Reports are emerging about the initial shipments of the Yashica digiFilm cameras we first told you about last year and they’re not offering the most glowing appraisals of the digital camera with a retro aesthetic.
Launched via a successful Kickstarter campaign, the Yashica digiFilm cameras looked to capitalize on the brand cachet associated with the Yashica brand for a new concept that marries an analog past with a digital present. A really cool concept by some standards, the first-promised units have finally shipped out to some Kickstarter backers of the product and that’s where things are apparently going sideways according to PhotoRumors which has skimmed initial feedback from backers who have received their units.
Complaints range from general issues with build quality to the unit feeling like a toy – perhaps the most condemning complaint given initial concerns about the direction the project was taking in these last months. Other issues include lens quality and overall material usage which is not what users were expecting. For those that remember the older Yashica cameras this is particularly sad given the company’s legendary reputation for building product that lasts.
The new Yashica digiFilm camera is currently on display at Hong Kong specialty retailer Lane Crawford a video of which you can watch on YouTube by clicking here.
Some users have compared the DigiFilm concept to cheaper cameras on a chip that are ubiquitous in electronics stores across the world. Others are wondering what the world expected given the project’s goals and the proposition as a whole. After all, the Kickstarter project wasn’t promising the relaunch of the Yashica brand as a competitor to the big boys.
Of course more reviews will pour in as time goes on and we expect a clearer picture about what is going on with the Yashica Kickstarter product really is.
