When you resurrect a storied, older brand and slap it on a new product, you’re likely to run into a bit of scepticism from fans of the original. Such has been the case with the Yashica digiFilm project pretty much since it was initially announced on Kickstarter last year.
The Yashica digiFilm camera, a successful Kickstarter project to bring back the storied nameplate, promised backers a marriage of both analogue and digital in a new hybrid system that would “recapture” the spirit of the original in a format more appropriate for the modern era.
Utilizing something that the team behind the project has labelled digiFilm, the new Yashica device is fully digital but with analogue “rolls of film” that change the camera’s filter settings. Think a black and white roll and so forth.
The team imagines that photographers will swap between digiFilm rolls in much the same way analogue Yashica camera users did with film.
It’s quite confusing to describe but charming in execution – at least from what we can tell so far.
Recently the team showed off finalized drawings of the Yashica digiFilm Y35 to backers, culminating a long process that has seen the project beset with delays.
The new drawings basically show how the classic design is being updated to use modern equipment and connectivity. There is a slot for an SD Card as well as a USB port. The camera even has a mount for a lens filter.
It will be interesting to see the return of Yashica to the marketplace, especially with this concept as it truly tests the limits of retro chic.
While retro in design and form, the Yashica digiFilm is basically a quirky digital camera. Whether or not that wins over the often fickle consumers in the market for such a product remains to be seen.
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I bought one. Can’t wait to get my hands on it.