Damn it Chris and Jordan, now all the hipsters know what APS is!!

Cool throwback video, nice work! I still have my IXUS APS with a half-used film in it from the late Nineties. I daren't develop it.

I used to sell cameras and develop film.. Your video really tells exactly like the APS film was. Great presentation! I always had a dislike of the APS films, because the quality was worse than normal 35mm film. And people often forgot to change back from panorama settings, so all their images they got back were in 4×11 inch (10x28cm) - and it was a surprise to them. It also took 2x as long print the images, because the films came in 25 or 40 shots (AFAIR).. So if I was unlucky, it would be 40 shots in 10x28cm, it would take such a long time to run through the machine, compared to the other films :)

I backpacked around the world for a year or so back in 2000ish with my Canon Ixus APS compact. I loved that little thing. Still have all the prints and the exposed cans, of course. The single-sheet index print of thumbnails was quite an innovation at the time. Thanks for bringing back the memories!

Man watching this put a smile on my face, the cool faded colours are awesome too. Right! The excitment of seeing your developed photos, not knowing for sure how your photos would really come out - definitely different than instant confirmation on digital cameras today

I sure had the pinnacle of APS system cameras; the Minolta Vectis S-1. Why the pinnacle, well for a fact, Minolta took the APS system to heart, they were the driving force convincing the other camera manufacturers to develop cameras and go in for the APS system. The Vectis S-1 and S-100 used specially developed lenses, not the standard Minolta A mount lenses and the fact that the cameras were water or splash proof made it possible to go out in adverse weather. But the downside to the story is; if you ask former Minolta management, the Vectis killed Minolta. They had a few costly litigations but what really pushed them over the edge and made them sell the camera business to Sony was the costly development of the APS system and subsystems. I also confess to using the same Canon Ixus, but in silver, not the fancy gold special edition as a carry around camera always in the side pocket in my uniform. PS: I still have the Vectis S-1 and S-100 and all the lenses; the 17mm, 22-80mm zoom, 25-150mm zoom, 28-56mm zoom, 50mm Macro, 56-170mm zoom, 80-240mm zoom, 400mm reflex and a few other accessories.

The Nikon Pronea 600i was my first SLR camera, I liked it a lot. Great to talk about it and APS cameras in 2018, good history lesson!

My dad bought me the Minolta Vectis S1 in high school. I had fun learning photography using it.

Chris + Jordon, It's good to see the return of your analogue coverage, indeed I purchased a mint Nikon F4 after seeing your excellent review of it (thanks).. I liked this particularly, because of the film affects the out of date film achieved, oh of course: underlined by your excellent photos skills, and Jordon's skill behind (and) in front of the lens - I for one would like to see your 'retro' slot return more often (if possible)?! Congratulations to you both for some excellent subjects, where the camera / process is centre stage and not solely on the individual. Keep the quality work flowing, I (like a lot of Brits in the UK) look forward to your next presentation. . .

Recently at the London Drugs I work at a customer came in with a roll of Polachrome film for processing. How many of you have even heard of that brief blip of photographic history? I am soooooooo old 😥

just bought a camera that I didn't realise was APS - ordered some film off of eBay and am now excited to have a go with it after this video haha

As a Pentax user for many, many, mannny years, I love these videos as it makes me feel I truly own a modern camera. But seriously at 44 and been into photography for well over 30 years these are the videos I most appreciate, keep up the great work lads.

Chris your making me feel old, I remember this format though I never shot with but stuck to the 35mm film I'd always used. This episode was a nice trip down memory lane, thankyou.

Hi Chris & Jordan. Brings back memories, i was into 35mm slrs, but remember getting a Canon Ixus APS for my young cousin, way back then. Even confess to using it myself, as it was so compact. Shows how far we have come in 20 years, and how spoilt we are these days, with digital cameras, and yes, mobile phones.

Lol that grain in the middle of the day. Loved this segment. I'd like to collect one of those limited edition elphs!

I loved this history lesson!

I always thought where did the APS-C name came from. Now I know why I didn't knew :) That was fun history lesson!

