The Yashica brand must still reverberate with some photographers for 5,000+ of you have bought into the Yashica digiFilm Y35 kickstarter campaign to build a retro looking digital camera with a “film camera” experience to the tune of more than a US $1M pledged.
Basically a molded plastic toy (runs on 2 AA batteries) with only a few pretend controls, the Yashica digiFilm Y35 records digital images on a tiny 14-MP 1/3.2-inch sensor (a smartphone-sized image sensor).
That’s pretty much about it.
You cannot review the images you’ve taken (there’s no LCD) or delete any images (there’s no Erase button).
You cannot even select ISO: to do that, you need to “relive the film camera experience” and insert an appropriate “digiFilm” cartridge in the back (to the tune of approx. US $10 to $20 per cartridge). The digiFilm cartridge also decides whether you’re shooting in color or B&W.
Hey, you signed on to the film camera experience, big time.
The 35mm glass lens is fixed at F2.8.
You also get a shutter speed dial with 5 selectable steps shutter speeds: 1s, 1/30s, 1/60s, 1/250s, and 1/500s.
And to top that film camera experience, there’s even a pretend film wind lever that you need to engage to shoot the next picture.
The images are stored onto a SD card.
If it actually gets to the production and delivery stage (scheduled for April 2018), best case scenario is that it ends up as a lomo-type product. Which is not bad if all you intend to shoot is one type of film, say ISO400 B&W. But, add another digiFilm cartridge and it’ll cost you about US $10 just to have the film-like experience of changing a film cartridge.
Yashica is offering 4 digiFilm cartridges to start with: ISO1600 High Speed Color, ISO400 Black & White, ISO200 Ultra Fine Color, and ISO200 120 Square Format (6×6) — with promises of more to come
Camera Industrial Design CAD Drawing
Camera parts
However, just looking at the “Industrial Design CAD Drawing” and the camera parts, it does not inspire much confidence: it’s a (real-enough) camera module surrounded by fake and pretend parts. Somehow, we doubt you will either enjoy the analogue experience (cheap parts and construction) or the images (tiny sensor and cheap lens). But, hey, what do we know…
Specifications
1/3.2-inch CMOS sensor
14 megapixel photos
Built-in viewfinder
Apertures of f2.8
Focal Length 35mm
A minimum focusing distance of 1m (~3 feet) to infinity
5 selectable steps shutter speeds 1s, 1/30s, 1/60s, 1/250s, 1/500s
SD card storage (wifi card compatible)
Micro USB connectivity for data transfers
Tripod mount ready
Operate with 2 x AA batteries
Image controlled by digiFilm™
Dimension:
Body Only: 100 (w) x 64 (h) x 28 (d) mm
With lens and switch: 110 (w) x 70 (h) x 55 (d) mm