is a reviewer covering laptops and the occasional gadget. He spent over 15 years in the photography industry before joining The Verge as a deals writer in 2021.
There’s been a surge of interest over the last few years in inexpensive digital cameras. Younger folks are snapping up old point-and-shoots because they view the aesthetic as more authentic and more appealing than smartphone images. Companies are even rereleasing old tech at new prices. And there are cameras like the original Camp Snap: a $70 single-button point-and-shoot with no screen, designed as a modern take on a disposable film camera. It’s cheap enough to send off with a kid to summer camp and accessible enough for just about anyone to enjoy its lo-fi aesthetic.
I’ve been testing two charming examples of this formula: the $99 Camp Snap Pro (aka CS-Pro), which is an upgrade to the original Camp Snap and looks like an all-plastic Fujifilm X100, and the Flashback One35 V2, which costs $119 and looks exactly like a disposable camera.
Both cameras aim to give you the aesthetics and screen-free experience of a disposable film camera with the convenience of digital. One of them hits the mark.
Both the Camp Snap Pro and Flashback One35 V2 are compact and built from lightweight, cheap plastic. The Flashback is noticeably smaller, about the size of a disposable film camera, and it slips into my back pocket better. But both are best toted in a jacket pocket, small bag, or purse. They don’t feel precious like regular cameras. My wife and I own an original Camp Snap, and we’d often toss it in our diaper bag without giving a damn.
Neither camera is special when it comes to specs (scroll to the bottom for a side-by-side comparison table). The Camp Snap Pro’s 22.5mm-equivalent lens and 16-megapixel sensor are respectively wider and higher resolution than the standard Camp Snap (8-megapixel, 32mm equivalent). The Flashback V2 has a 13-megapixel sensor. These basic smartphone-sized image sensors and tiny lenses yield image quality somewhere between a disposable film camera and an old phone. Unlike film, you’re not paying money with each shot. And they both feature proper xenon flashes for brightly illuminating dark settings at close distances — a sought-after look that also helps alleviate their awful low-light performance. (The original Camp Snap’s LED flash is mostly useless and not as flattering.)
Previous Next
... continue reading