Thank you. I have been on a personal crusade forever to educate people every time someone complains "Crop of what?" when they talk about crop sensors.

I work in a photolab that still does film development (in very small quantities) and we still get quite a few people showing up with APS film. About 90% of those come in with film that is already developed. People just didn't get the developed-film-in-the-same-container concept I think 😁. Plus, try getting your hands on non-expired APS film nowadays, I dare you😁

I loved my tiny Canon ELPH APS film Camera. I was into it big time! I thought it was the wave of the future and I jumped right into it. :) You could make three different size pictures with it too.

9:12 even that guy walking down the street felt that camera shake 🤣

I remember a friend of mine from school had an APS camera. Man I was so jealous but she used it once on a school trip and I never saw it again. It went the way of the MiniDisc...I hope they're keeping each other company in discarded tech heaven.

I was skeptical at first how good your content would be @DPR, but I'm glad to proven wrong, I truly enjoyed this video!

haha be still my beating heart! Every photo store had APSC film, the only person i knew who had an apsc camera was my friend emma, and she hated it, i was still shooting 35mm on my canon av-1 at the time and had no desire to use apsc, and neither did other photographers, and consumers already knew how to load film into their camera, and if they didnt know, there was always someone nearby who could. Who can load 35mm film now? Probably not many folk. Great trip down memory lane, thanks Chris and Jordan xoxox

Hi guys, I live in Scotland and remember taking a month long holiday to Canada in 2000, I arranged to visit all my relatives in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, White Rock and Abbotsford. I also visited Banff Natioan Park with my cousin, my camera of choice for the whole trip was the Minolta Vitis S1 with a load of lens and the Canon APS ixus which I still own, I loved the compact size of the whole outfit especially while travelling and brought back lots of fantastic photographs I was sorry to see the system die off. As you said Chris the system was the grounding for the digital APS system to grow, great vlog going down memory lane....

I'm from Portugal and I had a Canon Ixus. The last time I used my camera was when I went to vacation to Brazil back in 1999. Loved the APS format. Thanks for the video.

The only time I've ever said "Oh no he dint!" when I saw Saneal. Too funny.

Very interesting retro review. I do remember APS barely, I never had an APS camera, I just knew to make sure I got the right film. When I took up photography again in the digital era, I never connected the dots to APS-C. Interesting, I never consider what it stood for, or the history of it. Thanks for the history lesson.

So, when are you covering the DISC camera system?

Great video! I've still got my Canon Elph Jr. in my closet that I bought in 1998. I did take some APS photos with it and have some cartridges (negatives) in the garage, but I went fully digital in 1999 when the Nikon Coolpix 950 came out (still have that in my closet too).

When Techmoan revealed there were SLR versions of the APS cameras, I had to get one. I ended up with two plus a tiny PAS because it came packaged with film for $5! Should be picking up my first developed roll tomorrow!

Did you get that free BIG MAC? that's the only thing on my mind right now

My 1st and 2nd ever cameras were Hanimex and Canon APS film types; felt very nostalgic after watching this video. Thanks for uploading :-)

Cool video - my first two cameras when I was about 8 years old were actually APS; I think I drove my parents crazy with all the panoramic prints that cost like 3x as much as a normal 4x6! Also, nice point about the R&D legacy - it was really APS-C that made digital tenable given that full frame sensors were so ludicrously expensive at the beginning.

Thanks for a trip down memory lane, I had a Minolta Vectis GX-4 waterproof camera (can go underwater 15 ft). Took a lot of pics with it in Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest

It's those two crazy Canucks! Subscribed!

Really enjoyed this - I am so glad I stuck to 35mm film as it is so much easier to get scanned etc these days while a few rolls of APS that I shot are just a pain to archive. Great concept in theory but overall not a good idea in practice. It's amazing how well the Fuji film held up after a decade - normally expired film requires 1-stop over-exposure so that may account for the Fuji scans looking slightly under-cooked but the great Fuji colours were all there. More of these please :)

Enjoyed this video a lot. Informative and entertaining. In the true sense of them each. Only knew one person who had an aps film camera. That was in Calgary Alberta back in 1998.

