Camp Snap Camera Review: Light-Hearted and Nostalgia Packed

Mar 31, 2025

Chris Niccolls

Every summer as a child, I attended a day camp during the school break because my single-parent mother had to work to make ends meet. Of course, I wanted to stay home and play video games but I soon began to love learning archery, making new friends, and exploring the wilderness without TV or computer screens to distract me. Many wonderful memories were made and I look back on these times fondly. It is this nostalgia for a simpler and more adventurous time that Camp Snap Photo is trying to market with its popular little 103B Camp Snap camera.

A person holds a small, vintage-style camera partially out of a beige fabric pouch with "Camp Snap" text. The background features green leaves. The person is wearing a black wristband. — The Camp Snap cameras may feel like a disposable camera in the hand but they do have a charm about them.

And popular is the keyword here because the 103B (which is the “improved” version, which is significantly more expensive than the $40 original) cameras are selling like crazy. Make no mistake though, these are a very basic digital camera which has more in common with a disposable film camera than it does a modern digital point-and-shoot. The $65 price (soon to increase to $80 due to a tariff) isn’t exactly affordable either when compared to a lot of the toy cameras available on the market. So why are these little plastic devices selling so well? With a handsome little forest green camera in hand, I decided to find out for myself.

The Camp Snap 103B cameras are simple and stylish.

Camp Snap Camera Review: How It Feels

The Camp Snap is indeed a handsome little camera, at least from a distance. In hand, they have almost no weight to them and feel very much like a disposable 35mm film camera. Many of the alternatives in the toy camera market will actually feel more substantive than the 103B but Camp Snap does claim that its cameras can take a beating.

A close-up of a hand holding a compact camera with a black and white design. The camera has "Camp Snap" written on it. Blurred greenery is visible in the background. — The compact size makes it easy to take the Camp Snap anywhere.

There is a slight dimple on the back for your thumb and the leatherette material provides some grip on the camera. I never felt like I was going to drop it or that it was uncomfortable to hold. Overall controls are incredibly basic with only a single shutter button on the top that doubles as the power button. A long press will turn the camera on and then an even longer press will turn it off again. The process works but it is a far from elegant solution.

A compact black camera is shown on a surface, with visible features including a flash switch labeled "ON OFF AUTO," a flash bulb, a viewfinder, and a small speaker. A wooden fence is blurred in the background. — The back of the camera is simple with a cutout for the thumb and flash controls.

The battery is a built-in and non-removable affair which charges through the single USB-C port on the base of the camera. You can get about five hundred shots on a full charge which is actually quite respectable. Storage is via a 4GB microSD card which is secured in a port with a locking screw. This means parents will have to break out the screwdriver to replace it if ever required but luckily, photos can be downloaded through the USB-C port very easily so they won’t have to grab tools very often. The fact that children can download and manage photos themselves without needing parental assistance is a really nice convenience.

Close-up of three vintage cameras on a surface. The focus is on the bottom of a black and white camera with visible lens and controls. Two other cameras, one upright and one partially visible, are in the background against a wooden fence. — The USB-C port and memory card storage are located on the bottom.

Also under this door are some buttons to adjust date and time as well and the USB-C port also has a rubber door port cover to keep dirt and grime out. There is a basic LCD on the back of the camera to show the number of photos taken and battery status and a speaker to playback the rather annoying shutter noise but otherwise, the camera is pretty basic.

Three vintage-style cameras are displayed outdoors on a concrete surface. They have textured fronts in black, green, and white. A wooden fence and leafy tree are in the background. — Some stylish color options and limited editions are available.

It’s important to note that the LCD panel is not able to display images, nor does the camera have any built-in games, which is a nice departure from other toy cameras on the market. The whole point of the Camp Snap is to promote mindfulness avoid distractions while taking pictures and to capitalize on the surprise factor when you finally get home and download your images to see what you got. This alone can be a huge part of the appeal for parents who might be purchasing this camera for their children to use.

Camp Snap 103B Full Review: How It Shoots

No one is expecting award-winning image quality out of the Camp Snap and the camera uses a pretty typical dashcam-style sensor to take photos. The 28mm full-frame equivalent lens has an f/1.8 aperture (although EXIF says it’s f/2.8) and is mated to an 8-megapixel type 1/3.2 sensor. The camera is only designed to take photos so there is no option for video.

A red fire hydrant with graffiti stands near the edge of a paved, winding road bordered by dry, leafless bushes and grass. The sky is overcast, and the road leads into a distant curve. — The Koda100 profile gives warmth to the overall look.

