Whether it’s on the TV show “Friends,” the movie “Wedding Crashers,” or at your college roommate’s wedding, we’ve all seen and probably used disposable cameras, as they have long been a staple of all types of weddings. And for a good reason.
Who better to capture all of the fun, candid memories from your reception than the people who will make it special? And what better way to make sure you remember everything from the best day of your life than to have family and friends be photographers?
Well, a new company called CameraRenter has taken the idea behind disposables and married it with digital cameras and online photo/video sharing to provide elegant and environmentally friendly way for you to remember and share everything before, during, and after your wedding.
But before we get into all that, let’s talk a bit about disposable cameras.
Disposable Cameras: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Good
The good of disposable cameras is without a doubt the idea. Give cameras to your friends and family and get back hundreds of fun, candid memories that you will cherish for the rest of your life. Brilliant!
At least in concept.
The Bad
The bad of disposable cameras is not with the idea. It’s with the cameras. They are disposable, and nothing about your wedding is disposable! Not the plates, not the forks, and definitely not the cameras. But because the cameras are disposable, guests treat them like they are disposable. That is why they sit unused or are used to take three or four pictures of the floor.
When you give your guests disposable cameras, you get disposable pictures. It’s that simple.
The Ugly
The ugly of disposables is what you do with them after your wedding. Let’s face it. Photos don’t develop themselves, and they definitely don’t mail themselves to your friends and family.
Let’s say you luck out and some of your friends and family do a great job taking photos with the disposable cameras. Now what? You take a pillow case full of disposable camera to the photo store, get triplicates made (because you know Aunt Sally will want copies), address and stamp envelopes, and then pay the credit card bill for the hundreds of dollars you spent hoping that the prints turn out.
Chances are you don’t have the time for all of this. But what about the memories?!
Disposable Cameras v2 - There’s Hope
All that said, it’s really hard to give-up the chance at coming home to hundreds of candid memories from the eyes of your friends and family. So don’t. Disposable cameras v2.0—i.e. CameraRenter (www.CameraRenter.com)--does what disposables are supposed to do. They combine digital camera rental with automatic online photo and video sharing. Think of it like a personalized version of Netflix, Flickr, and YouTube for your big day.
Here’s how their service works:
1. A set of digital cameras is delivered in a pre-paid mailing case (a la Netflix)
2. You pass the cameras out to your friends and family (a la disposables)
3. Your friends and family take lots of digital photos and videos (a la digital cameras)
4. CameraRenter creates a personalized photo and video sharing website where you and your friends and family view, download, print, order, and share all of the candid memories (a la Flickr and YouTube)
The Good
You want to have a way your friends and family capture a lot of candid memories. Giving them digital cameras that can take hundreds of photos, video, and have those nifty screens on the back that let them preview the photos is a great way to make sure that happens.
The cameras are not disposable, so neither are the photos (or in this case, photos and videos).
The Better
Everyone sees all of the photos. How many times have you asked someone: “Could you print doubles?” or “Could you please send me a copy of this picture?” And how many times did you actually get a copy of the photo? And that’s just the photos you asked for. What about all the other photos that were taken?
CameraRenter takes care of that. You just stick the cameras back in the pre-paid mailing case after your wedding, and in about a week all of the photos and videos from all of the cameras are up on your personalized website where your friends and family can download and print them for free, and you get a CD with all of the memories delivered to your doorstep. Everyone sees everything.
After all, what good are cameras if nobody sees the memories they capture?
The Best
It’s a lot more elegant and environmentally friendly than disposables.
The cameras, shipping materials, and batteries are reused, and everything is digital so you and your friends and family only print the photos you really want. Green is good.
Last but not least, when’s the last time you’ve been at a wedding where they provided you with a digital camera? Imagine an invitation that read: “You are invited to John and Jane’s Wedding…digital cameras will be provided.” Seems like a nice touch.
Wrapping It Up
On the day of your wedding, you will have a million things on your mind. The days after your wedding you will have one thing on your mind: remembering and sharing everything from it. Despite their limitations, disposable cameras play a key role in that. The next generation of disposables—i.e. CameraRenter—stands-up where disposables fall down and picks-up where disposables leave off.
Our vote is that CameraRenter provides an elegant and environmentally friendly way to remember and share everything before, during, and after your wedding.
Original article by Jonathan Bailor.
Article By: Camera Renter