I got into photography in 1997 and learned a lot from my brother, who had been shooting since ~1983. He mentioned that some pros were concerned that, after spending nearly $3,000 on a Nikon F5 body a new format was being heavily promoted. Fuji did produce APS slide film for a short while, by the way. Ken Rockwell did an article about APS a few years ago and I emailed him about the Fuji slide film. I never got a reply but he altered his article a few days later to include mention of it.

The portrait of Jordan at 9:25 is handsome and has a pleasant aesthetic. Absolute IG #nofilter magic!

I remember this distinctly since it started out when I was just getting into photography as an elementary student. The idea that you could change Isos mid shoot was mind blowing.

I have a Canon Ixus APS. Just found an old roll not used. It was a great point & shoot camera. So easy to use; loading film especially. My Wife found it really nice. Went on to buy numerous Digital Ixus cameras. Thanks for the memories:-)

I had a Canon Elph IXUS APS. Great backup camera. Great pictures!

I had one of these ELPHs back in 2000. Thank goodness that they offered to digitize the film at processing.

I had a minolta vectis APS film and the reason I brought it was because of mid film roll exchange. I go to gigs, motor sports, plus the normal holiday photos and the APS system was the best option for my use.

Chris, you had forgotten to mention what the APS acronym stands for... I too worked in a photolab in Vancouver BC back in the days... I now live in Alanya Turkey, stopped with photography but thoroughly enjoy watching your vids. Thanx for all your hard work!!!

fellow Canadian here -- I had an APS camera (I think it was named an Advantix camera). It was my first camera growing up.

I can't believe I watched this entire video that is COMPLETELY irrelevant to me. Good work making another entertaining video guys! :)

Just found this, back in 1992 I was in the Gretag plant in Regensdorf Switzerland and saw some APS film in a room where I was told they were working on new products. Gretag was working with Kodak on APS processing and a lowly camera store owner such as myself wasn't supposed to see it. The hope was that it would only be processed by central labs, not in store one hour labs.

Contax TiX is a very nice one

Dude I shot a wedding with a canon eos 1x great lens 24-85 3.5 -4.5.... Very sharp

I loved APS film, and was a godsend when I no longer had to advance my film manually AND the tiny LCD screen on my Kodak Advantix camera told me how many exposures I had left.

Great vid - I own several APS cameras, bought a bunch of film and I have a shop that develops APS locally!

Dudes, you are in Calgary! :) Awesome video by the way. Thanks!

Great video. Now, ... I wonder if I shouldn't buy some APS Contax cameras on speculation that new demand for APS film will warrant limited production.

Still got 2 APS cameras neither have been used in several years however. I might need to grab myself some rolls and take a trip down memory lane 😊

I had an Elph in addition to several Canon and Minolta 35mm film SLRs. I enjoyed the 16:9 and 3:1 wide formats for shooting groups of people and scenics.

I had a canon Elph that went everywhere with me. You had the choice when developing to get the pictures on cd rom. My oldest pictures in my digital library are those apps shots. Thanks for the memories.

This brings back memories of my Minolta Vectis.

It’s great that you still got the possibility with dpreview to make videos like this. Maybe you will revive the unsung cameras aswell?

I had completely forgotten about APS film until watching this! I remember having an APS camera now but I don't remember anything about it other than the format of the film canisters

I both a Canon IX and an IX Lite. Told them both toward the end the active APS-C era including a couple lenses. The IX SLR was a nice solid camera that served me well. I probably still have some film laying around in one of those book like cases that held 16 or 24 cartridges.

Very interesting "history" video, never knew about APS film (writing from Italy, EU). Here it never really became popular, 35mm ruled until digital. But now I know where APS comes from !

Had the Canon. Loved it. Still around somewhere.

Yesssss! Someone needs to bring this back. If you like the Contax T3 and can't sell any organs, try the Contax Tix.. such a great performer and has all the settings you need (lots of exposure control).

Cool video! Really a forgotten system! I remember that I loved the Ixus cameras at the end of the 90s and the were quite common, albeit relatively expensive - but it's true - the advent of digital technology quickly replaced them... Keep up with the occasional videos about that old stuff!

