2022 has been a triumphant year for film photography, and although we are yet to see big companies produce anything in the way of serious film cameras, we have seen a few exciting, plastic toy cameras hit the market. Kodak has now delighted the community with these stylish half frame cameras manufactured in collaboration with the Reto Project.
Reto Project released a version of the classic Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim Camera earlier this year, and a host of other reusable plastic cameras have been a hit among the younger crowds wanting that film look. Over the past week, we have started to see some results shared online. So now, we can answer the questions: are they any good and will you be buying one?
Although the words economical and film photography are kind of an oxymoron these days, half frame is arguably the most cost-effective format you will find. As Kodak puts it: "Half the Frame, Double the Fun." For anyone unfamiliar, instead of a regular landscape aspect ratio of 24×36 mm negative, half frame give you a portrait orientation of 18×24 mm, even though you hold the camera in its regular horizontal position. This means that for a 36 exposure roll of film, you can expose 72 images.
This video is brought to you by Dave Mihaly, an avid shooter of toy cameras and active member of the film community. He reviews this new product and gives us example images with and without the built-in flash. Although known by his channel moniker "The Old Camera Guy," Dave shares his opinion on who this brand-new camera would suit and the pros and cons of its plastic fantastic features. Check out the video for more info and to see the results of this fun pocket-sized camera to decide if you will be adding it to your film camera collection.
I have been eyeing off these myself, but am unsure if I would rather invest my money in something more refined like an Olympus Pen FT that allows me to use high quality Zuiko lenses and focus manually. I currently have a Pen on loan from Matt Murray, so keep an eye out for my results from testing it soon! However, I'm not sure I will be able to resist pulling the trigger on a Kodak H35. The more pressing question for me is: which color?
Waiting for someone to make something along these lines that shoots 135 24x24mm square format.
120 film is getting pricey ... Again.
Hey thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the video too! That would be awesome if someone makes something like that, and yes 120 film is very expensive which is why I mostly stick to 35mm.
Mine is sage. I wanted to try it to escape a bit the cost per shot of the 6x7 (hard to be creative when you need to be so conservative).
Operationally it is pretty straight forward, as long as you're gentle with its flimsy parts. The fixed exposure is something I'm having to get used to and I try to remember to use either the sunny 16 rule or my phone light meter app to check beforehand. On sunny days, a polarizing filter helps to stop it down a couple notches.
The results are as expected I guess. Ok in the centre and it gets quite unsharp around the corners. The images are grainy as hell with Tri-x - wich is exactly what I wanted.
72 frames a roll makes you feel less serious and more free to shoot, to experiment and to miss - and for me that's when the joy of photography happens.
Thanks for another nice writing.