The Advanced Photo System, APS, is a major breakthrough in camera design and film use which changes the whole way we go about taking photos.

APS film is a little smaller than 35mm and this has enabled cameras to be made around 20% smaller than the most compact of 35mm cameras.

Improvements in film quality have allowed this reduction in size without adversely affecting print quality.

All the problems of handling 35mm have been swept away. Loading the camera is the simplest thing imaginable and, even when the film is returned from processing, you never handle the negatives. Instead you are given an index print which shows all the photos filed on your film on one small print. The reference number of each photo is both on the index print and also printed directly onto the back of every print made. Date details are also printed directly onto the back of the photo.

You can choose to have your prints made in 3 different formats regardless of the settings on the camera when you took the picture. The formats are 'H' which is the same ratio as the new digital television sets that will shortly be introduced; 'P' for Panorama prints, and 'C' the standard photo print size.

Being stored in its own canister makes APS very suitable for displaying on television screens or for scanning into a computer.

As the format has only relatively recently been introduced, not all one hour processing facilities can handle the film within an hour. However, as the popularity of the system continues to grow, more and more minilabs are offering this service.

As with 35mm compacts there is a tremendous variety to choose from, but keener photographers should check out the single lens reflex version of these cameras for great savings in weight and bulk.

Prices for fully automatic compact APS cameras begin at around over $100.

©This material is the copyright of Paul Curtis, Executive Director of the Photographic Imaging Council and is for free use by the media. Accreditation to the council is appreciated. So that we can keep our activities up to date, we like to know where and when this information is used, so please click here to send us this information.