Camera firms aim to click with film that takes perfect photo

Amateur photography is set for a revolution that could prove as momentous as the record industry's change a decade ago from vinyl to compact discs.

Tomorrow the five biggest companies in the photographic industry will launch a new range of films and cameras which promise to end the problem of over- and under-exposed films and the hassles of loading films in cameras that seem determined to resist them.

Known as Advanced Photo System (APS), the products have been developed jointly by Canon, Fuji, Kodak, Minolta and Nikon, who have spent more than pounds 200m over the past five years to develop a fault-free method of loading and processing films.

Kodak reckons the system is long overdue. "Every year more than 1 billion photographs are lost due to simple errors," a spokeswoman said. "Fifteen per cent of all rolls received by processors have blank, fogged or double- exposed frames. And 70 per cent of our consumer phone enquiries relate to loading problems."

The new film is contained in a single cartridge which can be dropped straight into any APS camera. It then loads automatically. Before taking a photo, the user can choose between three different formats - normal, "group" (16 per cent wider than normal) and panoramic, which is twice as wide as standard prints.

After processing, the developed negatives are returned inside the cartridge, along with a set of prints and a "contact sheet" containing tiny numbered versions of every print. This makes it easier to select pictures for reprints, instead of struggling to identify a negative.

The problems of over- and under-exposure are tackled by the camera, which encodes data on to a magnetic strip at the bottom of the film as the photo is taken. The processing system then automatically adjusts the development process to allow for dark or light conditions.

Steve Fairclough, news editor of Amateur Photographer magazine, said: "It's good news for the general consumer. It might not appeal to the top end of the market, where people like to have as much control of the shot as possible. But for Joe Public, the message is that you won't get back a lot of bad photos - which is the sort of thing that can make you decide not to bother taking pictures next time. It means you won't have to think at all."

Photo companies, desperate for something to pep up the stagnant camera and film market worldwide, are encouraged by polls which have shown that nine out of ten consumers would choose an APS camera over a conventional system.

However APS cameras, which are expected to go on sale in April, will cost between 20 per cent and 30 per cent more than for comparable products. In addition, the APS films will cost about pounds 1 extra for processing, with additional costs of 5p for "group" prints and 25p for panoramic prints.

Snapshots in the evolution of the camera

1822: Joseph Nicephone Niepce and his brother Claude invent the first permanent photograph.

1838: The Daguerrotype camera is invented, capturing images using silver on copper plates

1896: Eastman Kodak introduces the Box Brownie roll-film camera for the consumer market. It is priced at $1. Millions are sold and amateur photography is born.

1936: The first 35mm SLR (single lens reflex) production camera is introduced by Kine Exakta of Dresden, Germany. SLR allows the photographer to look through the same lens as that taking the picture.

1960s: Polaroid introduces an early autofocus camera, which estimates the distance to its subject by high-pitched sound. It flops, because it cannot focus beyond windows.

1985: Minolta introduces its 7000 camera, the first 35mm SLR autofocus camera.

1987: Kodak introduces the Fling, the first disposable camera. It contains a single film and is used just once. It is a huge hit, especially in Japan.

1996: Canon, Fuji, Kodak, Minolta and Nikon introduce the Advanced Photo System - but will it be a hit or a flop?