The Up-Tech is a camera. Mine has a face drawn on it, and I bought it after a very mild evening at a local brewery. I’ve decided to write a post about it.
A 5 US$ dollar camera, a 4.20 US$ roll of film, and around 80 cents ( rounding out the cost to 10 US$) of Rodinal and expired Ilford Rapid Fix walked into a bar….. and said ouch.
Some thoughts on the Up-Tech Camera
As 5 US$ camera’s go this one is in fact one of them… and works exactly the way a purveyor of plastic cameras would expect a reloadable 5 US$ camera to work. The shutter shutters, the back closes, the lens allows light in, and no light leaks seem to exist. I believe it is indistinguishable from every camera of Japanese or German heritage when only considering these four deterministic items. Some less fun characteristics: the film loading and shutter cocking requires you to pull a winding wheel a little more after it stops this makes a fantastic crunchy sound, feels like the film will snap in half, and then the shutter may or may not be ready to go. The lens is plastic and fishy around the edges. The shutter only has one speed, choosing to load it with some cheap 400 speed film is probably a mistake, but the camera fits in your pocket and makes hardly any noise!
I chose a roll with 18 exposures so I don’t have to use the camera for longer than I really want to. I do plan on running the new Leica film through it just for fun, even though I know that film is a branding project more than anything else.
Anyway, to shorten the pain of writing more than is needed about a 5 dollar camera here are the shots I made with my plastic Up-Tech film camera.
Note: one or two shots were lost because of the aforementioned loading, winding, shutter release behavior.
End comment: The Up-Tech was a fun camera, for 5 US$ I do not mind the plastic lens and toy camera aesthetic. I will probably load some cheap film in it and bring it with me whenever I go somewhere the influencers hang out and maybe try to trade for a shoelace or something of equal value. To round out this post I would love your feedback on my pictures, and the Up-tech camera’s magnificent performance. T
hank you
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Russ Rosener on Up-Tech – A Short Roll of Questionable Photography
Comment posted: 07/10/2025
Would be fun to see what crazy stuff that lens does with a roll of color.
Michael Jardine on Up-Tech – A Short Roll of Questionable Photography
Comment posted: 07/10/2025
Gary Smith on Up-Tech – A Short Roll of Questionable Photography
Comment posted: 07/10/2025
Thanks for your post!
Jeffery Luhn on Up-Tech – A Short Roll of Questionable Photography
Comment posted: 07/10/2025
Some funny lines in your posting that made me smile. I treasure my time spent shooting film, so I'm unlikely to shoot with sub-standard cameras and outdated film, but I'll fight for your right to do it.