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| Image: I’m Back |
I’m Back, the crowd-funded startup that has spent years trying to deliver on the promise of a digital module for film cameras is hinting, yet again, that it might do so.
The concept of a digital module the shape of a roll of 135 film has existed almost as long as digital photography, with DPReview’s founder Phil Askey following the story and failure of the Silicon Film project between 1999 to 2001.
Kickstarter-funded project I’m Back has been promising something similar in recent years, and has developed a series of interesting attempts.
Previous attempt: I’m Back Film
These have included a version that required you to remove the rear plate of your film camera, to add a large box with a compact camera sensor that took photos of a translucent screen set into the film plane. And, more recently, an insert built around a Four Thirds sensor that slotted into the film bay, but required a large external box for batteries, storage and control.
Although this attempt came close to the solution that Silicon Film had settled on, before its collapse, we’ve seen some fairly critical reviews from people that have tried to use it.
And yet, true to the company name, I’m Back has returned, teasing another attempt at the elusive dream of simple film-to-digital conversion, a quarter of a century on.
Details of the I’m Back Roll are relatively sparse, beyond that it’ll be built around an APS-C sensor and won’t require any external parts. The implication appears to be that, like film, you won’t be able to change settings such as ISO, or preview your image until after you’ve finished shooting and opened the camera up.
Follow the original Silicon Film story
It’s unclear how much battery the company will be able to fit into a module or how the sensor will be triggered before and after the camera’s exposure (the previous version included a glue-on wired button you needed to press to activate the sensor before each shot).
The company’s talk of a “more human way of photographing” immediately makes us wonder why a vastly complex mechanical or electro-mechanical film camera, designed around pretty sophisticated chemistry, should be considered more “human” than a digital interface, but it’ll be interesting to see what they come up with, this time.
I’m Back email:
Hello,
For years, we have been working on a simple idea:
What if your favorite 35mm film camera could become digital, just by loading a roll?
Now, we are almost ready to reveal it.
Introducing
I’m Back Roll APS-C
One Roll.
No Screen.
Pure Shooting.
This is our new digital module designed to fit inside 35mm film cameras, so you can keep the feeling, rhythm and imperfections of analog photography while shooting digital.
If you knew the previous I’m Back Film project, you already know where this story began.
This time, we removed the external parts. Everything is now inside.
And if this is your first time discovering us, the idea is simple: to bring back a more human way of photographing. No AI. No instant corrections. No tricks. Just real images, real mistakes, real feeling.
We are preparing the official Kickstarter launch.
The campaign page is already live as a waiting room.
Join now to be notified the moment we launch, receive updates on the exact launch date, and get access to the early bird price.
Our DPREVIEW Tribute:
After nearly 25 years of operation, DPReview closed on 10 April 2023. This difficult decision was part of the annual operating plan review that parent company, Amazon, shared earlier this year.
Over the course of 25 years, DP Review built up a reputation as being one of the most informative places to go for information about that new camera or lens you’re after. DP Review began as an independent reviews site based in the UK in 1998, the brainchild of Philip and Joanna Askey, but it was eventually purchased by Amazon in 2007 and relocated over to Seattle in the USA in 2010.
Cheers DPReview – thanks for the great work and content that guided photographers, videographers and techno junkies the world over!
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