Construction toy maker Lego has unveiled some of its new Creator 3-in-1 sets for 2024 – and it includes a “retro” 35mm film camera.
The set can be built as a 35mm SLR camera, a video camera (complete with viewing screen) or a retro-style television set with aerial.
The set comes with more than 260 parts including pieces to make two film rolls – with slide-like images of safari animals and pets which be attached to the canisters. It also includes a working film rewind handle and a flash hot shoe.
The set is designed for those aged eight or above and will go on sale on 1 January. In the UK it costs £17.99.
The new camera set is not the first to be inspired by analogue photography.
Earlier in 2023, Lego unveiled a set paying tribute to animator Walt Disney: a classically retro movie camera to mark 100 years since the Disney Studio was set up.
The 811-piece includes a film reel with images inspired by classic Disney films, and an internal chamber complete with a miniature Walt Disney drawing his famous creation Mickey Mouse.
The set is still available and costs £89.99.
In January, it’s rumoured another camera will be appearing in plastic form – a Polaroid OneStep camera.
The set was originally announced as a possible project on Lego Ideas in January 2022 and was created by Minibrick Productions.
The Lego Ideas site says: “The nearly to-scale model is made up of 538 pieces, and features builds for the iconic Rainbow Polaroid OneStep and a box of SX-70 film.
“Simply spin the gear found on the left side of the Polaroid to develop film and watch a photo come out! Spin it the other way to bring it back in and do it again,” the site says.
The set needed 10,000 votes before it was released as a set. The Lego fan site Bricks Up has reported that the camera will be among Lego Ideas sets to be released in January 2024.
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.