One feature of APS film was a magnetic backing on the negative, onto which exposure data could be recorded.

I had an APS camera! haha I loved those film cartridges!

After using only compact 35mm cameras for many years my return to SLR was the Pronea S mated to a Sigma f/4-5.6 70-300. The native IX 30-60mm lens was serviceable too. Loved the mid-roll rewind feature and the ratio options. Always carried both color and B&W rolls in the plastic 24mm film cans taped to the camera strap. Had a strong preference for Fuji films, faster options and was way more vibrant. Local Wolf Camera film processor was always amazed at the shots I coaxed out of it, as was I. The B&W film was "instant" processing capable (C-41?) but the resulting prints always had a very bluish cast.

A Minolta Vectis was my first SLR camera. Thanks for this!

Nice job on the video guys and an interesting bit of history. I had read about the format back when I used a 35mm but completely ignored it. I heard that comment about being old Chris, watch it, I’m sure I’m a good bit older than you. 🙂

I'll bet all those Nikon's have just been sold! The music at 9.21 reminds me of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy from the BBC in the eighties. Hmmm

Loved my little Kodak APS camera from back in 99-2000!

This is why you watch youtube. Excellent guys!!

Holy crap I have totally forgot about APS film. When I got into photography in around 1997 I borrowed a camera for my freshman year photography class and it was APS. I bought my first camera later that year a Pentax zx50.

Well done Chris and Jordon!

I used to shoot APS film side by side with 35mm film. :D APS had cool features like visual indicators on the cartridge, easy mid-roll changes, saved exposure date/time, saved shutter and aperture settings, saved text captions and different aspect ratios. It was quite innovative then.

I love it when it came out! I was so cool and easy for the average person to use. Even my mother couldnt screw this stuff up! I recently found my Kodak Advantix camera that uses the APS films and it still had a roll in it with two frames left to shoot!

Oh I love that video - thanks for reminding me at my old Canon Ixus elph (or so). Well I had my experience with it around 2001 ...lol... as a backup camera for a Canon EOS 50E on my USA/Canada trip during that time. Greetings from Germany and keep on doing what you're doing - it's always a pleasure watching your reviews!!!

I had a little Kodak Advantix F310 or F300 when I was really young. It was one of my first automatic film cameras. Before that I was shooting on a K1000. I loved that camera and film system. It was really cool! But, shortly after that I found Casio and the D40.

Thanks for that, really enjoyed it. When my Mother was after a camera I aimed her at a little lump of stainless steel made by Minolta that just felt wonderful in the hand. I still have it somewhere (alas she's gone now) and I'm wondering if there's any film with it... Hadn't heard of the Interchangeable Lens APS cameras (that I can remember), although I still have my little 4MP IXUS digital which used to live in the bag I took to work, for instant photo opportunities pre-cellphones. (Update) Just found some of her photos, they came in a 310x120x22mm box with a plastic insert that held the film at one end (hence the box thickness) and the rest was a big tray for the photos. Has the APS logo on the front. The date taken was printed on the back of the photos (late 1999- early 2000 in this case, how far we have come in so few years). They also always came with an index photo giving the date range of the images and thumbnails. Oh and the film was a 25 exposure Kodak Advantix 200, so APS standards weren't 24 or 36 (not sure what else you got). (Further update) Found another one processed by Kodak, box is 292x115x24mm so no standard or anything. Curiously the film was Fuji Nexia 200 x 25 exp.

Although the films were expired, the photos look quite good! Love it.

Nice history lesson. I never shot APS film when it came out because I didn't like negatives smaller than 35mm (do you remember 110 film?) and I much prefer 2 1/4 (6x6) or larger negatives. Regarding the 16x9 aspect ratio, it is interesting you bring that up because today the bulk of my best digital images I have cropped to 16x9. I like that aspect ratio because it fits perfectly on my large HD monitors and TVs when I display my work. I like to create video slide shows from my images and have them fill the complete screen. I also think it gives the images a more cinematic feel. I just wished the lab printers and paper providers would make that a standard size. When I want lab prints made from my 16x9 images I have to fit them into a 18x12 template and offset them so that there is a larger border along the bottom (where I end up putting my name and the title of the print to balance the void).

