Ritz isn't the first to do so - Pentax and Sanyo were first to announce a trial run of a single-use digicam in Japan almost two years ago - but to the best of our knowledge this would be the first such scheme in the USA. Very limited specifications are available from Ritz on the new camera, but here's what we do know: it is based on a CMOS image sensor of unspecified resolution. 25 images are stored on built-in memory in the camera as raw sensor data, and when offloaded after the camera is returned the raw images are interpolated to a resolution of approximately 2 megapixels for printing. Ritz claims that Pure Digital's technology "allows images with quality comparable to 3 mega-pixel cameras in 4x6 prints".

Ritz says that the optimum print size for the Dakota Digital Single-Use Camera is 4" x 6" prints, but that 8" x 10" photos will be "pleasing". The camera operates off a built-in battery, and this should provide for over 100 shots with the flash in use - enough to delete 3 out of every 4 photos captured and still have sufficient battery life to fill the camera. The battery is apparently replaced every time the camera is returned, as part of the refurbishment - this is a single-use camera, not disposable, and every time it is returned it will be refurbished for sale to another customer.

The Dakota Digital's lens is approximately equivalent to 45mm on a 35mm camera. One disappointment is that, as with the Pentax / Sanyo camera two years ago, this camera doesn't have an image preview / review LCD display. Without this feature, users lose probably the single most important feature of a digital camera - the ability to see whether images were captured correctly or not, and to reshoot them immediately if there's a problem. Of course, you can still delete the most recent image if you think there might be something wrong, but there's no way to know for sure. There is an LCD info display on the camera to tell you how many images are available, and Ritz tells us that a model with a color LCD is planned for later this year.

Exposure and flash are both automatically controlled, as you'd expect on a camera with no preview LCD. The camera also has a 10-second self-timer button to allow the photographer to get into their own photos... There is no user connectivity, as images must be offloaded by Ritz - which allows the camera to be simpler and cheaper (no hardware to process the captured images is required). It also serves the dual purpose of ensuring that the cameras aren't worth stealing - only Ritz can process the images.

The Ritz Dakota Digital Single-Use Camera is available immediately at select Ritz Camera and Wolf Camera locations, for a cost of $10.99. This price does not include the cost of processing the images, nor the cost of the prints and photo CD that users receive when they return the camera. The PhotoCD is compatible with both PC and Mac systems, requires no software to be installed, and allows images to be viewed, printed or emailed - including both slide show and photo greeting card features.

This is an interesting announcement for several reasons. First, Ritz is following in the footsteps of Pentax and Sanyo in wanting to combine the fast-growing digital camera market with the one other bright spot of photography - the equally important single-use camera market. It is also interesting to note that Ritz is already planning at least one more camera model to follow this, with a color LCD - suggesting that this is not just an experiment as in the case of Pentax / Sanyo, but that Ritz believes it is a viable market.

We're perhaps not quite so sure the idea is bound for success. For one thing, without a preview / review LCD, the advantages over a single-use film camera are much more subtle than with most digital cameras. Since the image sensor can act as an electronic shutter and the flash fires automatically, the resulting metered exposure will likely be noticeably better than most single-use cameras which have a fixed shutter speed and aperture. How do you communicate that to a customer who doesn't understand the subtleties of what shutter speeds, apertures and metering are, though?

Most of the other advantages listed on the packaging, though, seem to be grasping for anything to say. Yes, there is no need to manually wind film between exposures, but is that really so difficult? As for the suggestion that since the images are digital, so they're automatically better than those from a film camera - well, many people remain unconvinced that digital is better than film even on cameras that cost hundreds of dollars. People trust film because they've been using it for years; if they don't already own a digital camera, selling them on digital may not be an easy proposition (and if they own a digital camera, they're very unlikely to be paying for a single-use one).

That brings up the last issue - pricing. Ritz advertises a free index print and photo CD with images from the camera, but for $10.99 plus an undisclosed processing fee when the camera is returned, the cost could quickly add up to that of a cheap entry-level digital camera from retailers like WalMart. It won't be easier for Ritz to bring the cost down though, because although the development and materials costs of the camera can be spread across multiple users, the company will have to deal with the cost of refurbishing cameras, replacing batteries, and offloading images. There are also other other cost questions - who covers the value of lost or broken cameras, for example? Does Ritz write this off as part of the operating cost of the business, or does the customer have to pay?

If Ritz is successful, we don't doubt that other companies will rush to bring competing single-use digicams to market. If the price is reasonable though, we think that Ritz are likely to find the upcoming model with LCD screen a more viable proposition. The ability to see your images instantly is a hook that any customer can understand.