I’ve got a few film-tested cameras with free shipping to the US and Canada for 20% OFF: filmbase.etsy.com
Konica Recorder — a half-frame, pocketable point-and-shoot camera with a very wide & sharp lens.
Olympus PEN FV with H.Zuiko Auto-S 1:2 lens — the only half-frame SLR ever produced with an incredibly fast lens.
Olympus XA2 RED — a classic tiny full-frame camera in a rare red colour with a matching, working A11 flash.
Mamiya U — a mint-condition camera with a very sharp lens and a very unusual design. This is THE ONLY CAMERA you’ll ever find with the original working shutter button.
Also, there is a 250mm (~375mm equivalent) super-telephoto lens for Olympus PEN and a 150mm (~210mm equivalent).
All of these cameras and lenses were tested extensively with film, they were the subjects of my reviews on Analog.Cafe. Please read the detailed descriptions for each with my notes from the real-world tests.
Rollei 35AF, the world’s newest premium point-and-shoot film camera, should be ready for sale by the “end of September.”
If you spent any time on the internet this week, you must’ve seen reviews, brags, and complaints about the new Pentax 17 half-frame film camera. The fanfare was so loud, it drowned other photography releases, like Fujifilm’s newest Wide camera.
The hype over Pentax 17 is admittedly deserved. It’s the first film camera made in decades by a major manufacturer. However, Ricoh/Pentax aren’t the only trailblazers this year. Last week, I reviewed the first colour film by a major film manufacturer (not Kodak/Fuji), Phoenix 200: analog.cafe/r/harman-phoen…. And today, we’ve got a date, a few more photos, and some finalized technical details of the first premium compact point-and-shoot camera: Rollei 35AF.
Rollei 35AF is built from the ground up by a well-known Hong Kong manufacturer, MiNT, who’s been selling instant film cameras for about a decade. Gary Ho, MiNT’s founder describes this project as one of the most challenging things he’s done. Whereas the images of the product and the images it’s taken are truly impressive.
Rollei35 has opened the presale waitlist here: rollei35af.com/
We now know what the new Pentax half-frame film camera looks like! It’s the first 35mm film camera from a major manufacturer in over a decade.
PentaxRumors.com recently shared a photo of a camera that Ricoh Imaging has been teasing since early 2023 (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…).
The photo doesn’t show the manual film advance Pentax leaned on in almost every teaser of the camera (analog.cafe/comments/8ub8). But there’s a lot that we can learn from it already.
The viewfinder confirms that it will be a half-frame camera, and the built-in flash is a nice touch. Many vintage half-frame cameras (analog.cafe/search?for=hal…) did not have a built-in flash, making them difficult to use in subdued light.
I’m happy to see a DOF calculator for better zone-focusing accuracy (you can brush up on it here: analog.cafe/r/how-to-zone-…).
The 25mm 𝒇3.5 lens is an approximately 35mm full-frame equivalent, so we can expect a wide angle of view and easy zone focusing with a larger DOF.
𝒇3.5 is a good max aperture for a camera like this; recall the new Ektar H35N, which is 𝒇8 (analog.cafe/r/kodak-ektar-…) — which is one of the widest-apertured half-frame cameras made in recent years.
Last week, Lomography released two new designs of their Lomo’Instant Automat Camera featuring artwork by renowned Austrian artist, Gustav Klimt.
The artist-branded Automat cameras, including collaborations with William Klein, Vivian Ho, Suntur, Jarb, Opbeni, el Nil, Park Song Lee, Gongkan, and others, sell for $199, but base model of the same camera is available on sale for $169 on their website: shop.lomography.com/us/ins…
These cameras use the popular Fujifilm Instax Mini film with a 60mm f/8-22 lens that can be zone-focused between 0.6m, 1-2m, and infinity. (You can learn about zone-focusing here: analog.cafe/r/how-to-zone-…). These cameras have a shutter that fires automatically between 8s and 1/250s. The cameras use 2 x CR2 batteries plus CR1632 for the remote.
An Australian film lab, Film Never Die, has just launched a Kickstarter project for their film camera design, Nana.
The camera was on presale on their website since October last year (I briefly wrote about it here: analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…). It then listed a 31mm 𝒇9 fixed-aperture lens, motorized film advance, and a metal body.
