Over recent years there has been a small flurry of reusable cameras popping up all with a similar spec and design attempting to be a more eco-friendly answer to disposables. Sticking out from the bunch the new Harman EZ-35 has motorised load, advance and rewind. It also comes along with a bit of design flair and a roll of HP5 to boot.
Watching these new reusable cameras come to market, seeing the feature set slowly increase, it is does sometimes feel like we are at the beginning of the path to a new autofocus point & shoot camera. We had disposables, then reusables, now reusables with motorised film transports. Could the next step be faster lenses, autofocus or auto exposure…?
One way or another, we aren’t there yet. But with the market booming for these reusable models, hopefully we might start to see more features creeping in. For now, the motorised film transport is definitely a welcome addition and definitely takes the camera a decent step away from the standard disposable… which hopefully means people will use it more too!
Harman EZ-35 Specification:
Film Format: 135 Film (24x36mm)
Lens: 31mm, F/11
Shutter: 1/100s
Focusing: Focus Free, 1m – ∞
Viewfinder Field: 70%
Film Transport: Motorized load, advance & rewind
Flash: Built-in Flash, 15s recycle time
Lens Cover Also acts as shutter lock
Dimensions 110 (W) x 62 (H) x 38 (D) mm
Weight 126g (w/o battery)
Price-wise the EZ-35 sits at a respectable £47.99 directly from Harman. That comes complete with a battery, strap, and roll of Ilford HP5 – a nice little complete kit, ideal as gift to give to someone to try out film photography for the first time!
I like the design and built in flash but not the built in wind and rewind.
I think people actually like the tactile feeling of advancing and rewinding film. It’s all part of slowing down and getting more involved in the process of analog photography. Advancing the film is part of the charm, even if it is with a wheel advance.
Adding zone focus instead of auto film advance would be more useful for the end result.
The problem with adding more features without adding features that would ‘improve’ pics is that these cameras morph from cheap and cheerful basic things to, well, kinda crappy P&S cameras that are getting more expensive.
Seriously? There are Minoltas and Konicas more capable than this cracker toy for £10 in every charity shop. What’s eco-friendly about making new plastic landfill when there’s already enough kit out there to satisfy anyone who’s just curious about film?
For sure – but consider the different audiences.
I’m pleased to see these cameras emerging in the marketplace Josh, so thanks for the heads up. It is clearly a modern take on the Kodak Instamatic 100 from 1963 what with its identical 31mm wide f11 fixed focus lens and 1/100 fixed shutter – it’s all you really need for a sunny Spanish holiday. I think it’s a wee bit overpriced so perhaps a thumb-wind would have made it a little more attractive – especially for candids,but I suppose you could always pop the battery out for that once in a lifetime candid shot? I’m a fan of disposables so I guess this is the equivalent of four of those (I’m talking myself into one). Hopefully they’ll be at the duty-free shops for £30-ish when we finally get to travel again. Some sample piccies would have been nice.
F11, 1/100sec is not interesting to me… but the green wrist strap is! Maybe I need to get one of these and loan it out to friends who want to play around with film.
Meanwhile, non-toy film cameras are aging, going up in price, and in some cases no longer repairable. How far off are we from the day when toy cameras and their ilk are our only options?
I’d like to hope this is the start of a re-innovation of film cameras. Hopefully, we shall see more soon.
WOT!! NO COMMENTS??
Yep, a few – Josh doesn’t respond to them himself, and I forgot 🤦♂️