Kodak Ektar H35 Half Frame Film Camera (Black, Bundle with 24exp Film)

The camera itself feels amazing. Just the right balance, not too heavy, and not too light. My only issue regarding the camera is how stiff the scroll wheel gets making it harder to scroll to the next frame. I love the way it feels whenever I hold it. Regarding how well it takes picture, I have yet to see it personally. Can't wait to burn through all frames to have it developed. It may not be the perfect camera for enthusiasts, but as a beginner, I love it!

Amazing what it can do, but know its limitations

For a camera with no focus controls and no ability to control exposure beyond turning the flash on or changing film, this really does give a lot of bang for the buck.The Highland cattle photos were shot on Rollei 400s and the other two were Ilford HP5. There is a considerable drop off in sharpness which is especially noticeable when shooting landscape. It's less of a problem shooting portrait.With flash it's fine for low light subjects out to about 6-10 feet. In daylight you can shoot a wider variety of subjects. I was surprised by how much you could get away with. In overcast or dusk conditions, underexposure was a problem if not using flash. In one case (full blazing sun) I got some overexposure at using the Rollei 400s.

Easy and Compact

I really enjoy using this camera. It's extremely light and compact so it adds very minimal weight to your bag; it can even fit into pockets (depending on how big they are). I used to rarely take film photos since my old camera was heavier and bulkier, but now I always have this camera on me. It doesn't need a battery to operate without flash, but if you do want flash, then you obviously need one. Don't leave the flash on, either; I accidentally left it on for as night and it drained the battery completely and I had to replace it. Other than that, it's such a fun camera to use and I highly recommend it if you want to start taking film photos. There's a very minimal learning curve.

Fab pocket camera to bring back the joy of film

I haven't shot film in years but was intrigued by this little half frame and picked it up. Definitely glad I did as it made me remember why I love film so much! Super fun, easy to use. Great to just throw in a bag and capture those quick memories during the summer.Loaded mine up with some Kodak Gold 200 for the first outing and as you can see it performed pretty well. Some shots definitely came out underexposed when I didn't use the flash and should have done.Camera itself is super lightweight. I don't love how plasticky the whole thing feels but that really is a personal preference. Be careful when winding your film back as the rewind knob does feel fragile. I got loads of compliments on this camera so aesthetically it does capture people's eye.If you're ... MoreI haven't shot film in years but was intrigued by this little half frame and picked it up. Definitely glad I did as it made me remember why I love film so much! Super fun, easy to use. Great to just throw in a bag and capture those quick memories during the summer.Loaded mine up with some Kodak Gold 200 for the first outing and as you can see it performed pretty well. Some shots definitely came out underexposed when I didn't use the flash and should have done.Camera itself is super lightweight. I don't love how plasticky the whole thing feels but that really is a personal preference. Be careful when winding your film back as the rewind knob does feel fragile. I got loads of compliments on this camera so aesthetically it does capture people's eye.If you're looking for an analog camera with all the bells and whistles this isn't it. But if you're looking for a camera to capture quick moments this really fits the bill perfectly. Great fun to pass around with friends and the half frame format means you get a lot of bang for your buck (I managed to get 55 shots on a 24 exposure roll - this will obviously depend on each roll but I got lucky).

Fun camera, don't expect too much

I jumped for this little camera for two reasons: primarily, I wanted to have a fun, no-frills film camera I could use to play around with expired and lomo film, as a cheap alternative to a Holga (although the camera costs a bit more, 72 frames on a 35mm is a lot cheaper than 12 on a 120). And a second reason was that I might want to invite an occasional friend to come along on a photo walk put on by the local film photography group, and this is a great way not to have to worry about camera settings.It's even smaller than it looks, and it weighs almost nothing. It definitely has a plastic craptastic feel to it, and yet the film door makes a satisfying click sound when you close it (no need to tape it shut like some Holgas), and the film advance wheel stops with a ... MoreI jumped for this little camera for two reasons: primarily, I wanted to have a fun, no-frills film camera I could use to play around with expired and lomo film, as a cheap alternative to a Holga (although the camera costs a bit more, 72 frames on a 35mm is a lot cheaper than 12 on a 120). And a second reason was that I might want to invite an occasional friend to come along on a photo walk put on by the local film photography group, and this is a great way not to have to worry about camera settings.It's even smaller than it looks, and it weighs almost nothing. It definitely has a plastic craptastic feel to it, and yet the film door makes a satisfying click sound when you close it (no need to tape it shut like some Holgas), and the film advance wheel stops with a corresponding clack. The shutter likewise feels as solid as an all-plastic camera could afford.There are some weird quirks, however. The film door opens from the wrong side (fortunately there's a sliding latch to remind you where it opens), and you load the film on the right with the spindle on the left. The rewind knob doesn't look like it wants to be pulled out at first, but it does. Then it kind of hangs there while you load the film, and you have to give it an extra push to make it flush with the bottom of the camera once the film is loaded. Again, it all feels really sketch, and yet it works just fine.One of my initial problems was trying to figure out how far to wind the film to get to the first frame. I had not noticed the tiny frame counter window on top until I was about 4 shots in, so those first few probably won't turn out. And although you can definitely make out a counter in the window (which acts as a tiny plastic magnifying glass), the 72-shot capacity and the tiny counter wheel only leave enough room to count by 4s, which means that if you want to create diptychs it's fairly impossible to consistently know which half of the full frame you're shooting.I haven't yet completed shooting my first roll (I mean, 72 frames, it takes a while, you know), so I don't know how they'll turn out, but I have high hopes: a few Google searches revealed that the (plastic) lens has an aperture of f/9.6, and the shutter speed is fixed at 1/100s, so it's easy to use Sunny 16 to determine the right exposure. (If you load 100 ISO film, you'll get decent exposure with light cloud cover or brighter, assuming your film has a bit of exposure latitude). In my case, I loaded some Ilford HP5 Plus (400 ISO), which meant the overcast weather I encountered on my first day wouldn't pose a problem. Once I get the roll developed I'll revisit this review and post a few pictures.Overall I'm pretty happy with this camera. It's never going to replace a real film camera (like my Pentax Spotmatic F, or even my zone-focus Olympus Trip 35), but it's a nice thing to slip in your back pocket for taking pictures on a walk, or to try out some experimental film. However, I wouldn't load Portra 400 in it unless you just like to throw money away.

