Processing your disc film
Unprocessed?
If your disc film looks like the image on the left it is UNPROCESSED. See the section below if the disc is processed .
Send off to process
If unprocessed fill in the form (below). Processing time is 2-3 weeks. If we get negatives out we will let you know, scan, then email a link. If nothing comes out (film is at least 43 years old) then we let you know, and nothing is payable (sic). [unlike others, who charge full price]. Then we send back the discs. if anything is on them.
Image quality
The disc negative is 10x8mm (80 square millimeters). By comparison, a normal full frame digital camera is 864mm, 10x the image area. Any scanner struggles. We use a 5400 dpi scanner that scans the 10x8mm negative natively. You can zoom in and copy a disc negative with an APS/M43 or full frame camera but there is no hardware-based dust and scratch reduction available. And you get a lot of marks even on the thicker film used by disc cameras.
We colour correct where we can.
How/Why use them?
At the launch time (1982-1988) the camera was automated in operation (loading, exposure, focus and flash) and tiny (compared with 35mm, 126 and 110 cameras of the time). Kodak also had a monopoly on the format through patents. Note that the first relevant US patent was taken out in 1977 'US4264169' describes a disk-shaped photographic film sheet attached to a central hub within a compact cartridge for use in a cooperating camera'. Compared with its peers, the disc camera was smaller, lighter and with fool-proof loading and unloading.
Disc Film
Kodak had to dramatically improve its film stock to produce decent images with such a tiny negative. Compare 1972' s 110 film (17x13mm) which even then was grainy and hard to process - and is still. Film flatness, always the bane of the 110, was solved in the disc camera with a much thicker film base, and advanced aspherical lenses.
Why is disc film so hard to process?
Because there was never a widely-available economic machine to process the film end-to-end, and dry-to-dry. We process by hand, still.
Can I use a Disc film today?
We have a good supply of expired 1994 and 1986 disc films from Fuji. We also have a few tested disc cameras which take AA and AAA batteries. We also have the crown jewel of the Disc Camera world: the Minolta Disc 7 ('Flat camera with self photograph framing mirror US4560261A') in 1982. So not a 'selfie stick' please in future.
scanning your disc film
Processed?
If your disc film looks like the image on the left it is PROCESSED. Send it to us for scanning : £12.50 per disc.
Why are disc films so hard to scan?
Photo labs using optical equipment even in the 1980's needed special carriers and lenses supplied by Kodak to get optimum results. Today special scanner carriers are needed on flatbed scanners for home users to scan. We use a special holder for our autofocus scanner.
Why do so few shops do this?
We only know of ourselves and Film Rescue International
From the UK, with postage to use FRI, we would have to send the disc film to Canada, pay £25 + postage + £15 for high resolution images. It also takes three months per disc from the UK. OK, FRI EU customers can send to Holland, but....
UK photo-labs use us for scanning their disc films.
Why is this so hard? Well the disc is not flat, so you have to extract the centre wheel to put on a flatbed. Then, most flatbed scanners have fixed focus lenses, so you would to adjust the height to get focus. This is why no-one likes scanning disc film.
Why bother?
Disc films processed at the time (1980's) with Kodak and Fuji emulsions have excellent sharpness and resolution that only our modern scanners can realise. So many customers have been happy/embarrassed/shocked to see perfectly rendered scans of events and relatives not only long-forgotten, but also impossible to see on a negative.