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Cameras

The Flashback 35 V2 Just Became one of the Best Compact Cameras

Chris Gampat
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Last updated on 07/06/2026
07/08/2026
4 Mins read
A hand holding a black and orange Flashback camera, with an aloe vera plant in the background by a window.
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The Flashback 35 V2 is a camera that we said isn’t just insanely fun, but we also rated it amongst one of our best travel cameras of the year. We say this even despite the cost of the camera rising and some issues with the DNG Raw file capabilities. Thankfully for the company, their customers have taken it upon themselves to make a web editor for the RAW files. Prompted by the announcement of this on Reddit, I was inclined to give the camera a go again. And boy, was I ever amazed.

The following text is a review update to our Flashback 35 V2 review. You can find the full text here at this link, but below we’re posting the update.

The Flashback 35 V2 Keeps Getting Better

Upon seeing this new web editor, I saved the link and promised myself to revisit it at a later time. Then I gave it a try with image files on my phone. One of the big promises is halation that can have red tinges on the outside — which to me, sounds like CineStill. Sadly the web app doesn’t give you halation like Cinestill. And that’s really sad because that’s what I was expecting. More importantly, I found it to be a pretty bad web editor that overall needs a lot more work.

Originally, I thought that Flashback had released this editor. But upon deeper investigation, I saw that it was actually a customer and super-fan that did it. Ultimately, I love this for the brand. Similar things happened with Camp Snap, Nikon, Sony, Canon, LUMIX, Fujifilm, etc. The only brands that I know of who actively go out to work with their external developers are Nikon, LUMIX, and Camp Snap. Personally, I think that if someone loves your product enough to really want to help you out, you (as a company owner) should find some way to give them a reward and thank you. Seriously, we should bring back customer loyalty programs in some way or another.

With that aside, I booted up the Flashback 35 V2 and opened up their official app on my iPhone. After a firmware update, it allowed me to choose what film I wanted to load onto the camera. I swiped through until I got a few new options that really piqued my curiosity.

A phone screen showing a film selection app with vintage-style photos and buttons to go back or load film.
A smiling person in a hat outdoors above a cityscape with water, buildings, and skyline under a blue sky.
App screen to choose film type; features purple sky photos and Load #retrohaze button at the bottom.

As a man born in 1987, I can’t even begin to tell you how elated I was to see these new options in beta mode. I mean there’s a Game Boy look, a Kodak Gold look (that they call Flashback Diso as a reference to disposable cameras), and something that both my best friend and Managing Editor Nilofer Khan said to be, “anime coded.” Add onto this that I went out to Flushing, Queens for a bit of an adventure and I was in the perfect place to have fun with this camera’s newest features.

Granted, these are in beta at the moment of my writing this in July 2026; so keep that in mind based on if you’ve signed up for beta features or not and what time you’re reading this.

I surely do love the new looks though. The whole game boy camera adaptation is very nice as an addition and something I totally didn’t expect. I found the Retro Haze look to be better outside — and it probably would’ve been elite if NYC had clear skies. But we’re currently about to go through a flood after a terrible heat wave. What really ended up surprising me was the Disposable camera look. This gave me some of the vibes that I had really been looking for — and it did it better than even my LUMIX cameras and my Nikon cameras.

Here are some Retro Haze images.

Neon-lit giant guitar and speakers display with colorful digital equalizer graphics at night.
People in an arcade playing various games, surrounded by colorful neon lights and machines.
Colorful claw machine filled with plush toys and capsules, lit up with neon lights and labeled “GATCHA.”.
A row of colorful claw machines filled with plush toys in a neon-lit arcade; a person stands in the background.
Plush toys with red hats and shirts inside a claw machine, with colorful balls at the bottom.
A neon-lit “Lucky Poke” arcade claw machine with people walking around in a dimly lit arcade.
Colorful spiral decorations hang from the ceiling of a busy shopping mall with people walking and sitting.
Tall apartment building with balconies, viewed from below on a cloudy day, with power lines crossing in front.
Two people reflected in a ceiling mirror, one taking a photo, surrounded by white boxes on the floor.
People browsing capsule toy vending machines in a brightly lit Gashapon store with colorful displays.
A row of colorful capsule toy vending machines with a sign reading $3.00 = 1 Token above them.
Two Bandai capsule toy machines with anime figures and instructions, against a red and white background.
Three women smile and walk on a busy city street near a bus and a church on a cloudy day.

