This title is odd; yes, I know. The feeling you have in you right now is probably the same feeling that I have writing this review and the same I had while testing the Paper Shoot. This review is a story of intimidation, fear, overcoming said fear, relaxation, fun, disappointment, adoration, and the conclusion — which is to be continued at another point. I say this because I genuinely feel that I need to revisit this camera at another time, when I can truly gather my feelings about it. If you’re not familiar with what the Paper Shoot camera is, then you’re probably not riding the wave of nostalgia that Gen Z and Gen Alpha have been at the head of. But it’s mostly us millennials that are fueling it with a desire to get back to something organic and real. And trust me: the Paper Shoot camera feels like it’s from the not too distant past because just like every other millennial, I believe the 80s were only 20 years ago. And that’s correct, right?
Obviously, I’m kidding. So let’s get semi-serious again.
Here are the specs according to Paper Shoot’s website
- –20 Mega Pixel
- –28 mm Focus
- –Aperture : F2.2
- –ISO 100-3200
- –Minimal shutter time@ 1/2000s”
- –Max shutter time@ 1/30″
- –Requires standard SD card ( under 128 GB) & 2 AAA rechargeable batteries.
But this can be perplexing to some. You see, these are the specifications of the camera’s motherboard. You can buy said motherboard individually, or you can buy it with a bunch of different solid cardboard cases. I adore cassettes, so I got one with that design. I mean, who wouldn’t get glee out of a camera being stuffed into a cassette? It reminds me of all the fun ones I had when I was younger. In my early teenage years, all the richer kids in high school had CD players, but I still had a cassette player until a few years later. I’d play Korn albums and a few other things that I had ripped from the radio while timing the recording of the song to be good enough, even though there were times when the DJs were talking over the introduction or something. Still, it brought me joy, and because of that, I had a lot of the latest music.
That’s a much longer way of saying that cassettes bring me joy — and using this camera ultimately brings me joy. Every time I hold it, I’m enamored with the feeling and the fun I know that I’m going to have. If I’m in lots of sunlight, I’m usually going to have a great time and take some fantastic photos. I say usually for good reason — sometimes, oddly enough, the camera’s shutter just won’t fire.
Let’s rewind this track a bit. I bought a Paper Shoot camera and then didn’t realize I had to assemble it. That was intimidating and scary, partly because the instructions they give you are unclear. However, I then searched on YouTube to find a video on how to do it. Once I put the camera together, I imagine I felt the excitement of a child who has just finished a puzzle.]
I low-key call this the great success of October 2025 — but you have to say it like Borat and put two thumbs up just like him too.
There are some oddities about the case that holds the motherboard. For example, there is an odd punch-out area where the shutter button is supposed to be, but if I didn’t know that, I’d try to punch that area out of the frame. It would ultimately render the camera useless and expose the motherboard. This isn’t explained in the instructions you get, and you have to watch the video to figure it out. Luckily, the video isn’t that long.. Trust me when I say that I’ve got a camera bag in my office right now that requires me to watch a one-hour-long video to use it correctly.
No one has time like that.
Obviously, there is no weather sealing of any sort to the Paper Shoot. So you have to be careful with this camera. But I even ended up breaking my own rule of always having a strap. I went totally strapless with this thing, and when I took a break from using it, it slipped into my pocket.
The Paper Shoot camera uses two double-A batteries and doesn’t have a traditional on/off switch. It also uses such low power because it does not have an LCD screen. When you press the shutter button, you hear a loud autofocus sound, and then the shutter will probably click. Sometimes, though, the shutter doesn’t go off. And I can’t figure out why that happens.
Let me clarify here: Paper Shoot is intended for use in daylight. Even with the black and white filter enabled (of the four options) it won’t deliver pleasing images in the dark. By that I mean that they’ll be really dark photos. They’ve got old-school digital grain, though, and I’m all about that.
Here are some image samples.
More importantly, this camera does more than bring me joy. It also brings joy to people who aren’t into cameras but happen to be around me, as well as photographers. No one can take it seriously, and so we’re all just charmed by it.
In many ways, this is exactly the camera I wanted and needed. It’s not only a digital reset, but it’s refreshing. From this side of the editorial desk, it’s frustrating to receive so many of the latest cameras and lenses, only to find that they are largely the same thing. From your side of the screen, reading this review, it might sound like that’s a brag or a flex on my end. But trust me, it’s a blessing and a curse. So when something like this comes around, I’m really pleased.
I recommend the Paper Shoot camera for anyone who is sick and tired of using their phone or a big digital camera. If you want something that’s actually pocketable, fun, and that you can’t take with a ton of seriousness, then you’ll enjoy this. Just don’t have the highest expectations of it, and you’ll be surprised.
Long live the digicam. And long live the part of the internet that reminded us that photography doesn’t need to be all about pleasing algorithms and fake influencers. To hell with the autofocus algorithms that can’t find people of color in low light but can somehow or another find a tiny black bird amongst tree branches and leaves. What matters in the end is that you’re having fun with this hobby. When I need to do professional work, I’ll take out the bigger cameras. But I don’t need to cosplay as a photographer because I make taxable income doing it on the side, and as a journalist testing cameras. We all don’t need to pretend to be something we aren’t.