What Is the Advanced Photo System (APS)?
The Advanced Photo System (APS) is a recent film and camera format that offers many advantages over traditional 35mm film cameras. It is centered around a new type of film and a specially designed film cartridge. The most exciting capability of APS the ability to shoot three different picture formats. You can choose between Classic (C) format, HDTV (H) format and Panoramic (P) format. These correspond to 4×6-inch, 4×7-inch and 4×12-inch prints (or enlargements of comparable ratios). The APS film itself has an invisible magnetic layer that can be used to communicate with the camera and photofinisher. It also enables the camera to record detailed information about the photograph on the back of the prints. An often overlooked advantage of the magnetic layer is that the cropping you choose for the three print form ats is done magnetically. Just like how you can re-record an audio cassette, you can change the cropping marks and later print a Panoramic picture as a Classic, and vice versa. (
