Retopro has announced a new simple half-frame film camera – with Kodak branding – called the Ektar H35.
The new camera, which was announced on Wednesday (25 May), allows 72 pictures to be taken on a 36-frame roll of film, and 48 images on a 24-frame roll. Like all half-frame cameras, the camera turns a normal 36mm x 24mm frame into two portrait-format frames of 18mm x 24mm.
Retopro’s announcement listed the following features:
Film-saving
“You can have twice as many images per roll. For example, a film roll with 36 exposures can yield around 72 half-frame photos – doubled!”
Lightweight and easy-to-use
“The pocket-size camera is light and tiny, and hence convenient for you to bring along daily. Since its instructions are simple, it is suitable for all analogue hobbyists.”
Built-in flash
Turning on the flash by adjusting the silver ring around the lens so that you can use Kodak Ektar H35 during days and nights, outdoor and indoor.”
The Ektar H35 comes in four colours: black, brown, sage and sand.
The camera is now available for pre-order and cost $49.99 (£39.85) from the Retopro online store. The cameras are due to be sent out in June.
Half-frame cameras were popular with enthusiasts in the 1960s as 35mm film became more popular, allowing those on a budget to squeeze more shots onto each roll of film (though the smaller negatives obviously meant the pictures couldn’t be enlarged as much for prints).
As colour 35mm film became cheaper, half-frame cameras became less common, with only a few designs – like the quirky Yashica Samurai 3.0 – being released in the 1980s.
The rising cost of film as interest in it has surged amid the pandemic has perhaps prompted Retopro’s design.
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
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This is definitely some good news. I’ll be interested in trying this out. I have an Olympus Pen EES-2 that I love, but it’s broken and will need repair. The prices of Olympus Pens has definitely gone up over the past year or so. I know that the lens on this Reto is not going to be anywhere as good as the Zuiko on my Pen, but it could get me by until I get my Pen repaired.
Well, I can honestly say that I didn’t expect something like that from Kodak.
Sorry in advance if this is a daft question: for those like me who pay for their film to be developed, while we save money on film, doesn’t it cost more for developing film?
It’s not a daft question – half frame gives you twice the amount of images on the same roll of film, because each image uses only half of a normal frame.