Images are pretty low-quality, as expected, and the shots always have an over-processed and over-sharpened look to them. In low light, the results are even worse and the noise pattern has a course and wormy kind of look to it. How much this will bother you is largely dependent on your personal expectations and the shots are perfectly acceptable for social media use. Highlights tend to blow out easily and the dynamic range is minimal by modern-day standards.

Person wearing headphones and holding a camera on a tripod outdoors. Bare trees and a fence are visible in the background against a bright sky. — Dynamic range isn’t great and you can’t really push or pull exposure.

Electronic flash photos are all the rage right now and unfortunately the Camp Snap doesn’t capitalize on this. It does have a basic LED light that provides some illumination in low-light situations. You definitely want to use it too, but it doesn’t quite provide the stark look and disposable chic of an electronic flash. This seems like an obvious misstep and I hope we see a classic Xenon gas version in the future.

A man with a surprised expression sits at a table in a restaurant, holding a sandwich. There's a tray with fries and a drink in front of him. The background features wall art of a person in a hat. — The flash is really an LED light and gives off a cold glow sometimes.

There is a distinct delay from when the shutter is pressed to when the shot is taken and younger photographers will need to practice some patience in order to get sharp and well-composed shots. There is also a significant delay before another shot can be taken which makes the overall shooting experience a ponderous one. The viewfinder is a basic optical one but does give a fairly similar representation of the actual composition.

A person walks past outdoor picnic tables with red umbrellas at a restaurant. The sky is clear and sunny, and cars are parked nearby. The building has stone accents and large windows. — Timing shots is difficult due to the shutter lag but I got used to it.

There is an option to download picture profiles right to the Camp Snap but you can only utilize one at a time and a computer is necessary to change profiles. The Camp Snap website offers some fun profiles to try out including a monochromatic one and you can also create your own profiles by manipulating sliders for contrast, color, and hue, and then downloading the experimental profile to the camera.

A large, intricate sculpture made of metallic rods and transparent panels in various colors stands inside a modern building. The artwork extends upwards, creating a dynamic, geometric pattern that interacts with the ambient light. — Photos can be downloaded easily via the USB-C port without parental assistance.

Profiles have to be placed in the root directory of the storage and the camera will only load the first one it finds. This is a rather cumbersome process and is one of the main detractors of these cameras. I feel that young photographers would really enjoy playing with different color options right at their fingertips and this should have been made available via a selector switch on the camera itself. Perhaps we will see this on future cameras but for now, the clunky process takes away from the fun rather than enhancing it.

A bright sun shines in a clear sky above an In-N-Out Burger restaurant. The building features the chain's red and yellow sign, with red patio umbrellas visible below. — The Vintage profiles is quite general purpose and has a nostalgic-looking lack of saturation.

Camp Snap 103B Full Review: Time to Go Camping

Recent tariffs have caused the price of the Camp Snap cameras to increase and although they don’t represent a huge expenditure at around $80 after that price increase, they are far more expensive than similar toy cameras on the market with having less available features. However, the straightforward picture-taking process and nostalgic looks will appeal to old and young photographers alike and I prefer that the annoying beeps and music chimes of many other toy cameras are absent here.

A rusted metal railroad bridge spans across a calm river with clear reflections. The bridge is supported by concrete pillars. The riverbank is rocky, and the sky is overcast. Industrial buildings can be seen faintly in the background. — The camera is fun to use so any image quality issues are water under the bridge.

Young kids won’t mind the image quality issues and older users might even find charm in the “photos so bad that they look good” aesthetic. However, the novelty could wear off pretty quickly for some shooters and anyone who wants the popular electronic flash look to their shots will be disappointed.

A scenic view of large red rock cliffs under a clear blue sky. A road winds along the base of the cliffs, with sparse vegetation and a few barren trees along the side. — Travel, nights out, and street shots are the forte of the Camp Snap.

Still, the Camp Snap cameras do a great job of marketing themselves as a nostalgic companion camera that harkens back to simpler times. They have all the charm of a disposable film camera and all the simple utility of one as well. It’s surprising how such a basic camera can actually capture such broad appeal and you might even find yourself under the spell of the little Camp camera that could.

A fluffy brown dog lounges on a dark cushion beside a bright window, gazing at the camera. The room is softly lit, and outdoor scenery is visible through the window. — In darker situations the flash is needed but has limited reach. Images can look quite noisy.

Are there Alternatives?

There are too many cheap toy cameras available to list but they will all tend to be about half the price, festooned with colorful comic characters, and sporting lots of noises and flashing lights. The charm of the Camp Snap products lie in its lack of distractions and low-key good looks.

Should You Buy It?

Maybe. As long as you understand the incredibly simple design and operation are the whole point of these cameras you might find the charm inherent in such a simple tool.