While most photographers pray at the altars of a single camera brand and take to the internet to participate in their own crusade for control of the holy market, I’ve always been a polycamerous type of shooter. And the new Digifilm camera is fulfilling a need that the other camera brands don’t want to provide to me — and I refuse to not have my needs met. The Digifilm camera is giving me a small, portable, cheap, and fun way of shooting photos that isn’t a phone, a big compact camera, or an interchangeable lens camera. If you call it a gimmick, I very kindly suggest that you check your jealousy at the door, and stop belittling something like this. There’s a big reason why folks love these little digicams — and just because they’re the trend now, it shouldn’t take away from your joy of using your own gear.
- Super affordable price point
- Excellent photo filters that remind me of when Instagram didn’t suck
- Small and lightweight
- Charges via USB-C
- It will get conversations started
So, what is the Digifilm camera? Well, it’s a plastic camera meant to mimic the look of the vintage disposable cameras our parents and grandparents used in the 90s. You know exactly what I’m talking about — someone always had them at a graduation or something like that. But inside is a camera sensor that delivers images wrapped in charm that reminds you of the time when Instagram filters were fun to use. Photographers may call them film simulations, but everyone else calls them filters.
The Digifilm camera has a cool, retro, neutral, vibrant, black and white, and wander filter. You may adore some more than the others. I surely feel closer to the wander and retro filters more than anything else. Just like with any other camera, you take the good with the bad and embrace it for what it is.
Using the Digifilm camera is pretty simple too. You power it up, switch the dial into the mode you want, and then just shoot. It’s screen free — so it’s actually just like the old-school disposable cameras. To see your images, you’ll have to hook it up to a computer via USB-C and download your photos from the Micro SD card.
I only had one scare with the Digifilm camera. After I thought I charged it, I took it out to go shoot with it. But it died and wouldn’t turn back on. So I asked a bartender to charge it up and it wouldn’t hold a charge. Then I did the same thing at a buddy’s house. I surely thought the camera was gone. Then I tried it at my apartment, and it turned on easily. Right now, it’s charging in my office and I’m happy to say that it still works. You just need the right USB-C cable to charge it up and it’ll be just fine.
Now, what makes the Digifilm camera so much different and most likely something I will totally use again in the future are the filters. Where Camp Snap never gave those to me, this is giving me the option of applying them or using the camera in a totally neutral way.
And to me, that’s worth it for around $70.
Sure, I’ve got other cameras in my office — and they all serve a different purpose. But when I bust out my retro digicams, I’m always afraid that someone will spill wine or beer on them because that’s just how social things go. This, on the other hand, is simple enough that I won’t care if it dies on me all that much.
Will it probably end up in an e-waste yard of some sort? Yes. Or I could probably take it apart and have fun dissecting it. At the same time, I could probably flip this on eBay for parts in the same way that people do for other digital cameras. Considering that there’s a renaissance of digicams right now, someone is bound to buy it up and recycle the sensor inside or something else.
This camera is also targeted heavily at Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and younger millennials. I happen to be a middle millennial — and I acknowledge and accept it for what it is.
Perhaps more than anything else, I’m so glad that the traditional Japanese camera manufacturers aren’t making cameras like this. I wouldn’t be able to rely on them to fit these sort of needs — and that’s fine. If they want to chase content creators with some cameras and make some of them available specifically for photographers, then that’s cool. But overwhelmingly so, the Digifilm camera is for photographers that just want something fun.
And in times like these, and this economy thriving on hyper-capitalism, sometimes we just need to have fun.
I’m giving the Digifilm camera five out of five stars and the site’s Editor’s Choice award. It’s very well deserved.