The Kickstarter version now offers a 31mm 𝒇11 single-element fixed-aperture lens with a top shutter speed of 1/125s. It’s a “focus-free” camera (similar to Kodak Ektar H35N analog.cafe/r/kodak-ektar-…). FND says they’re working on a side-in lens element (presumably for sharper close-ups), but it’s unclear whether that’s going to be done in time for the product launch.
The camera is designed to be light and compact (110mm x 62mm x 38mm) and 300g with film. The company has also shared photos demonstrating the Nana lens outperforming their previous “reusable” (presumably plastic lens) film camera — though it’s the same image they shared last year, attributed to a 𝒇9 lens design.
Kickstarter pledges that include the camera are between AU$225 to AU$275 (or $150-$180 in USD).
Polaroid has just announced a “new” limited-edition design for their SX-70 colour film.
The packaging is a throwback to the original packaging by Paul Giambarba (1928-2023) that drove so much of the Polaroid aesthetic in its heyday thanks to its genius simplicity, vivid colours, and memorable geometric art.
However, the packs are not a 1:1 reproduction of the earlier masterpiece. They’re a bit of a mix of the old (graphics, including the logotype) and the new (lowercase bubbly “polaroid” font). Unfortunately, the new packs still contain just eight frames instead of the original 10.
(While Polaroid could probably fit ten shots in their new battery-less I-Type film packs, the SX-70 and 600 packs for vintage cameras simply can’t, as the new materials produce slightly thicker frames.)
I review lots of lovely gear on the blog, but unfortunately, I can not keep it all.
Today, I’ve updated FilmBase (my Etsy shop) with some of the nicest gear that came across my desk:
The most prized camera in this lot is the only Mamiya U with a fully intact shutter button. Though you may find this strangely designed ‘80s chic camera elsewhere, it never comes with its beautiful yet brittle yellow button. This is the rarest camera I’ve ever owned.
A pancake lens for Olympus PEN film cameras is very convenient. It turns an already small half-frame SLR into a pocketable one. It comes with genuine lens caps that are difficult and often expensive to find.
I’ve added new spaces on Analog.Cafe, where I’ll be organizing some of my thoughts on film photography.
You’ll probably notice #editorial the most since it’s where I write about product launches and share announcements like this. Comments under this tag may end up in your RSS feed, Community Letters¹, or you may hear about them from me on Mastodon and Bluesky.
A #video tag lists all the comments with a YouTube link. I’ve added a whole bunch of these, including this epic trilogy of Kodak factory tours: analog.cafe/comments/tnq0.
This week, Polaroid updated their “world’s smallest instant camera.”
Polaroid Go Gen 2 focuses on improving the exposures with the aperture range of 𝒇9-42, up from the previous version’s 𝒇12-56 on its plastic lens. Its max shutter speed has also got faster: 1/300s.
Perhaps most importantly, Polaroid updated the autoexposure system on the Go:
“Our team redesigned the light sensor’s positioning and field-of-view, so whatever you’re pointing at is exactly what the camera is picking up. And if you’re pointing at a wider scene, your camera’s wider metering coverage will have it literally looking at the bigger picture.”
The cameras are made with 30% recycled materials.
You can pick one up via the affiliate link (where I may make a small commission at no cost to you) directly from Polaroid: polaroid.prf.hn/l/y8QGWpn
Fujifilm’s new Instax Mini 99 is a fully analogue instant film camera that uses LEDs for in-camera special effects.
We’ve seen instant film printers with tiny digital sensors before from Fujifilm, Leica (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…) and others. Though these cameras have their advantages like special in-camera effects, many film photographers just want a camera that shoots film.
Well, it appears that Fujifilm has just delivered the analogue process we crave *with* special in-camera effects. All that at an affordable price point ($200) in a package that looks nice.
The new Instax Mini 99 is an updated version of the Instax Mini 90 (analog.cafe/r/instax-mini-…) with novel exposure and focus controls.
The camera also features physical vignetting control (a mask in front of the lens). But the most interesting in-camera effect is the in-house LEDs that project colours onto film to simulate warm/cool tones, light leaks, and various colour casts.
There’s no digital processing of any kind in this camera!
Instax Mini 99 is expected to arrive in stores in mid-April.
MiNT shared a little more today about their new premium 35mm film point-and-shoot that’s coming this year.
Looks like the Rollei 35AF will look nearly identical to the original Rollei 35 — in more ways than some of us may’ve thought.
Back in January (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…), Gary Ho confirmed what was already evident from his earlier assembly images (analog.cafe/r/film-photogr…): his new premium point-and-shoot camera will be based on the Rollei 35 body.
