Subscribe here for an ad-free experience!

The Phoblographer may receive affiliate compensation for products purchased using links in this article. For more information, please visit our Disclaimers page.

Cameras

The Yashica Funtastic is a Better Kodak Charmera (Hello Kitty Edition)

Chris Gampat
No Comments
Last updated on 06/05/2026
06/09/2026
3 Mins read
An orange handheld gaming console and a small red Hello Kitty camera on dark fabric in sunlight.
Spread the love
          

When the Yashica Funtastic was announced, I asked our team who wanted to review it. But before they could respond, I went and bought the camera myself — specifically in the Hello Kitty edition. Why? Well, if you look at it primarily as a camera, then you’re missing the point. Similar to the Kodak Charmera, this camera is a much more affordable version of the higher end cameras. When Sabrina Carpenter uses her Contax, it’s a toy to her to enhance her fun. With nowhere near her resources, the Yashica Funtastic is a similar thing for the rest of us who didn’t get mommy and daddy’s money or that didn’t have great foundations for Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I could, and should finish this review right here. But I’m not.

Something that’s really fun and cool about the Yashica Funtastic is the fact that it’s so small. Plus the LCD screen lifts up for selfies. And most importantly, it’s not at all meant to be taken seriously. If you are, you’re missing the entire point.

An orange Hello Kitty toy camera on a keychain, resting on dark fabric in bright sunlight.
Yashica Funtastic Hello Kitty Edition

The Yashica Funtastic Hello Kitty edition boasts a color scheme that reminds me of strawberries on top of Haagen-Daz ice cream. Power it on, and it will give you an option for photo, video or playback. Then from there, you can scroll through the various filters and presets. There aren’t as many as a Charmera, but they’re still good enough. Then you snap a photo. The LED flash stays on instead of coming on and off like a regular flash. You can hold buttons to access the menus too.

That’s about it. I’m not too crazy about the image quality, but it’s nice to know that it’s there and that it can work well on phones and perhaps social media. I wouldn’t know the latter for sure since I’ve been off for two years. But I can assume that it will work. It surely works for Reddit.

An orange Game Boy and a small Hello Kitty camera sit on a dark blue fabric in bright light.
An orange handheld gaming console and a small red Hello Kitty camera on dark fabric in sunlight.
An orange handheld game console and a small orange digital device on dark fabric in sunlight.
An orange handheld game console and a red Yashica camera placed on a dark fabric surface.
An orange Game Boy with Pokémon on screen and a small orange Hello Kitty camera on a dark fabric background.
Orange handheld gaming device and small digital keychain on dark fabric in sunlight.
An orange handheld game console and a small orange digital device rest on a dark fabric surface.

Yes, the Yashica Funtastic currently lives attached to my Mod Retro Chromatic (a modern Game Boy). And sometimes on calls with the tea club I’m part of, I’ve worn it around my glasses like a special charm. It brings me joy because it’s such a troll camera. That, and the fact that it’s Hello Kitty. I’m not specifically a Hello Kitty Fan, but any time a camera brand does a collab with them, I just want it because of how troll it is.

Well, I guess you can say that it’s a troll move. But realistically, it’s more of a move that lets me experience joy and fun without needing to pixel peep or take things so insanely seriously like the rest of our industry does.

Two men smiling indoors near a door, with hats on the wall and sunlight coming through the entrance.
Sunlight shines through a window with curtains, beside a leafy plant and a gray couch. Dated 2026/06/02.
Smiling person with straight, dark hair, standing indoors in front of green leafy plants. Date: 2026/06/03.
A television displays a close-up of a clownfish underwater above posters and a framed picture on a wall.
Brick apartment buildings behind leafy trees and parked cars on a sunny day, with a road in front.
A row of parked cars in a sunny parking lot, surrounded by tall trees and apartment buildings.
City street with cars, tall apartment buildings, and street signs under a clear blue sky.
A pair of sneakers hanging by their laces from overhead power lines against a clear blue sky.
Sunlight filters through the green leaves and branches of a tree, with a date stamp in the corner.
Sunlit living room corner with a gray chair, patterned pillows, and a red blanket on bean bags.
A person with glasses makes a silly face close to the camera; date stamp reads 2026/06/02.

Look, don’t buy the Yashica Funtastic if you take your photographs too seriously and if you mostly spend time behind your keyboard editing your photos. This camera is designed to be in the moment, fun, and to be used like a fashion accessory. That’s exactly what I’m going to use it for and I care zero about your judgement.

Get rid of the ads!

Did you enjoy reading this article as much as we enjoyed writing it? There's a way to support us and our reporting, getting ad-free navigation and more as a bonus. Subscribe to us for less than a coffee per month —just $3.99— or take advantage of our yearly subscription with a hefty discount for only $25.
  • An ad-free experience
  • A free mystery box for Lightroom or Capture One
  • All the books in our store
  • 20% discount on Capture One
  • 30% discount on Imalume Photo Theft Protection
  • 20% off Herbs and Kettle Tea Company.
camera charmera Yashica Yashica Funtastic
Shares
Written by

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.
'
0