To USB or Not to USB

Okay, this is cute. At least as an idea, although I won't be buying one.

Somehow I see a relentlessly digitized future in which the rumored historical existence of "film" only fits as a meme. Oh, wait a minute—that's now. Never mind.

(Just kidding. I do have to admit it would be good for client deliverables, as Photojojo suggests.)

Mike
(Thanks to Vlatko)

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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by Matt Alofs: "Finally, the digital film that we hear so much about five or six years ago. This will rescue my film-based cameras from near certain oblivion. Now where's that USB port on my M6 TTL?"

Featured Comment by Marc Rochkind: "Wow! I'm going to dial the phone and tell somebody about this."

Featured Comment by Rob Atkins: "Not available in 120? How am I to back-up my medium-format photos?"

Comments

[Dustin]

It would be great for client deliverables until your clients have to prop one side of their laptop up or get a USB extension cable to make it fit in their tower.

[glenn brown]

I wonder if they will fit into the side of a Mac,not much clearance.

[John Camp]

The problem with these, and some cute USB thumb drives, is that some poorly designed laptops -- you listening there, MacBook Pros? -- have two USB ports so close together that they won't even take two relatively standard USB connections. I don't think you could plug one of these into a MacBook pro and still use the second connection at all. You can forget about plugging in two of these at the same time.

[dale]

Well..... at least it would be easy to know WHICH thumb drive had your pictures on it!
I have too many that look alot alike.

[Chuck Albertson]

No Kodachrome 64?

[David Simonton]

Say, these are cute. But seriously...

Seeing these film canisters raises a question:

Has anyone heard/Does anyone know how the skyrocketing price of silver is going to affect the price of (in particular) black-and-white film?

Should we start stockpiling? and quick? ... before a USB Film Roll and a roll of film both cost $20?

[cb]

http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/dro0306l.jpg

[efix]

Thanks for the link! I found these in another online store that wouldn't ship to overseas, and was a bit frustrated ... but now I can finally order one! :-)

[MJFerron]

If I could send a digital image in one end and out the other came exposed Tri-x images on film they'd have my money.

Better yet what if one could put the canister in a film camera and when finished
have 24 developed images ready for upload.

[SamPieter]

This is also an interesting form factor for a USB drive. Not sure if I want to use it for client deliverables though:

http://designyoutrust.com/2011/04/28/usb-tampon/

[ILTim]

Kidding? Really? Do you think film stands any more chance of lasting more than a couple years than say.... daguerreotype?

And yeah, we get it, to quote wikipedia "Daguerreotype continues to be practiced by enthusiastic photographers to this day".

[ctein]

Dear Mike,

I think they're CUTE! I'd buy one.

Brought to mind the film calculator I wrote about three years back:

http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2008/01/good-press-bad.html

pax / Ctein

[Pak-Ming Wan]

That's BRILLIANT!!! Now I know what to do with the 40 or so empty canisters of 400TX I have lying around...

Cheers, Pak

[Chuck Albertson]

David,

Silver prices are starting to collapse, along with crude and other commodities. Last time they spiked like that was when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the market, and manufacturers started using less silver in papers, the price of Tri-X went through the roof, and it led to the introduction of the first chromogenic (C-41) b&w films, like Ilford's XP2 and Agfa's entry--the big attraction for the manufacturers was that they could recover tons of silver from the labs that processed the stuff.

[James]

Sorry Mike if I am late to this.

It's a lovely, tongue-in-cheek idea. I just wonder if there is a Velvia 50 version, or am I forced to put up with the degraded 400 speed image quality? Does the Provia 400 version really save images at 4 times the speed of the Elite Chrome 100 version?

And finally, which of these USBs can you save 37 - or even 38 - images to?

I've got a slightly wider question. In my freezer there are about 100 unexposed rolls of various - but mainstream - 120 film. Throw away, or keep?

[Will Frostmill]

James,
You asked, "In my freezer there are about 100 unexposed rolls of various - but mainstream - 120 film. Throw away, or keep?"

Contact me at frostmill [at] gmail . com, and I'll gladly take them off your hands.

[toto]

"No Kodachrome 64?"

Nope, discontinued.

[toto]

Re Ctein's Calcuchrome calculator - Why, it uses Fuji inside!

[Bryce Lee]

A different method of marketing a product to encourage one to purchase something
else, useless.

And has been noted elsewhere, the USB ports on Mac laptops are incredibly close together and hence would be difficult
to utilize, in this sense.

[erlik]

Rob Atkins, you can have two in one 120 roll. These have cases, but they are still only 31mm long and you could probably remove the case. I used to have a USB stick that was smaller than an SD card.

[Paul Crouse]

Is this that special kind of tape you wrote about a while back. I heard you needed it for those kinds of cameras that don't take memory cards...

[Kosma]

Thanks for great DIY idea for a lazy Saturday afternoon. I just crafted a HP5+ one :)

[RobG]

I love 'em. Gonna make a few of my own, I think.

[MIkal W. Grass]

James, what do you have in the way of 120 film. Instead of trading my Mamiya 7 ll for a Polaroid 190 0r 195, or selling it for ome of those sweet razzledog 4x5 cameras, I decided to shoot the Mamiya.

You can contact me at miamiadopt@gmail.com if you feel the need to dispose of your film.