In this episode, you’ll hear me accidentally open my loaded film camera and ruin a few frames (gasp!). But more importantly, Daren and I shoot, develop, scan, and share our first impressions with the new RETO/Kodak film camera. We are impressed.
Kodak Snapic A1 is a $100 film camera with a 𝒇9.5 25mm coated glass lens, motorized film transport, 2-zone focusing, 1/100s fixed shutter, built-in flash, a double-exposure switch, and shaped like Ricoh GR1. We used a selfie taken with Snapic on the day of taping for this episode's cover.
During this episode, we’ve got to test this camera together just before taping. We then took a break after recording the first part of the show to develop and scan the film so we could share our first impressions of the image quality from this lens (shot indoors on Ilford FP4+).
I will be putting a few more rolls through this camera on an upcoming trip and post a full review on Analog.Cafe shortly.
Show links:
- I wrote about Kodak Snapic A1 briefly in last month’s newsletter: https://www.analog.cafe/r/film-photography-news-november-2025-recap-41s8
- For comparison, Ricoh GR1s (detailed review): https://www.analog.cafe/r/ricoh-gr1gr1s-film-camera-review-zzrd
- RETO Pano camera review: https://www.analog.cafe/r/reto-pano-reusable-35mm-film-camera-review-j7eh
- Ilford Sprite 35-II camera review: https://www.learnfilm.photography/1-month-with-the-ilford-sprite-35-ii
- Yashica x I’m Back digital camera: https://petapixel.com/2024/03/27/the-micro-mirrorless-is-the-worlds-smallest-interchangeable-lens-camera
- About Ilford, Harman, and Ilfocolor film: https://www.analog.cafe/r/harman-phoenix-200-vs-ilford-ilfocolor-400-md99
- A brief history of the Polaroid brand: https://www.analog.cafe/r/a-brief-history-of-polaroid-s3ko
- Kodak Retina IIIC review: https://www.analog.cafe/r/kodak-retina-iiic-foldable-film-camera-review-sttz
- About zone focusing: https://www.analog.cafe/r/how-to-zone-focus-quickly-and-accurately-s9c0
- Minolta TC-1 camera review: https://www.analog.cafe/r/minolta-tc-1-wvii
- Master the Sunny 16 Rule: https://www.analog.cafe/r/master-the-sunny-16-rule-2mol
- How to use flash with manual film cameras: https://www.analog.cafe/r/a-simple-guide-to-using-flash-cubes-srh8
One thing that we forgot to mention in this episode is that longer focal lengths will require more focusing zones or risk blurry images due to a narrower depth of field: https://www.analog.cafe/r/what-is-aperture-and-how-does-it-work-x7n6#how-apertures-affect-depth-of-field. On the other hand, Snapic A1’s ultra-wide lens ensures that most of the scene is in focus with just a simple switch for near/far.
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