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Echolens Merges Late 2000s Digicam Sensors With Vintage-Inspired Hardware

Chris Gampat
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Last updated on 06/23/2025
06/24/2025
2 Mins read
Woman in white dress holding a camera, looking into the lens against a pale, cloudy sky.
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The digicam trend is really something special — and I’m so glad that photographers are majorly getting into it. I adore the lo-fi aesthetic of older camera sensor technology. However, the new Echolens is something that seems to be the most intriguing so far. Previously, we stated that it’s going to appeal to Gen Z — but we actually think that Millennials might be the ones who adore it the most. And there’s a big reason for that.

The new camera is launching today on Kickstarter, according to the company’s website, and it’s going to feature something very special that Millennials might really love. The Echolens has an 8MP sensor at the heart — which lines right up with cameras that came out around the middle to late 2000s era. In fact, I remember using an old HP Digicam for my photojournalism classes in college.

Here’s what you should know about Echolens:

Six people in different settings smile and hold vintage cameras up to their faces as if taking a photo.
Echolens
  • It’s got a vintage Leica-inspired design
  • The team says that it’s inspired by old disposable cameras from the 90s
  • Full retail cost will be $150, but Kickstarter pricing will be lower
  • There’s a built-in Wifi button to upload images directly to your phone
  • There’s no screen
  • It’s made with Polycarbonate Composite & Aluminum
  • It has a Xenon flash
  • It uses WiFi and USB-C
  • There are various film filters to capture that vintage look
  • Pure images, no AI smoothing or excessive sharpening
A vintage-style camera with a brown leather body and silver accents sits on a stone surface.
Echolens
Smiling woman sitting outside holding a camera up to her face, as if about to take a photo.
Echolens
A smiling woman with long blonde hair holds a vintage camera up to her face, ready to take a photo.
Echolens

Honestly, I’m really shocked that the bigger camera manufacturers don’t want to get into making cameras like this. And more importantly, I love that it means that more camera manufacturers are becoming relevant in the photography market right now. For way too long, the Japanese manufacturers have been more or less just copying one another. I love the idea that there is now new, unique, and innovative cameras that are actually doing something different.

You see, it’s not always about the tech. It’s about the experience. And you can’t quite get the same experience from taking a disposable camera lens off of a camera and attaching it to a digital interchangeable lens camera at all.

To recap what I’ve also been saying for years, digital photography is way too sterile. The opportunity for happy accidents is gone now and I want that to come back so badly. More importantly, digital photography is very linear as opposed to film photography.

I hope that the bigger camera manufacturers wake up soon.

Two men and a dog by an open SUV trunk at the beach; one man pets the dog, the other holds a drink.
Echolens
Two people sit smiling on the back of a truck at night, near a body of water with city lights in the background.
Echolens
A group of friends clinking glasses around a wooden table outdoors, smiling and celebrating together.
Echolens
Woman with blonde hair sticks out her tongue playfully at an outdoor table, while others sit and chat nearby.
Echolens
Three people pose for photos by the water while another person films them with a camera at the beach.
Echolens
People relax in a park with a skateboard, a dog, and trees on a sunny day; cars and a building in the background.
Echolens
Two people sit on grass in a park with a fluffy dog, trees, and bicycles in the background.
Echolens
A curly-haired dog sits on a sandy beach near the water under a cloudy sky at sunset.
Echolens
Young man in a hoodie taking a selfie at night, flashing a peace sign with his hand.
Echolens
Cameras digicam echolens images sensor vintage
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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