Last Updated on 03/20/2018 by Mark Beckenbach
After several years and dozens of prototypes, the I’m Back 35mm Digital Back launches its final design.
Five months after their last Kickstarter campaign, the makers of I’m Back 35mm Digital Back are running another campaign to fund its final version. Apart from a leaner design, an elegant bayonet docking system, and dedicated back covers for some of the most popular brands and models, looks like the other features are still the same. For those who have been following the campaigns, this update may be worth checking out.
I’m Back follows many Kickstarter campaigns driven by the idea of digitizing the look and appeal of film cameras and photos. However, it doesn’t claim to replace film rolls (rightly so, as we all know film has its own distinct look) or to take images with outstanding digital quality. What promises it does make is to give vintage 35mm cameras a new lease on life as truly hybrid cameras. Simply swap your 35mm camera’s back cover with I’m Back’s dedicated back cover and attach the focusing screen. Instead of capturing the images on a full frame sensor, however, this attachment has a series of mirrors that project the image from the focusing screen to a lens and 16 MP Panasonic CMOS sensor.
“The design of this product is called “Depth-of-Field” (DoF) adapter. In normal digital cameras, the image from the lens is directly projected onto the sensor. So the smaller the size of the sensor, the more the image is cropped which we call crop factor. In this DoF adapter “digital back”, the image is projected onto the focusing screen. And then we use a digital camera to take a photo of this focusing screen. There is no crop factor.”
The I’m Back’s final version now supports the cameras listed below. If your camera is not on the list, there is also a universal accessory that can be adjusted for use on almost all 35mm cameras:
Nikon F, Nikon F2, Nikon F3, Nikon FA, Nikon EM, Nikon FG, Nikkormat EL, Nikon FM, Nikon FE, Nikon S2, Canon F1, Canon A1, Canon AE1, Canon FT, Pentax ME super, Pentax spotomatic, Pentax K1000, Praktica b200, Praktica MTL, Contax II, Contax RTS, Contax G2, Olympus OM1, Olympus OM2, Olympus OM4, Olympus OM10, Minolta Dinaxx 7000, Minolta XD series, Yashica JP, Yashica FX3, Leica M, Leica R, Diana F, Diana F mini.
Find out more about the I’m Back 35mm Digital Back and see some sample images in the video below, and on their Kickstarter page.