Holga Digital: A Lo-Fi Toy Camera for the Digital World

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The popular Holga lo-fi camera is about to get a digital makeover. The Hong Kong-based company Holga Digital has unveiled a new digital camera system based on the design of the vintage toy camera.

“We designed the Holga Digital for everyone from the first-time Holga user to the photography enthusiast,” the company writes. “You’ll be snapping beautiful images in a matter of seconds.”

The camera is designed to be a simple point-and-snap device — you won’t have to think about shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and white balance when using it.

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What the camera does come with is fun customization potential. There are 4 different camera colors (black, white, pink, and mixed) and a set of accessories you can use with it, including lenses (wide, fisheye, and tele) and external flashes (via the built-in hot shoe).

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Here are some actual sample photos captured with the Holga Digital:

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Specs-wise, the Holga Digital features a 1/3.2-inch CMOS sensor, 8 megapixel photos, 1:1 or 4:3 aspect ratios, a built-in viewfinder, apertures of f/2.8 and f/8.0, a minimum focusing distance of 1.5m (~5 feet), Bulb or 1/60s shutter speeds, SD card storage, and micro USB connectivity for data transfers.

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“We were inspired by classic Holga camera and wanted to recreate the magical experience of using a Holga with our loved ones,” the company says. “We were also convinced we could enhance this experience by digitizing the original Holga.”

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One of the main people behind this new camera is T.M. Lee, the 85-year-old entrepreneur who created the original Holga cameras decades ago.

Lee and his camera co-creators have launched a new Kickstarter campaign in order to bring the Holga Digital to market.

Since launching last week, the fundraising effort has already blown past the $37K goal, meaning that we’ll most likely see this camera start shipping in early 2016 (if all goes well). If you’re interested in buying a Holga Digital for yourself, pledges of $75 and up will help you secure one of the first units.

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