Digital Back for 35mm film cameras

It says it fits most 35mm flim cameras. Anyone ever try one of these with any success? o_O

LINK

It's got a digital camera taking an image of ground glass placed against the film camera's film plane.

Also, this was in the Q&A section and is apparently from the creator: "our idea is to be able to give a vintage look in the photos and not of the highest quality like the current mirroles or even our cell phones."

Not a great product to me if the creator is representing it in Holga fashion.

I was reading about them few years ago, I think it was crowd sourcing campaign. Looks like they made it. But the idea was to make something like Holga, just for fun,

not for professional work.

The one review on B&H isn't good.

That one review didn't look good.

Its ok if you want a lomo look. I can kind of get it (But not really) with film...

If you want a digital lomo look, just buy a digital camera from the early 2000s or late 1990s at a thriftstore for a few bucks.

They are terrible, and what I have seen online there is a 3 sec delay from when you press the shutter button on the camera to when it actually takes a digital photo.

Same as @Nick D. above. I firmly believe the samples shown along with the crowd funding campaign didn't knock my socks off. It is meant to be a toy (but I am sure somebody somewhere will end running a digital passport picture business utilizing it, for bragging rights' sake..).

I'm too cheap, to get one myself. Why should we BTW? Yes I can not imagine manual focusing on (AF) DSLRs to be very appealing, but I'd rather get a quite early DSLR than a questionable attachment with even worse high ISO performance. If grabbing shots from an auxiliary ground glass is a thing; why not get an attachment for LF?

I have seen online there is a 3 sec delay from when you press the shutter button on the camera to when it actually takes a digital photo.

This is, as indicated, an "idea whose time has went".

It is -- as pointed out -- not really making your Nikon F2 into a real digital camera, and even if it were, it would have been a "contender" only back in 2003 or so.

Here is what we thought we wanted to make our beloved old film cameras over again:

35mm Cartridge that Transforms Film Cameras into Digital

Unfortunately, it was an April Fool's joke.

I also am too cheap to try one, but I'd love to hear more from someone who is extravagant enough to go for it.

This is, as indicated, an "idea whose time has went".

 

It is -- as pointed out -- not really making your Nikon F2 into a real digital camera, and even if it were, it would have been a "contender" only back in 2003 or so.

 

Here is what we thought we wanted to make our beloved old film cameras over again:

35mm Cartridge that Transforms Film Cameras into Digital

Unfortunately, it was an April Fool's joke.

 

I also am too cheap to try one, but I'd love to hear more from someone who is extravagant enough to go for it.

Any easy film canister size electronics and battery and modern digital film like sensor that could drop into any 35mm would have been best and kept the nostalgia and would allow resurecting our old film cameras and gear if it worked. But doesn't seem to be here yet. Perhaps one day with advancement in electronics. You have a point. At $300 there are plenty of better options to take better photos with used and new gear. I saw a 5d going for $95 two days ago.

Any easy film canister size electronics and battery and modern digital film like sensor that could drop into any 35mm would have been best and kept the nostalgia and would allow resurecting our old film cameras and gear if it worked. But doesn't seem to be here yet. Perhaps one day with advancement in electronics. You have a point. At $300 there are plenty of better options to take better photos with used and new gear. I saw a 5d going for $95 two days ago.

Sounds good but it's near impossible to make and when it's possible the price can't be $300. It must be more. So there won't be one that works satisfactorily.

The guy in this video turned an old Super8 film camera into a digital video camera. The video is entertaining to see how much work, knowledge, and patience were involved. Although the results were preliminary and of poor quality, he did finally succeed.

Hello everybody! Let's go. As you commented on my work, I wanted to participate in the first person to perhaps give some answer to this product that I launched successfully, whether on kickstarter or indiegogo. The creative process is not something that the first attempt gets the result that we want, that I have learned in my profession as an art director in these 40 years. I started this project starting from the principle of creating something that could digitize an image in any way and could be "universal" so that any photocamera could be used. As for quality, I obviously want it to be the best possible, but at the same time that the final price is low because I know I can't and it's not even my idea to compete with the big brands. All the development at the beginning in 2016 was done by me, using raspberry pi and a 3d printer. With the successes obtained and the financing received, we created a company, in which another 3 people participate, we received investments and won 2 important awards. We are working in a serious and positive way, knowing perfectly where the defects are and looking to improve, and for that, in a month we will be launching the updated version of the 35mm model, smaller, bigger battery (FP50), possibility to have all the controls of the photocamera in manual, raw, jpg, plate designed exclusively for our product (the current was a GoPro kinesa to be clear), better software etc. We also launched for the Medium Format and after success on Kickstarter today it is available in pre sale on indiegogo. We also have a distributor that is betting on us with B&H photo and ADORAMA, and so many others in Japan and Europe.

