a "proper" (narrow) strap.

[AJShepherd]

I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that Kodak patented a system for injection-moulded lenses for the disc cameras, but after the cameras flopped they sold off the rights dirt cheap. The same system was later used to make lenses for phone cameras, so if Kodak had held on to the patents they'd have made big money.

[Francois]

If Kodak had held on to pretty much everything they invented, they wouldn't be where they are today.
They were putting a large part of their revenue in research, and that's what made them so big.

As for the hippie straps, they're still some of the best looking and most comfortable ones you can get.