Fun to shoot, but with some lmitations

I have had this camera for a month now, and here are some of my impressions:PROS:-The camera is really light and small, making it ideal to carry it around anywhere. It is also incredibly easy to use (it is a point-and-shoot camera), making it ideal for people starting exploring film photograpy.- Doubling the amount of shots per roll and per frame allows you to experiment with diffrent picture framings- Better than expected performance in low light conditions thanks to the incorporated flashCONS:- Although the camera aestethic is very sleek, it is made entirely out of plastic, so it has a cheaper feel compared to other models- The shot counter is at times not very readable, and I did ruin some double-framed shots because I had misread it.- As both the focus ... MoreI have had this camera for a month now, and here are some of my impressions:PROS:-The camera is really light and small, making it ideal to carry it around anywhere. It is also incredibly easy to use (it is a point-and-shoot camera), making it ideal for people starting exploring film photograpy.- Doubling the amount of shots per roll and per frame allows you to experiment with diffrent picture framings- Better than expected performance in low light conditions thanks to the incorporated flashCONS:- Although the camera aestethic is very sleek, it is made entirely out of plastic, so it has a cheaper feel compared to other models- The shot counter is at times not very readable, and I did ruin some double-framed shots because I had misread it.- As both the focus and the shot times are fixed, it requires some adjustment to find which one of the 3 modes are required when taking a picture

Good For The Price

I bought this camera in April 2023. I absolutely loved it and probably shot close to 12 rolls since then. Fast forward to a year after purchasing and the winding mechanism doesn't work anymore. I ended up losing an entire roll of film in Rome because the film did not wind back into the canister. I've wasted two more rolls of film since then of it working, then not working, and just having general winding issues.I do really recommend this camera but my heart did break when it broke. Was good for $50.

Updated long term review

My original review gave this 4 stars, but I'm dropping it to 3 here. After less than 9 months of use and 6 rolls of mixed colour/B&W film, these are my observations. The images have a definite toy-camera aesthetic which is quite dreamy and ethereal if that's what you're looking for. They're definitely not sharp though, especially around the edges. I've taken some of my all time best photos with this camera, but it's very hard to tell what you've got till it's developed. Weirdly, the best images I've got have come from completely ignoring sensible exposure scenarios and just snapping away. Fortunately, half-frame makes this affordable...Recently the shot counter on mine died part way through a roll. It was an adventure guessing when I'd get to the end and I was ... MoreMy original review gave this 4 stars, but I'm dropping it to 3 here. After less than 9 months of use and 6 rolls of mixed colour/B&W film, these are my observations. The images have a definite toy-camera aesthetic which is quite dreamy and ethereal if that's what you're looking for. They're definitely not sharp though, especially around the edges. I've taken some of my all time best photos with this camera, but it's very hard to tell what you've got till it's developed. Weirdly, the best images I've got have come from completely ignoring sensible exposure scenarios and just snapping away. Fortunately, half-frame makes this affordable...Recently the shot counter on mine died part way through a roll. It was an adventure guessing when I'd get to the end and I was winding very gently for fear of snapping the film. I guess I'm down to tally-marks in a notebook from here on out which is a little annoying but not a deal breaker. It does speak to the long term reliabilityWhat I will say is the shutter speed seems very inconsistent. I took the attached two images mere seconds apart because I was worried about possible motion blur, but I was surprised to see they are clearly different exposures by maybe around a full stop. Since it's a fixed aperture, this must come from inconsistency in the shutter speed.