Canon Multi Tele – The Long Half-Life of a Canon Half-Frame Camera
The Kodak Ektar H35 half-frame camera captivated photographers in 2022 with its retro simplicity. The little plastic film camera is sourced from an overseas manufacturer, Reto, not Kodak, to capitalize on film’s resurgent popularity. The H35 offers one button and one shutter speed (1/100 sec.), but no control of aperture, DX coding, macro, or self-timer.
Offered in four colors, the H35 resembles a mash-up of an Instamatic, a Vivitar Wide & Slim, and a Canon Demi. If you squint. I’m fond of half-frame and quarter-frame cameras as a storytelling option, but I balked at the $49.99 (USD) price for a startlingly basic camera . Rooting through my film camera vault, I unearthed a Canon Sure-Shot Multi-Tele camera I’d purchased in 2003 for $44 via eBay.