Here are some Flashback Dispo images.

Steaming bamboo baskets of dumplings on a restaurant table with drinks and a plate of saucy food.
A hand serves saucy food from a plate next to a bamboo steamer, drinks, and small dishes on a wooden table.
A bowl of spicy red soup with meat, noodles, and herbs on a wooden table, with utensils and small bowls nearby.
A man with glasses sits at a restaurant table with drinks, bowls, and utensils in front of him.
A restaurant interior with gray brick walls, round ceiling lights, and people dining at wooden tables.
Man in helmet using phone on bike; people walk across busy city street in background.
People walk on a busy city sidewalk with construction barrels and cones scattered in the foreground.
Squishy cat figurines displayed on a shelf in a toy store, with other toys and figures in the background.
A man plays an arcade punching game, with plush toys displayed on shelves in the background.
Three colorful claw machines filled with blue, yellow, and pink plush toys in an arcade.
A hand holds a blue plush toy inside a brightly lit arcade with claw machines.
A beige wall with many instant photos arranged in a loose, scattered pattern.
Shelves stocked with Doritos, Lay’s chips, anime figures, and posters in a store.
Colorful dragon and lantern decorations hang from a glass ceiling in a shopping mall.
A life-sized red and gold Iron Man statue stands in a brightly lit, toy-filled store.

And finally, here are the flashback DMG looks.

Pixel art of a potted plant on a windowsill with light streaming through the window in green tones.
A pixelated green-toned image of a cozy living room with a couch, table, and window.
Pixelated green trees with dense foliage against a light green sky, creating a pixel art effect.
Pixelated image of a city street with cars parked and a building with an awning in green tones.
Empty industrial room with large windows and exposed ceiling beams, in green monochrome pixel art style.
Pixelated image of a train station platform with tracks in front and a large building in the background.
Pixelated green-toned image of buildings and trees viewed through a window with horizontal bars.
Pixelated image of a crowded subway train filled with standing passengers under overhead lights.
A pixelated street scene with people gathered outdoors, some buildings, and a traffic light visible.
A busy street scene with crowds of people and tall buildings under a traffic light, viewed in a green filter.
A person in uniform crouches near a sewer grate on a city sidewalk at night.
Pixel art of a subway train with passengers sitting and standing inside, seen through the train windows.

I’m so confused as to why I didn’t know about these sooner. The thing is that Flashback is often just in my inbox to promote sales. But they are never deliberate in telling people in the titles about new firmware updates and features. If I had known about these, then I would’ve leaped into my camera bags to get it out and play with it.

One other thing to note: I forgot how much I really liked the feeling of this device. It’s small, nostalgic, familiar, pocketable, tactile, etc. There’s a lot going on here that I love over many other modern cameras. This, ultimately, is why I’m still so smitten for all these little modern digicams.

Retroactively, this camera and the company behind it are really something special to behold. And in July 2026, I’m now awarding the Flashback 35 V2 our Editor’s Choice award and five out of five stars. I’m amazed at how good the battery life is and how it keeps things simple while giving the photographer a bit of versatility. But ultimately, you can just sit there and not let the camera get in the way of you enjoying life.

The Phoblographer Editors Choice Award logo with a red camera graphic and text.
The Phoblographer’s Editor’s Choice award

Rating: 5 out of 5.

And that’s the most important thing these days.

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anime Compact Camera digicam disposable editor flashback flashback 35 v2 game boy raw
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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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