Kickstarter: Jollylook Pinhole camera is a film camera DIY kit

 

 

Jollylook, a Ukrainian photography gear company, has launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Jollylook Pinhole, an instant film camera DIY kit. The campaign has already met its $20,000 funding goal, which is great news for the Ukrainian team, who had to depart its homeland after the Russian invasion and restart its operations in Slovakia.

Jollylook Pinhole looks fun for photography enthusiasts and may even be a great gift. The Jollylook team expects the first kits to begin shipping in December, which may be just in time for Christmas. The DIY pinhole camera comes in 65 parts and can be assembled in about an hour and a half to three hours. It's also a glue-free kit, and the team states it's environmentally friendly.

The foldout, compact camera uses Fujifilm Instax film. The camera has an old-school, vintage appearance and is fully mechanical. It's made using numerous materials, including biodegradable, natural-fiber wood. To use the camera, you unfold it, insert the Fujifilm cassette, steady it on a solid surface or tripod, pull out the viewfinder, adjust the automatic exposure settings on the back, press the shutter release, and then extract the photo by slowly turning a crank. While it may sound like many steps, that's part of the experience that Jollylook hopes will bring joy to budding and longtime photographers alike.

 

Jollylook Pinhole DIY camera. Image courtesy of Jollylook.

With the built-in bellows, you can zoom the camera's lens from 50mm to 110mm. The camera's viewfinder uses a Fresnel lens, promising a detailed, clear view during composition. The camera's pinhole diameter is 0.38mm and promises extreme depth of field.

Jollylook's founder, Evgeniy Ivanov, says, "Today, we live in a world where the cameras we use provide instant results on a screen, where we take images without thinking, most of which are rarely viewed again. The Jollylook Pinhole DIY kit brings back the pleasure of the process of building a camera and taking a photograph, from holding the attractive vintage-inspired design to setting the zoom distance and opening the shutter, then developing the photo with a manually cranked developer. The use of instant film enables you to see your results immediately, but in a tangible, analog form which many people enjoy in this digital age."

 

Jollylook Pinhole DIY camera. Image courtesy of Jollylook.

If you're interested in supporting the project, head to Kickstarter. Kits start at $69, a $40 savings compared to the eventual MSRP of $109. Early backers should receive their Jollylook Pinhole DIY kits this December. For more information, visit Jollylook's website and follow them on Instagram.

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