Last Updated on 04/03/2011 by Chris Gampat
Imagine if your old film camera could easily capture digital photos. That’s the promise behind the RE-35 cartridges. Hold onto your horses though, that doesn’t mean that it will be replacing your Leica X1 or Fujifilm X100 anytime soon though.
Edit: This was sent into us by a reader…we hope it’s not an April Fool’s Prank.
The idea behind the RE-35 cartridge seems to be that they are the size of film rolls. Instead of film rolling out, there is a digital sensor that records images in JPEG or RAW and then I’m assuming rolls back in for storage. Said sensors come in 4MP, 8MP or 12MP.
Yes, the image sensor rolls out and is therefore flexible. It’s a new technology that seems similar to what scientists developed a little while back to work with single lens elements. However, it seems to be rolled up here and will work with existing multiple element lenses.
It seems easy to use and can breathe some life into my old film cameras. However, I do have some concerns over the technology:
– Part of having a digital camera is being able to see your results immediately on an LCD screen, it doesn’t seem like this can do it. However, the fact that I can use my old cameras again with digital results has a lot of promise to it.
– I wonder how durable the technology is because another appeal of a film camera is just how tough they are. Put a digital unit inside and you may need to treat it with a bit more respect and care.
– How will you clean the sensor? I’ve read nothing about self-cleaning technology.
– Will they also be able to record video? If so, how? This doesn’t seem very likely.
– When will they be available in different ISOs? It says that you currently need to set your camera to ISO 400. Another appeal of digital was being able to switch ISOs in a second.
– How will you be able to delete an image that you just shot?
What do you think about this technology? Let us know in the comments below.