The Echolens Kickstarter has only been live for a couple of days, and judging by the fact that it’s already exceeded its $30,000 / £21,879 / AU$45,929 target, it certainly seems like the camera's retro good looks and promise to deliver a vintage shooting experience have captured plenty of interest. At the time of writing, a whopping $129,742 / £94,451 / AU$198,212 has been pledged by 1,110 backers, which is extremely good news for the retro compact outfit and with 28 days to go, there's plenty of time for more backers to jump on board.
With Day One pricing at $99 / £73 now over, you can still take advantage of the early bird pricing of $125 / £92 / AU$152 (when this offer runs out the standard package will be $149 / £109 / AU$229).
As of right now, black and brown leatherette options are available, but Echolens has said it will introduce more colors should the camera reach 2,500 backers. At 5,000 backers, it will add a portable printer alongside the camera. It’s already met one of these ‘Stretch Goals’ by hitting 1,000 backers. This means the company will add Custom Filters, stating: “Just scroll, tap your vibe, and watch your pics get that perfect nostalgic touch”.
I first heard about the Echolens back in April, where I learned that this Fujifilm X100VI lookalike was designed to deliver a film-esque shooting experience with a digital camera. According to Echolens: “we wanted to feel the click, the winding crank, and the moment of surprise when you see a developed frame—yet still be able to share instantly.”
As such, there’s an optical viewfinder, no rear LCD screen, and the camera features “precision-machined controls”. You also have to physically wind on the digital roll of film, pausing between shots. It sounds like that digital roll of film will be controlled via the Echolens Companion App (iOS and Android), allowing you to choose from four film types: Kodagrain, Dreamroll, B&W, and Rosebyte. “Each digital roll loaded on the app has 54 shots.” While you can’t turn to the camera to look through your images, you can sync the images via Wi-Fi so they appear on the app.
As always, I’ll reserve my judgement until I’ve seen a unit, and with other cheap compact cameras, like the Yashica FX-D 300, and the premium Fujifilm X Half, filmic digital cameras are certainly in vogue. The details we have so far certainly make the Echolens an interesting prospect, though, so I’m looking forward to hearing more about this project in the future. You can check out the Echolens Kickstarter here.
You might also like...
The new Fujifilm X Half is weird, but it combines my favorite cameras into one retro compact. Also, check out the best retro cameras and – if you're really retro – the best film cameras.