We are small, but we do not give up, despite so many criticisms, some malicious and others intelligent that make us work towards offering a better product. For those who started in a small office in northern Italy and today have their headquarters in Lugano Switzerland and can count on 4 engineers and one of the most prestigious design and production companies in Shenzhen in China that benefits customers like Apple and Huawei, we can just be grateful and confident that our product can only improve!

Best regards,

Samuel Mello Medeiros

I'm Back

Nikon F 50mm - First prototype - raspberry py 4mp

Nikon F 50mm - Actual version 16mp - RAW

Leica M2 nikkor 50mm - Actual version 16mp

[img=Meet Google Drive – One place for all your files]/file/d/1Nmt4B6Os51zBylG8W5qu7U4ZHL5J6waH[/img]

Hasselblad - Planar 120mm - I'm Back MP

Video by I'm Back and a normal zenith 122 helios 58mm

I wanted... to perhaps give some answer to this product that I launched

While I applaud the work to produce the current product, unless I read it wrong, the device places a screen at the focal plane to produce an image of the open 24mm x 36mm frame and then through a mirror mechanizm, a 1/2.3" sensor (6.17mm x 4.55mm) takes a photo of that screen. The camera's shutter is held open for at least 3 seconds and the electronic shutter on the sensor is triggered and the image is taken.

Seems like a $300 novelty device since there are now so many mirrorless cameras that can put a much larger sensor behind almost any vintage lens ever made, without the need of an imaging screen or mirror mechanizm.

It says it fits most 35mm flim cameras. Anyone ever try one of these with any success? o_O

 

LINK

IMHO...... this is the Very Definition of, a solution for a problem that does not exist.

The closest anyone ever came to "converting a classic 35mm film camera to digital with good results" was Leica with their DMR for the R8/R9. The price was astronomical, the potential market tiny, and it made the camera considerably larger. Even fifteen years later, with newer tech and economies of scale, it likely wouldn't be profitable for anyone to reinvent this for Nikon F2, Canon F-1, Olympus OM-1, etc. Mirrorless full frame cameras fill the niche at much lower cost, their EVFs offering more accurate manual focus indication with legacy lenses. Not to say I wouldn't be sorely tempted to buy a functional version of that April Fools insert for my beloved F2AS...

Medium format Hasselblad fans have better luck. Those early Phase One, Leaf and Imacon digital backs (that neatly replaced the removable A12/A24 film back of a 500CM) have dropped from $50K to $3K. Years ago, these were good enough to topple film and formally usher in the digital revolution. But today, they seem crude and disconnected: it works well enough as a studio film replacement, and the files can be stunning, but for enthusiast use in the field they're a kluge that leaves a lot of functionality to be desired. We're too spoiled by modern fully-integrated digicams.

OTOH, this was a thing for awhile there :rolleyes::

HASSELNUT — Badass Cameras

Any chance of a 5"x4" model?

Oh wait, I can already snap the GG screen of my LF cameras with my phone camera!

last year saw a website commercial froma japanese company that was making a digital camera that used a special memory module that was sized like a 35mm canister. And you HAD to use a traditional film advance to take your next shot,,, and itonly held 36 shots per cartridge.

Had a classic style film door to load and unload... cant remember if they ever did anything with it. But i remember the website was nice, and had a nice digital video shot of them using the camera in dark clubs

last year saw a website commercial froma japanese company that was making a digital camera that used a special memory module that was sized like a 35mm canister. And you HAD to use a traditional film advance to take your next shot,,, and itonly held 36 shots per cartridge.

 

Had a classic style film door to load and unload... cant remember if they ever did anything with it. But i remember the website was nice, and had a nice digital video shot of them using the camera in dark clubs

If I recall correctly, this was a rehash of the scam from years ago when an exactly similar system was announced, but never produced.

Technically now it is doable, but what the point of it, in the end you got the same digital file.

When I look at my dusty Nikon F50 or Brownie, if I ever want to use them, I want to get that specific character print, one you can only do with film in traditional dark room, digital back can't do that.