Kodak puts muscle behind APS. (Advantix Advanced Photo System camera)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - A new line of Advantix Advanced Photo System (APS) cameras, a promotional tie-in with The Lost World: Jurassic Park and an aggressive marketing program delivering 7 billion impressions over two key summer selling periods are the big developments at Eastman Kodak Co.

"Consumer demand for Advantix cameras has been extremely enthusiastic since the Advanced Photo System was introduced last year," says Jim Thielen, regional product business manager for APS in the U.S. and Canada. "We expect that momentum to continue - and build - with these latest additions to our already broad camera portfolio."

The new products include the Advantix 1600 auto and 4700ix text zoom cameras, and the Advantix 3700ix, which had previously been sold exclusively through photo specialty stores but was made available through chain drug stores and other mass market outlets in April.

The Advantix 1600 auto camera is a fixed-focus model that delivers key APS features, including drop-in loading and three print formats - classic, with proportions similar to 35mm prints; group, for slightly wider shots; and pan, for panoramic scenes. It also features adjustable full viewfinder masking, which enables consumers to frame pictures while shooting to see exactly how the shots will look in each format.

Available in the third quarter of 1997, the entry-level 1600 model sports other features common to the Kodak Advantix line, including a safety-interlock film door, an all-glass lens, red-eye reduction, motorized wind and rewind, and the built-in Kodak SensaLite flash, which automatically determines when flash is needed.

The 4700ix is a more advanced text zoom model that takes advantage of APS magnetics. It can display camera messages and annotations in five languages and alerts consumers to such conditions as "low battery" and "one photo left." The 4700ix also lets users add captions that are automatically back-printed on the prints during photo-finishing. It's scheduled for rollout in the fourth quarter.

Kodak's promotional tie-in with The Lost World: Jurassic Park will be the driving force behind consumer interest during the key summer selling season, according to a company spokesman.