Great video guys! Would be keen for more like these

We just called this system Advantix because all the film in my area was Kodak Advantix and all the cameras at the local drug stores were Kodak branded Advantix too.

Still have a Vectis 20 here. 😄 Bought on my 2nd trip to USA, believing in all the "next step in film" marketing. Kinda ok photos, camera easy to operate, very compact, first autofocus camera that I had.

Great presentation Chris. Thanks for clarifying the acronym APS. Nowadays in the world of digital cameras I have repeatedly heard about various sensor sizes, the small 'mom-and-pop' type of 1/2.3" sensors in compact cameras, the larger 1" sensor also in compacts, and then M4/3, APS, on up to FF. Well, I never really got to know / understand what APS was. When I was in Vietnam my first 'serious' camera was the Minolta SRT-101 which used what was known as 35mm film, also in a cartridge. Will you clarify one point for me? Is (was) this 35mm film cartridges then what we now call full frame (24x36mm) today? If so, then the APS that you present here is still yet another variant of that 35mm cartridge but in a smaller size? And that is how we get these crop factors in APS like 1.5x, 1.6x etc? Also, for the sake of clarification to myself and perhaps others, full frame is regarded as 24x36mm right? That makes the frame size ratio 3:2? And what about M4/3? That is what is regarded as 4:3? I am not sure how they come up with these calculations but from what I understand, M4/3 is 1/4th the size of FF, or a halving of the dimensions making it 12x18mm? I will appreciate any enlightenment you can shed on this. Thanks.

Interesting video. I still have an Elph, as well as processed negative rolls! Got to find a scanner to digitize them!

I had a Kodak APS point and shoot back in the late nineties. Loved it. Loved a nice panorama. Although the panoramas were lower resolution due to the crop the prints came back larger than the other sizes (same height different widths). No idea whether they were the same price or if my parents were paying for development and I didn't care.

Great history lesson! More of it please!

I still have a Canon ELPH APS camera tucked away in my gear cabinet. What I learned today is that the APS format actually has many sub-sizes, and I agree with Chris that it's just a format that is smaller than full-frame and bigger than Micro Four-Thirds.

3:52 is actually a great look in my opinion!

We had the original Kodak cam for these. They were expensive but awesome. Loved the options.

OMG! The gold IXUS! The Gold One! Might not prevent the sticky flash issue. But it's GOLD!

The last non-digital camera I bought was an APS. I bought it because it was advertised as the 'next advance' in cameras. As I recall, you could choose the size of each photo (panorama, normal) and when I got the prints back, the panorama ones would be quite wide and inconvenient! But the camera was easier to load than 35mm cameras, and the presentation of the printed photos was good (came in a box, with a thumbnail sheet). I bought the camera in 96. Got my first digital camera in 2000.

This was an awesome look back guys. More like this for sure!

I remember the short marketing push for aps film,and was just going to look up where the C came from. This video was more fun to watch than a trip to Wikipedia. H=high definition, C=classic, P=panoramic, got it.

Really enjoyed this, thank you

That expired Kodak film created some funky colors. Kind of a cool effect, although you'll never know what you're going to get with it.

In 1999 I had a Sony Mavica digital camera, one of the first digitals. It was big and bulky (it saved to floppy disks), this meant I didn't use it much. I switched from digital to APS! I got a little Konica APS that was a bit like the Canon in the video here. It was on my belt just the same :-) It was freedom. I took that camera everywhere. That was a big deal back in the early 2000s because phones were for SMS text messages, not taking pictures. I took lots of shots and enjoyed switching aspect ratio. When I took the pictures to be developed, they put the photos onto CD-ROM for me. Sometimes that wasn't the best option because the quality of scanning was sometimes suspect, I remember having to do some work on the JPGs. Anyhow, it was a bridge to better things. I think it was 2001 when I got a digital camera again, the Sony Cybershot P1, a little bigger but still small enough that I could have it on a pouch on my belt.