Echolens Camera Combines the Spirit of Analog and the Performance of a Vintage Digicam

Earlier this month, PetaPixel reported on the Echolens, a point-and-shoot camera that is all-in on replicating the charm of analog point-and-shoot cameras in a digital package. The Echolens has now launched on Kickstarter, bringing with it some new details.

The Echolens point-and-shoot digital camera sports a Leica-inspired design, complete with a circular dot logo on the front, albeit an orange one. It features a built-in 35mm (equivalent) lens, an optical viewfinder, and no screen, along with just a few physical controls.

It is really in on the analog-ish experience, too. Beyond the lack of a screen and the old-school optical viewfinder, the Echolens also has a “film” winding crank. Granted, the “crank” is a simple ridged control dial like a disposable film camera rather than the more robust crank on Fujifilm’s new film camera-inspired X half camera.

The Echolens’ creators, a trio of lifelong friends from southern California who say they “bonded over a shared love of adventure and capturing authentic moments away from [their] phones,” describe their new creation as looking and feeling “nostalgic” while delivering “today’s digital performance.”

To that end, the Kickstarter is lacking in technical details; however, an earlier version of the official Echolens website, which now redirects to the Kickstarter campaign, stated that the camera features an 8-megapixel image sensor. The Kickstarter campaign just says “CMOS sensor.” Given the camera’s price — it starts at $99 for early backers — it is a very safe bet that the image sensor is not especially large. The fact that the built-in 35mm-equivalent lens is so small adds credence to that speculation.

However, any lack of technical image quality is more of a feature than a bug.

“Over the past few years, we kept seeing a curious revival: handheld cameras making a comeback on social feeds, analog enthusiasts hunting down discontinued rolls, and digital creators craving that imperfect, tactile feel,” the Echolens’ creators write. “One night, our best friend Ema showed up with an old-school, digital camera in hand. Watching her swap memory cards and share candid, grainy snaps felt like rediscovering something magical — and it lit a spark in us.”

The trio decided then and there that they wanted to modernize this same experience, ensuring that it was easy to share old-school, vintage-looking digital photos.

Echolens connects over Wi-Fi with a companion app available on iOS and Android, allowing you to share digital photos. In lieu of a screen, users are invited to embrace the mystery and shoot their whole 54-frame digital film “roll” without necessarily knowing what they got.

“You’re forced to slow down, consider each shot, and truly live in the moment instead of endlessly scrolling on a screen,” the creators say.

While it is easy to dismiss a relatively cheap digital camera as lacking the resolution and performance of more specialized cameras, there is undoubtedly a growing market for this type of experience. Many photographers, especially younger ones who grew up in the smartphone era, long for a more tactile, less distracting experience that doesn’t eschew all the conveniences of a phone, like being able to easily share photos.

Film emulations are also very much trendy right now, and Echolens has those, too. The camera ships with four built-in film emulations, “crafted to capture those dreamy, throwback vibes without any editing needed.”

The camera features Kodagrain, Dreamroll, B&W, and Rosebyte, each offering a distinct look, color, and texture.

Pricing and Availability

Echolens is available to back now starting at $99, although the cheapest entry point will increase to $125 after the first 24 hours of the campaign. The eventual retail price is slated to be $200. The creators say that Echolens will begin shipping in October. So far, the campaign has more than 650 backers who have pledged just over $74,000 at the time of writing, well over twice the campaign’s initial funding goal.

Image credits: Echolens

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