Review: Six Disposable Cameras Used in Spain


I like taking photos. I like to think I take good photos. I love to use sites like Instagram and Flickr and this blog to share my photos. It would be terrible for me if, say, I were to accidentally put my photo-taking apparatus, my iPhone, in the washing machine the night before a 10-day trip through Spain. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened.

A trip that I'd hoped would include some wonderfully Instagrammable moments turned into a foray into the world of disposable cameras. And now, finally, after the three weeks it took for Carrefour to develop the film and the three more weeks I just flat out procrastinated writing this post, I can finally share that foray with you. This post is part "let me review something and help you if you're choosing to buy it" and part "I didn't get to post these on Instagram but I still need to feel validated so I'm posting them on my blog and forcing people to see them that way instead." I'm not even sorry.

I ended up using six different types of disposable cameras on my trip. Here's how they all fared.




KODAK Sport Single Use Camera

Plaza de España

Where I purchased it: Charles de Gaulle Airport
Where I used it: Seville
Number of Exposures: 27
ISO: 800
Flash option: No

This was the only one of the cameras that was waterproof and shockproof. Unfortunately, it was also the only camera that suffered neither a run-in with water nor a fall, so I can't really tell you how well those features work.

Hotel Alfonso XIII

A lot of the photos on this camera ended up overexposed or blurry. The overexposure I can blame on the strong sunlight in Seville and my own inexperience with disposables, but I wasn't expecting the blurriness, especially since this is advertised as a sports camera designed to capture fast movements.

Teatro Lope de Vega

I was able to get some okay shots from this one, but it wasn't one of my favorites. Especially since I now know that these other cameras handle shock and water pretty well, I would give this one a pass.

Outside Catedral de Sevilla

KODAK Power Flash Single Use Camera


Casa de Pilatos

Where I purchased it: Charles de Gaulle Airport
Where I used it: Seville
Number of Exposures: 27 + 12 free
ISO: 800
Flash Option: Yes

The Sport Camera had a warning that it should never be used indoors, so this camera ended up being my go-to for any indoor shots of Seville that I wanted to take. But herein was the problem.

Outside of Iglesia de San Ildefonso

This is a Power Flash camera. It can capture the best photos possible if that power flash is active. All of the places where I wanted to take indoor photos prohibited flash.

Inside Catedral de Sevilla

I was able to get some okay outdoor shots, but none of the indoor ones really turned out that well. KODAK advertises this as its "overall best performer," but keep in mind that this is only if you use the flash.

Plaza de España


KAITE KT 8008 Sure Flash 35mm Single Use Camera


Arab Baths

Where I purchased it: A random store in Granada that sells everything you can imagine. These camera were hidden among the phone chargers. 
Where I used it: Granada
Number of Exposures: 25
ISO: Not listed
Flash Option: Yes

It was harder than expected to find disposable cameras in Granada. I totally lucked out in finding these by wandering into a random store after I used up my first Kodak FunSaver (see below). I bought two, just in case. And it was a good thing that I did.

Albaicín

I was 10 pictures into the first one when it stopped working. It felt like the film had detached itself from the advancer, because I could turn it and turn it and nothing ever happened. I dismissed it as a fluke and moved onto the second one I'd bought. BUT THEN THAT ONE DID THE EXACT SAME THING. LITERALLY. 10 PICTURES IN IT STOPPED WORKING.

San Jeronimo Monastery

The pictures didn't turn out too horribly. It's just that there weren't a lot of them. Take a pass on these if you have any other options available.

Albaicín


NovoColor Single Use Camera with Flash 

View from the Alhambra

Where I purchased it: An actual photography store
Where I used it: Granada
Number of Exposures: 27
Film Speed: Not listed, but it's 35mm film
Flash Option: Yes

I was disappointed when I saw just how much this camera looked like the KAITE cameras. I thought I was going to have a repeat of the day before. Well, I didn't.

View from the Alhambra

I got to use up all 27 exposures on this one, and the pictures turned out really well.

Around the Alhambra

Maybe it was that I mostly used this camera at the Alhambra and it was so beautiful that even the crappiest of cameras could have captured it somehow. I don't know.

Around the Alhambra

That photo store was the first and last time I've seen a NovoColor camera, and it was the only one in the store. Even though I have a working iPhone camera now, I'm still going to snatch up a NovoColor if I see one again.

Around the Alhambra

These photos were definitely the best from the entire trip. 

