35mm or APS?

[Kroze]

I just bought an Canon ELPH 2 APS Camera. I'm not sure should i return it and buy an 35mm camera? Which is
better? 35mm or APS in term of picture quality and flexibility. I want a camera that will give excellent picture
qualities.

 

[duke]

If all else is equal, 35mm will give you a better picture simply because you start out with a larger film area. Especially if you plan to blow up the images beyond the normal 3x5 or 4x6. That reason alone is why I won't even consider APS. As for convenience and flexibility, I would look at a digital camera instead.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Well, let me put it this way, there is a reason that there are virtually no SLR cameras that use APS. I would not use anything but 35mm myself, but APS does alright for snapshots. The picture quality of point and shoot APS cameras is not significantly different from the quality of 35mm point and shoot cameras, and for most purposes it's easier. However, APS is more expensive all around. The film costs more, and the developing costs more, so you pay for the convenience. The whole loading thing is kind of stupid IMO since loading a fully manual camera is not difficult at all, and almost every newer 35mm point and shoot has some sort of easy loading mechanism anyway. The most important thing in determining picture quality is the lens, make sure that the lens is all glass. Plastic lenses (or lenses with plastic pieces) tend to have greater distortion than glass lenses.

ZV

 

[MajesticMoose]

35 mm will give you better quality and it can be processed by every place that does film. APS is not to that point yet, IIRC

 

[Doggiedog]

APS is horrible. Don't get it. I made the mistake of buying an APS camera. Good thing there is eBay. The worst thing about APS is the cost of developing though. The prices are ridiculous! Around here it costs $14 to develop a roll of 25 and $1 per reprint.

 

[Lucky]

Some of the comments here are pretty silly.

I bought my GF the elph 2 and it is an excellent camera. While I personally find the zoom a bit lacking, it is a very nice, durable, small and quality camera with a good glass lens.

As for APS vs. 35mm, its personal preference. Yes, because APS film is smaller in size quality will suffer when enlarging. However, as a photographer who used to work in a retail camera store for many years, I can say without a doubt most consumers do not enlarge past 4x6. At 4x6 you will not notice a difference in quality. 5x7 is even arguable. Beyond that, you will probably encounter more grain if you use APS film for enlargements.

-APS cameras are extremely easy to load, and the indicator on the roll of film that tells you whether it has been used/exposed/developed is pretty handy.

-The contact print that comes standard with every roll developed is handy when ordering reprints-you dont have to hold your negatives up to the light and squint to see which picture you want reprinted.

-While not all places can process APS in one-hour, every single camera store has the capability of sending it out to kodak (or whoever) with a turnaround of 2-5 days.

-Cost of film is dropping, and what you pay is more dependent on where you buy it then what format the film is. Cost of processing depends on what format you selected when shooting. If you shoot all panoramics then the cost will obviously be higher due to the neccesity of more paper, etc being needed. Shoot 4x6 or 4x7 and the cost at most places is the same or just a little higher.

Take a few rolls with your new camera and decide if the quality is high enough for you. Im sure it will be. Its a fine little camera.

 

[Doggiedog]

I had a Canon Elph 370Z and I can honestly tell you that my pictures looked about the same as ones taken by disposable 35mm cameras. Granted I used to be a photography snob but I personally dislike APS. All I use nowadays is my Canon S40 digital camera.

 

[Viper22]

I personally use APS. Ive got a Canon EOS IX Lite APS SLR Camera and it is damn nice. Ive done over 500 shots on it most of them in France and everthing came out beautifully. Even when we were on Tour buses shooting through windows and in the rain etc. I like it because i can easily switch out to Panarama if need be. I do carry a large Zoom lense also but other than that its a very good camera.

Viper22

 

[Jzero]

My only dislike for APS is that the film costs more and the processing costs more.
For general shooting, they're similar enough in quality and grain.

 

[duke]

I think the panoramic "feature" on an APS is retarded, because it is nothing more than a blow up and then crop. Ofcourse, this then goes back to the smaller film and the resulting horrid image quality.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

from a little more pragmatic point of view I would suggest 35mm for the simple reason that 35mm is cheaper to develope. Futhermore, it is easier and cheaper to get reprints. APS film is rewound back into the film cartridge, so if you don't keep the film cartridge with the thumbnail or photographs, you have no way of knowing what negatives are what. We have an SLR camera, an point and shoot 35mm, a point and shoot APS, and a digital camera. The only one we don't really use that much isthe APS camera. BUT we do have a few panaramic APS photos that are nice....

I say go with 35mm.

 

[Lucky]

APS film is rewound back into the film cartridge, so if you don't keep the film cartridge with the thumbnail or photographs, you have no way of knowing what negatives are what.



That might be true if you lost all of the prints/index print and just had the film, but as you might know there is a catridge number printed on every print that corresponds to a matching number on the roll of film. Its easy to match them up.

If you know how its also fairly easy to get the APS negatives out of the catridge.

 

[DurocShark]

<< My only dislike for APS is that the film costs more and the processing costs more. >>




Yep. Plus you can't go as large with the enlargements due to the film size. The bigger you go, the more noticable the grain is. Of course, the best solution is large format (negs up to 11"x14"!!!!).

I personally use 35mm, 6x6 medium format, and 6x9 medium format. Different formats for different uses.

 

[Kroze]

Well I guess it all comes to this:

35mm:

Cheaper to get develope
Can enlarge pictures

ELPH 2 APS:

SMALL! & Sleak & Stainless Steel
Expensive to develope
Easy to use.
Can't enlarge pictures...

------------------------------------------------

I think i'm going to the 35mm route. But the reason why i bought my ELPH 2 is because of its size, stainless steel casing, and flexibility of APS.

But the Developing price is a turn off. Does anyone have a recommendation of an 35mm camera that's Small like the ELPH 2 & have stainless steel casing? that would be great.

 

[777joee]

Go with a real camera and use 35mm film. APS is just a flash in the pan idea Kodack came up with.

Just my $.02

My camera of choice is a Cannon F-1 with a 50mm 1.4 lens I got it while I was in the service in 1973 on Guam. I still to this day takes great pictures!