Vibe camera shootout: Camp Snap Pro vs. Flashback One35 V2

There has been a resurgence of interest in inexpensive digital cameras in recent years. Younger people are grabbing hold of old clichés because they see the aesthetic as more authentic and appealing than smartphone images. Companies are even reissue old technology at new prices. And there are cameras like the original Camp Snap: a $70 camera with one button and no screen, designed as a modern version of a disposable camera. It’s cheap enough to send with a kid to summer camp and accessible enough that almost anyone can enjoy its lo-fi aesthetic.

I tested two lovely examples of this formula: the $99 Camp Snap Pro (aka CS-Pro), which is an upgrade from the original Camp Snap and looks like an all-plastic Fujifilm X100, and the Flashback One35 V2, which costs $119 and looks exactly like a disposable camera.

Both cameras aim to give you the aesthetics and screen-free experience of a disposable camera with the convenience of digital. One of them hits the mark.

Both the Camp Snap Pro and Flashback One35 V2 are compact and built from cheap, lightweight plastic. The Flashback is noticeably smaller, about the size of a disposable camera, and it fits better in my back pocket. But both are best stored in a jacket pocket, small bag or purse. They don’t seem precious like regular cameras. My wife and I own an original Camp Snap, and we often throw it in our diaper bag without worrying about it.

Neither camera is special when it comes to specs (scroll down for a side-by-side comparison chart). The Camp Snap Pro’s 22.5mm equivalent lens and 16-megapixel sensor have a wider and higher resolution, respectively, than the standard Camp Snap (8-megapixel, 32mm equivalent). The Flashback V2 has a 13-megapixel sensor. These basic smartphone-sized image sensors and tiny lenses deliver image quality somewhere between a disposable camera and an old phone. Unlike cinema, you don’t pay money for each shot. And they both feature proper xenon flashes to brightly illuminate dark environments at close range – a desirable look that also helps mitigate their terrible low-light performance. (The LED flash on the original Camp Snap is mostly useless and not as flattering.)

But the biggest difference between these cameras is how you use them. The Camp Snap Pro has a dial that lets you switch between four filters; the defaults are STD (standard), VTG1 (vintage 1, with a warm magenta tone), VTG2 (vintage 2, with a green tone and boosted blues), and B&W (black and white). Each preset is user customizable, allowing you to replace them with a custom look created in Camp Snap’s online filter generator. The original Camp Snap has a community built around free and paid downloadable filters, although some are not yet available on CS-Pro. The included 4GB microSD card can hold over 1,000 photos, and you can download them via a USB-C cable or microSD card reader.

Flashback also has four preset filters: classic, mono (black and white), beta (a reddish-toned look), and cinema (exaggerating a teal and orange aesthetic). But you can only switch between them in the camera’s companion app (iOS/iPad and Android), and you use them as “rollers” for up to 27 shots at a time. This is intended to mimic a disposable film camera. Once you select a filter, you’re stuck with it for the entire “roll”, although you can download a roll earlier and start again. The One35 V2 connects to a phone or tablet via Bluetooth, allowing you to check the battery level, activate a self-timer, or change your movie type. Downloading the images to your device requires either a Wi-Fi connection or a cable. By default, the app makes you wait 24 hours to see your images. Alternatively, images can be developed instantly by activating Digicam mode, which I activated after a single batch of shots.

It’s a cool app, but virtual roll-by-roll shooting quickly goes from charming to boring. I had a few occasions where my film type did not apply to the camera, causing the rolls to come out in incorrect color tones or black and white when I thought I was filming in color. The expectation of seeing your photos, and sometimes an unexpected result, is part of the charm of film photography, but I’ve never laid down a roll of black and white film and had it return to color or vice versa.

Attaching the One35 to the bit also has other disadvantages. After 27 shots, you won’t be able to use the camera until you download your photos to the app or a computer. This negates one of the major advantages of digital cameras, not to mention the whole point of a camera without a screen. You can’t just hand it over to a child and let them go with it. And its reliance on an advanced disposable camera-style winder to wake it up and reset the shutter means you’re constantly missing shots. The advance dial only takes one turn to wake the camera, but about eight to prime the shutter. It doesn’t stay ready to shoot like a true disposable camera, which makes no sense for something designed around spontaneity.

When asked if this problem could be worked around, Flashback’s external PR representative, Bethany Andros, responded: The edge“Yes, this is a known issue that we are currently working to resolve.” A firmware update will help, but it won’t solve the Flashback’s other big handling problem: Due to lens placement, wrapping your hand around the camera’s sizable grip often brings my fingers into the shot. What’s the point of having a nice contoured handle if you can’t use it?

When it comes to image quality, the Camp Snap Pro produces a noticeably sharper and sharper image than the Flashback. Even the standard Camp Snap, which I also used for comparison photos, has slightly better image quality. “Better” is of course subjective, since these cameras are all about vibration. There’s none of the technical sharpness or minimal noise that we’re used to in modern phones and full-size cameras, but the aesthetic flaws and limitations are sort of the point. I’ve even encountered users on the Flashback subreddit preferring the One35 V1’s image quality to that of the V2, because it seems worse.

I recommend the Camp Snap Pro, and I just can’t say the same about the Flashback. The One35 concept is fun and endearing (and its transparent variants look amazing), but in trying to replicate the physical experience of the disposable camera, you end up retaining the old flaws and adding new ones.

Camp Snap Pro focuses on utility disposable cameras that came before digital cameras and smartphones. It is cheaper than Flashback, easier to use, more customizable and gives higher image quality, but not Also high. This is perfect for someone who wants something a little better than the basic Camp Snap, or at least a proper flash. If you don’t take the bait with the nostalgic style of Flashback, there’s simply no comparison.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge