APS: revolutionary or white elephant?

FIVE of the world's major film- and camera-makers -- often at odds with each other -- have teamed up to launch a new type of film that some say will revolutionise photography.

However, others fear the new format may prove to be just another costly white elephant -- like DAT tapes have turned out to be for audio enthusiasts -- on the road towards a real change in the way people take pictures, process and store them.

The Advanced Photo System (APS), a joint effort by Kodak, Fuji, Nikon, Canon and Minolta, cost close to $1.4 billion to research, develop and promote. It will go on sale worldwide in late April.

Those companies say the format change will make it easier to load film, and allow more flexibility and efficiency when taking pictures -- even to the extent of switching the framing format within the same roll of film and switching back and forth between one roll and another without wasting film.

The system is also said to advance the art of photo-processing, and the storage of film and information about what is on it.

The camera-makers are not just tailoring the new format to low-budget amateurs, either. Kodak says it will be launching a professional slide film version before the end of the year.

New lines of photofinishing machinery will also be launched, including customised home-use players and scanners, which you can use to see your pictures on your computer, eliminating the need for dozens of bulky scrapbooks full of fading prints.

Kodak will call its new line Advantix. It will consist of nine new cameras and three new films -- 100-, 200- and 400-speed, packaged in cassettes of 15, 25 or 40 exposures.

Fuji, the other industry giant, will offer three new films under a new label called Nexia.

Nikon, the leader in the 35-mm camera market, will be introducing six point-and-shoot models that use the new film under the name Nuvis, short for new vision.

Mr Kenneth Tan, Nikon's Singapore-based regional marketing manager, said prices for the new cameras will range from $200 to $500, which is comparable to current models.

The Japanese company will also launch a new series of single lens reflex cameras that can use the new film, he says, as well as a new range of lenses.

The new film is about 40 per cent smaller than the popular 35-mm format, and comes in a sealed cassette that frees consumers from having to handle their film. It will cost you 10-20 per cent more than current types of film but industry executives argue that the increase is justified as customers will enjoy more features.

For example, a thin layer of invisible magnetic particles that coats the film's surface enables exchange of information among people, cameras, film and photofinishing equipment. Information such as lighting conditions, subject distance, time and date of exposure (even personal information such as notes and titles) can be recorded digitally on the film.

Much as there are different widths for movies, photographers will be able to choose a different width for different exposures within the same roll of film: the C type (Classic), or conventional 35 mm print size; H type (HDTV), which is slightly wider; and P type (Panoramic), almost twice the width of the C type.

The most obvious change is the absence of a film leader, as the film is enclosed within the casing. After the roll is sent for processing, it will be returned in the original cassette, together with a proof sheet of the exposures, in thumbnail size. Consumers can order prints by using the proof sheet.

With more advanced models, rolls can be changed midway through and reloaded if necessary. There is no worry about overlapping or registration problems as a mini-computer in each camera will advance the film to where it was before.

So does this mean it is time to sell your 35-mm cameras and all your expensive lenses?

Mr Dave Biehn, senior vice-president of Eastman Kodak, who went on the Internet last Thursday to answer questions about APS, said: "Absolutely not. There are more than 350 million 35-mm cameras in use to represent consumers that we will continue to serve.

"We will continue to sell 35-mm cameras and films and bring future improvements to them."

So is this the future?

JUDGING from the tidal wave of publicity about the Advanced Photo System (APS) that is heading this way, one has the feeling it could change the way pictures are taken overnight.

Yet there is no doubt APS, like all new products, will run into resistance from consumers, both amateurs and professionals whose closets are already filled with lots of expensive 35mm cameras and accessories.

The new format will also have a long way to go to catch up to what is currently available in the 35mm format, which remains sophiscated, comprehensive, and most importantly, affordable and familiar to most people.

Practical concerns about the APS abound: Will it even be around in years to come, or will it go the way of the Betamax video tape? For that matter, why should one switch from something that is already quite reliable?

Will the makers of film and cameras which are not part of the original team adapt to the new system? Or will they come up with something different and maybe even better?

And exactly how much more money will you have to fork out for this new type of photography? Certainly, the fact that five major manufacturers have teamed up in this venture is reassuring. After all, the customers were the biggest losers in the war between VHS and Betamax in the home video market.

But in an era in which the digital format is rapidly becoming the format of choice for everything from audio and video equipment to automobile engines, it is puzzling that the five giants have opted for a format that is neither here or there. While more and more filmless professional cameras utilising computer discs are launched, its is strange tha APS uses conventional film.

If digital disc is the real format of the future for professional photography too, then what is the point of pushing APS?

As it is, to enjoy the full range of advantages of APS that are already factored into the price of the film, you have to buy the equipment to use it from one of the five companies involved, and even use their processing outlets.

Furthermore, while common computers can be used for other purposes, such as listening to a compact disc made by any company, the customised accessories for APS have few, if any, other uses. Unless you have plenty of cash to spare, who wants to invest in another attachment for your computer that can be used only to view APS pictures.

A compact disc picture format that allows you to look at CD-ROM many already own would be much more practical.

In my opinion, recent 35mm models are nearing the point where even a person who is all thumbs will have few problems loading film or snapping a beautiful picture. Auto-loading, auto-exposure, and auto-everything features are now available in simple point-and-shoot cameras, as well as professional models. This has made photography enjoyable and reliable.

Film and camera makers should be investing their research money on making better products for existing 35mm users. While working on that, make a better, more affordable and simpler system that will truly revoluntise the way people take pictures.