How many disposable cameras for a wedding, and what they cost
Disposable cameras on the tables are a wedding classic. Here is how many you need, what the full cost looks like once developing is counted, and how they compare with a shared roll on every guest's phone.
How many cameras you need
The usual rule is one camera per table. With tables of eight, that is one camera for every eight guests: 10 cameras for 80 guests, 15 for 120. Some couples add one for the bar and one for the dance floor.
Each camera holds one roll of film, often 27 frames. Shared between eight people, that is three or four frames each, and plenty of them go on the first course.
What they really cost
The camera is only part of the price. Film has to be developed and scanned, usually per roll, and the cameras have to be gathered up at the end of the night. Prices vary by country and by lab, so the calculator below takes your own numbers.
- The cameras themselves, bought in bulk or one by one.
- Developing and scanning, for every camera.
- Postage, if the lab is not local.
- The frames that do not come out: a flash at the wrong distance, a thumb over the lens, a camera that goes home in someone's bag.
Compare with your own numbers
Put in your guest count, the guests per camera, and what a camera and its developing cost where you are. The roll's side uses papershot's store price for that many guests.
Calculator
Disposable cameras or one roll
Put in your own numbers. The cameras, the developing, and the frames are your guesses; the roll's price is the store's list for that many guests.
Disposable cameras
$300
10 cameras
270 photos, if every frame comes out
One papershot roll
$34.99
Up to 120 guests
Kept for 30 days after the roll closes
Up to 1,280 photos, plus a video and a memo from each guest
Where disposable cameras still win
Film has a look, and a camera on the table is a nice object. If you want prints in a box and a surprise in the post, keep a few. Many couples do both: cameras for the look, and a shared roll so every guest's phone counts too.
papershot has film looks of its own: Vintage and Black & white set one look for everyone at capture, and Original lets guests choose.
Why a shared roll costs less per photo
On a shared roll every guest has their own shots, so the number of photos grows with the guest list, not with the number of cameras. With 80 guests at 16 shots each, that is up to 1,280 photos, plus a video and a memo from every guest, for one payment and no developing.
Photos arrive at full resolution the moment they are taken, and the roll develops when you say: as it happens, when it closes, or the morning after. See how a disposable camera app works and the pricing for every size.
