Review: CampSnap

At the beginning of the smartphone era, photographers used them to get a particular look. It was a rough amateur style that paired well with good framing, and platforms like Instagram were built around their spontaneous, fresh, digitalized style. The iPhone 4’s 5-megapixel camera and LED flash couldn’t compete with a dedicated SLR camera, but their pictures had soul.Instagram is still around, and more photos are taken on phones than ever before; but, as the quality and capacity went up, they lost their soul. In its product launches, Apple has hard pushed the idea that you could shoot commercials and films on an iPhone, and though most don’t — for logistical and compatibility reasons — commercials shot on iPhone look strikingly similar to those shot on dedicated cameras. Phone cameras still have a particular look, but for most users, they’ve closed the gap.But what if you like the simplicity of old digital cameras? What if you don’t want distractions when shooting and want images that are technically worse but unquestionably more characterful?CampSnap. Courtesy of CampSnapThat’s where the CampSnap comes in: a plastic $65 travel camera with no shutter, ISO, aperture, style controls, or even a screen. It has a shutter button, and that’s it; and when you want to see the photos on it, you connect it to your computer with a USB C cable.The CampSnap was intended for children, as a holiday camera, and though I’m sure it works well for that purpose, it’s best enjoyed by adults. Namely, when you shoot on the CampSnap, there is often a lag in taking the shot — particularly at night. As an adult, you can account for this, but a child will shoot assuming what they see through the viewfinder is what they’re capturing and be disappointed when they open a folder filled with smeared blurry stills.If you accept its flaws and lean into simplicity, CampSnap can produce amazing photos. The shots are highly stylized in the retro filter mode, which I would highly recommend keeping enabled, and it captures faces particularly well. Part of the delight too is that it’s a way to capture memories when out with friends and family without being on your phone; and you can do so without a concern about it being stolen or broken because it only costs $65.It’s far from a perfect camera and is certainly not replacing my Fujifilm X-T30 II. But that’s not the point of the CampSnap. It’s to capture memories on the go in a lovely, stylish way, and if you embrace that, you’ll love it.I bought one for my sister, and over the past 6 months, she’s shot over a thousand photos on it, many of which look incredible. For $65, it’s a steal.

Review: CampSnap

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