I'm a sentimental slob. Can't help but wish these find the families for which they were worth taking in the first place.
posted by Goofyy at 12:33 PM on February 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I have a few of those old disposable cameras, almost 20 years old, never developed. Hope me?
posted by thelonius at 1:29 PM on February 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I have a black and white photograph of me and my dad, in which he's holding a compact flash camera (don't know the brand, but it looked like the Kodak Startech). I'm about 3 years old wearing what looks to be a transcendent jumper. It's one of those bright muggy days at the Backus Mill. I'm squinting and smiling up at him, and he's smiling too, looking down at me with the other hand on his camera. It was probably an awful vacation, but I didn't know it then. This guy's captions are the best.

Thanks for this.
posted by kneecapped at 2:40 PM on February 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I scrolled thru the photos hoping I’d see a face I recognized. Unfortunately, I didn’t. But the compositions, the clothing, the “ let’s go outside where the light is better” I still remember from my very earliest years on the planet. I love all of these.
posted by Silvery Fish at 3:28 PM on February 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I have a few of those old disposable cameras, almost 20 years old, never developed. Hope me?

My memory is that inside all disposables there's just a regular roll of film in a canister which could be taken to any drug store/camera store to be developed, assuming it's been rewound. It means forcing the camera open to get the roll out, but I don't recall that being hard (*). A very very (very!) cursory web search says CVS (at a minimum) still offers old skool film development and print services. If not, I'm sure there's still somewhere you can do this...maybe a local pro camera shop?

(*) - I vaguely recall that the original concept behind so-called disposables was that much or most of the camera could be reconditioned by the mfg after your prints were made, reloaded with film, and sold again. In actual implementation, not sure how true that turned out to be.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 4:58 PM on February 15, 2022

I've been looking through these for half an hour. You made my evening, Quonab. I love these, and the captions too. Thanks.
posted by acantha at 5:15 PM on February 15, 2022

Actually: the CVS website says disposables OK. So just bring 'er in.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 5:20 PM on February 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

My memory is that inside all disposables there's just a regular roll of film in a canister which could be taken to any drug store/camera store to be developed, assuming it's been rewound.

Most disposable cameras come with the unexposed film already out, pulling the film back into the canister as pictures are taken.

Assuming the pictures are all taken (click the rest off with your finger over the lens if not, just hold the shutter while winding it) it's trivial to remove the film canister with a flathead screwdriver. On Kodak disposables it's a pretty obvious plastic tab on the side, on Fujis it's a marked slot on the bottom you can jam a screwdriver into and pry open a flap holding the canister in.

That all said, it's probably best to just bring the whole camera in -- photo shops generally have recycling programs (or at least, they used to). I provide the above information for the slightly adventurous.

almost 20 years old, never developed. Hope me?

20 is pushing it. They're probably still legible (if they were well exposed in the first place) but there'll be a fair amount of fogging. Sooner better than later. Bring it to someone who knows what they're doing -- if someone just runs the film through on auto the machine might not even be able to find the frames for printing.

(source: photo lab guy, in a former life)
posted by neckro23 at 6:28 PM on February 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

So I'm just gonna say that the lady in the Argoflex film is one of the most stunningly gorgeous women I think I have ever seen, but then the dude is also one of the most staggeringly handsome, so I'm like...I don't know what to do? I hope they had a good run.
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:35 PM on February 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Years ago, I bought an old Leica 35mm at a thrift shop once. Manual everything, came with a bag, flash, some accessories, and had a roll of film loaded, or at least it looked like it. Bought the whole kit for $20, brought it to the darkroom at school, rewound the film and opened it to make sure it rewound properly. Developed it, and found a half-dozen or so fairly degraded but still "Hey, that looks like X landmark!" shots that had to be 40 years old, by the cars and apparel. It was magic, like looking into a secret world or time capsule. These weren't archive shots from the museum or newspaper, these were someone's candids that went forgotten and undeveloped until just now.

(And then I read The Sun Dog and went fuck this, I'm going digital. )
posted by xedrik at 11:53 AM on February 16, 2022 [2 favorites]