MiNT, known for refurbishing and modifying Polaroid SX-70 cameras, uses the Rollei name on some of its instant film SLRs, but it had not designed something that resembles an iconic Rollei product so closely. But now we know: the new Rollei 35 will be a faithful modernized classic with some of the same materials as the original, including a metal body construction:
- It’ll have the same form factor and a very similar appearance to the Rollei 35 S (analog.cafe/r/rollei-35s-c…)
- Its body will be made of metal, like the original
- It’ll feature an 𝒇2.8 lens with coated glass elements
- It’ll be a full-frame 35mm film camera
- It’ll have a lidar autofocus, presumably autoexposure as well
- It’ll have aperture controls
- It’ll cost 650-800USD
No release date yet, but you can enter the waitlist here: rollei35af.com/
Lomography just released a new “advanced” mini 110 film camera: the Lomomatic 110. It features a multi-coated glass lens, built-in flash, and automatic exposure (with aperture and ISO control).
Lomography is one of the few major film retailers that actively makes and promotes the 110 film format. Though it can be tricky to develop at home or at a lab, the 110 format is extremely compact, lending to tiny camera designs.
Unfortunately, the small film size also makes home scanning challenging. Thus, you may be limited by your lab’s scanner — in addition to all the challenges of enlarging such a small format, including grain. This, however, never bothered Lomography or many of the format’s fans. After all, photography isn’t all about sharp lenses and fine grain.
Here’s a YouTube short of me unboxing my Minolta P’s from Japan last month and taking a few shots with it. It also shows what the negatives exposed with this camera look like:
I made a short video that demonstrates how to fold and unfold/open a Polaroid SX-70 camera. It also shows how the film “magically” develops in 15 minutes (sped up, obviously).
A ton of content emerged about Polaroid I-2 this week.
Lucky YouTubers, social media personalities, reporters, and bloggers put out reviews and opinions about the camera and the company. And even those who didn’t get to play with an advance copy still posted their thoughts about it (like me, right now).
I want to highlight two of the best pieces of content about the camera from the people who actually used it:
youtube.com/watch?v=3sooI3… (The Verge). Of all the videos I’ve seen, this is the only one that accurately points out the camera’s flaws and talks about its advantages. It’s neither overly critical nor nauseatingly fanboy-ish.
youtube.com/watch?v=3nTs5i… (Polaroid). If you’re in the process of justifying spending $600 on a plastic instant film camera, this video lays out the effort, the technology, and the history behind making this product. It’s well-produced, accurate, and not pushy.
There is so much content about this camera that I can’t possibly review it all. But if you go out searching for more, watch out for the people who have never held this camera (or maybe any film camera) in their hands, dunking on Polaroid for the price tag, small maximum aperture, film quality, and anything they aren’t used to seeing on a digital camera. Others state positive things about this camera that aren’t accurate.
It’s overwhelming. But the camera indeed seems very interesting and I can’t blame anyone for wanting to talk about it.
A new half-frame 35mm film camera by RETO Project, KODAK EKTAR H35N, is now available for pre-order at retopro.co/
This new “reusable” film camera can make 72+ exposures on a single standard roll of 36exp. 35mm film. It comes with a flash, a built-in optional Star Filter lens, and a coated glass lens with an aspherical acrylic lens design that “helps to improve the sharpness of the images” according to the press release.
A “reusable” a.k.a. “toy” camera is a simple plastic body design typically with a fixed ~1/100s shutter and a fixed or limited aperture. Lomography is perhaps the best-known manufacturer of toy cameras, i.e., Diana Mini (analog.cafe/r/diana-mini-7…). These cameras are fully functional and are sometimes used as creative and/or everyday tools by skilled photographers.
The presumably sharper lens on EKTAR H35N is a welcome upgrade as distortions and imperfections become more apparent on smaller formats such as this camera’s half-frame exposure area. Other improvements include redesigned viewfinder/flash switch/rewind knob, tripod hole, a Bulb shutter mode, and the Star lens filter.
EKTAR H35N has a fixed aperture of 𝒇8 and a fixed shutter speed of 1/100s. You can use the Sunny 16 Calculator to find the optimal film ISO for your scene (analog.cafe/app/sunny-16-c…).
For those looking to see how this camera may look in hand and how the TLR* screen works, I’ve uploaded a short video to YouTube with some extra footage: youtube.com/shorts/-w3T2mx… #gas #video
YouTube Video