View from the Alhambra

Kodak Fun Saver Single Use Camera

Sacramonte Sunset (Granada)

Where I purchased it: One was purchased at a hole-in-the-wall store that mostly sold old camera parts and statues of Catholic saints. The other was purchased at an Alhambra gift shop.
Where I used it: Granada, Madrid
Number of Exposures: 27 + 12 Free
Film Speed: 800
Flash Option: Yes

It took me a long time to find this camera--I actually had to spend a day without a camera and no way to capture the most beautiful sunset I'd ever seen. Once I finally found it, I eagerly started snapping away.

Catedral de la Almudena (Madrid)

Maybe too eagerly, because I can tell you that this camera can in fact survive being dropped on cobblestone streets multiple times.

Houses in the Albaicín (Granada)

Since then, I've seen these cameras around at lots of different stores. They're probably the easiest disposable to find.

Las Ventas (Madrid)

Although it has a flash, you don't have to use it to get a good photo, and it works well indoors and outdoors.

On the way to Sacramonte (Granada)

Overall, this was a pretty solid camera.

Royal Palace (Madrid)

Smile Single Use Camera

Buen Retiro Park

Where I bought it: Also at the Alhambra gift shop
Where I used it: Madrid
Number of Exposures:27
ISO: Not Listed
Flash Option: Yes

I picked this camera up at the Alhambra as well, mostly because it was the only one of its kind on a shelf full of Fun Savers and I felt like if I didn't buy it, nobody else would.


Buen Retiro Park

I really wasn't sure how any of these would turn out. The film advancer got stuck a few times and the viewfinder had a smudge on the inside.

Buen Retiro Park

I didn't put a lot of faith in this camera, but honestly, a good portion of these turned out okay.

Royal Palace

I'd even argue that some of them turned out better than the KODAKs

Buen Retiro Park

This is another camera that I've only ever seen the one incarnation of. I'm not sure if I'd immediately grab it again like I would with the NovoColor, but it served me well in the time I had it.

Buen Retiro Park

THE WINNER:
NovoColor. Definitely the NovoColor. No question.

THE RUNNER UP:
The Fun Saver. Easy to find, nowhere near as fussy as its two disposable cousins, and gets you some good shots without a whole lot of effort on your part.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY:
Buy cameras at stores that specialize in cameras. Not in random stores where you have to dig past nail polish, tinsel, and screwdrivers in order to find where the disposable cameras are even displayed.

Also, check your pockets before you do your laundry.


BONUS: Using an Expired Camera



Polaroid Instant One Time Use Camera

Sacramonte Sunset

Where I purchased it: A newsstand in Granada. 
Where I used it: Granada
Number of Exposures: 27
ISO: 800
Flash Option: Yes

So after I found the FunSaver in Granada, I used up about three quarters of its exposures within a few hours of wandering around the Albaicin. I frantically began checking store after store, hoping that I'd have more luck than the last time with finding cameras.

Houses in the Albaicín

By some miracle a newsstand happened to have this Polaroid. I bought it, no questions asked. It was only after I gave the camera a closer look that I realized it had expired...in 2013.
The climb up to Sacramonte 

I used it anyway. It's not like I had much of a choice.

On the way to Sacramonte 

And although some of the photos were grainy and washed out, a lot of them turned out well.
The climb up to Sacramonte 

Turns out cameras are like milk: A purist would never use it after the expiration date, but if you're willing to take a risk, you have no other options, or you just don't care, you can use it after it expires and be just fine.

Houses in the Albaicín

(This was not meant to endorse drinking expired milk.)

2 comments

  1. Hi, I bought the KAITE KT 8008 Sure Flash 35mm Single Use Camera while in Granada. I brought it back to the states and sent to to Walgreens. They sent it off, couldn't develop the film type, and returned the film to me without the camera. This has proved to be a problem because anywhere else I take it does not know what kind of film it is or if they can develop it. Do you know what kind it is? C-41? It's is very hard to find any information on this camera online. Thank you!

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    1. Hi!! I also had a lot of trouble finding information on this camera online. Why does it only appear to exist in Granada?? I'm not sure what the film type is, only that I was able to get it developed at Carrefour in France. However, it did take them longer to develop the film from the KAITE cameras than the film from any of the others. Some threads online have confirmed that the Novocolor (the camera that most resembled the KAITE) has C-41 film, so that would be my best guess. Sorry I couldn't offer more help!

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