Blink Design Studios Ltd

My love of old and new cameras combined in these retro digital cameras!

I have always loved old film cameras; owning a Coronet Clipper medium format and a Nikon Retinette 35mm as well as my Nikon D50. Until accidentally coming across a nostalgia digital camera called the ‘Rolleiflex Mini’ I had no idea that retro digital cameras were both beautiful and cute due to their small stature. Yes I am female – so their dinky size does somehow add to their appeal in my eyes. I had heard before that such cameras existed – perhaps I had subconsciously avoided looking up what I know I can never afford to own myself – either way I am happy to have come across them and it gives me another thing to add to my ever growing unlikely wish list for lottery won money (although if I actually played the lottery the list would seem somewhat more realistic). But I digress…

The Rolleiflex Mini Digital Camera plays on the Rollei Twin Lens Reflex tradition but has a fully up to date digital pixel inner. And on top of that it is simply a work of art to behold. Every detail of the original camera is lovingly reproduced at a small scale and the modern aspects of its digital format are implemented in a seamless and stylish way which in no way detracts from the cameras overall aesthetic appeal.

The camera is made from metal has 5 mega pixels of picture goodness, autofocus, 1.1″ square display for waist level shooting, 4.9mm F2.8 Lens; 1/15-1/2500s Shutter Speed; Automatic While Balance and Exposure Control and takes Mini SD Cards.

Somewhere between kitsch and genius this tiny example of digital camera perfection is a joy to behold and is small enough to wear as a slightly over sized necklace. Sadly this camera comes with a somewhat hefty price tag from urban outfitters and I cannot spot any for a tenner on ebay – darn.

Slightly more realistic on the price scale is the 7.1 x 2.8 x 1.9 cm Minox DCC-Leica M3 Digital Classic Camera. Another lovely example of a retro / older camera body (in this case the miniaturized shell of the Leica M3) used to create a highly detailed metal molded reproduction digital camera housing.

This camera also has the viewfinder (a 1.5 inch TFT color monitor affair) is located on the back rather than the top making it more familiar to those used to standard modern point and click cameras. Models seem to range between 3.2 and 5 mega pixels and take standard SD cards. As well as sharp pictures the camera can also shoot film sequences in DCC in AVI format in video mode. It has automatic white balance and shutter speeds and a focal length of 8,5 mm.

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