The battery-free Holga Printer has already smashed through its Kickstarter goal!
Three years after launching Holga Digital, Hong Kong-based Holga is back with a new product that marries the ease of mobile photography with the charm of analog photography: The Holga Printer. According to the timeline found on the campaign’s Kickstarter page, Holga came up with the idea and initial prototype design for the Holga Printer back in March 2016. It took almost two years for the first prototype to be produced; finally, in February 2018, the final prototype was completed.
Instead of convincing people to ditch their smartphones – which the average person now turns to by default to take pictures with – for an actual camera, Holga decided to develop a product that could enrich mobile photographers’ experience instead.
With this system, users can take photos using a smartphone app called the HolgaCam and print them on Fujifilm Instax Mini Film with the Holga Printer. It sounds pretty similar to how the Instant Lab by the Impossible Project works, but the Holga Printer doesn’t need any batteries to run. You’d only need to crank a dial to develop the pictures.
The HolgaCam app lets users take photos in color and black and white, and with effects the Holga has been known for, including double exposures and vignette.
The Holga Printer is compact and portable – said to be no larger than an actual Holga 120 when folded. It’s available in four colors: white, black, pink, and a special edition called mixed (blue, yellow, and pink).
Check out the specs below:
The Kickstarter campaign for the Holga Printer was launched on October 9 but it took only 48 hours to reach its goal of HK$ 150,000, or US$ 19,143. As of this writing, just four days after the launch, 417 backers have already pledged HK$ 212,708 or US$ 27,146.
Want the Holga Printer? You have until November 24, 2018 to back the project and be among the first to own one, so swing by its Kickstarter page now!