Australian film lab FilmNeverDie has announced a pre-order for a new motorised reusable 35mm simple camera called the Nana.
The Melbourne-based lab unveiled the camera with a special pre-order price – which will be around 40% lower than the camera’s retail price.
The Nana features a motorised film advance and a metal rather than plastic body, and is an upgraded version of an earlier camera Film Never Die produced called the Niji, which was released in 2020.
“Say goodbye to winding! Nana’s motorised film advance lets you focus on capturing the moment without having to worry about winding the film,” the camera’s listing page said. “This is a major upgrade from Niji and other reusable film cameras, and it makes shooting with Nana a breeze.”
The camera’s metal body has been inspired on the infamous Contax T2, and the Nana will also feature an improved lens compared to the 31mm f/9 optic on the Niji.
The camera will also feature a focusing mechanism where the back of the camera moves in and out. In a blog post on FilmNeverDie, founder Gary Wong says: “Regarding the focusing mechanism, our camera boasts nearly 100 moving parts at the front of the unit. Incorporating autofocus was a significant challenge.
“During our research, we stumbled upon the Ricoh YF20-E, which allowed the lens to move by pulling a lever in front of the camera, thus changing the focus point. This gave us an idea: what if we could shift the back of the camera? While we’re not the first to attempt this, we were inspired by the old-school medium format cameras and the Contax AX.”
The camera’s listing page added: “It’s a symbol of our commitment to keeping film photography alive. By pre-ordering Nana, you’re helping us to bring this amazing product to market and to continue to grow the community of film photographers around the world.”
The camera is expected to eventually retail for AUS$299 (£160) but FilmNeverDie is offering it for AUS$199 (£100) to those who pre-order it.
Images taken on the prototype of the camera can be seen below.
The production cameras will take seven months to construct and be sent out from June 20024, Wong said.
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.
This has the exact same layout and screw placement (with the same injectiom molded CE logo) as the Harman EZ35 and the Panda Sakura. I think it’s the same camera in a new body.
I mean it’s nice to see new cameras coming out but the lens would’ve been the one to copy from the T2, auto-winding might be the last thing people actually want to come back
100°c. The lens is what makes a difference. I don’t mind if I have to manually Advance manually rewind or manually do anything on the camera, it’s the lens taking high resolution crystal clear photos that makes the difference for me. I want to be able to say hey I like that shot I want to blow it up to 11 by 17. That would definitely set it apart from other simple cameras.