Every year new compact cameras are released, and with few models available from the “big brands” many others are willing to fill in the gaps, but are they scameras, toy cameras, fakes, or simply downright scams? As always, buyer beware.
The most recent ‘toy camera’ is the Kodak Charmera – it’s clearly full of charm – as the name implies, and treat it like a toy or keyring camera and you’ll forgive the awful images. But look at the results, and you’ll wonder why you ever took any photos with it at all.
The Kodak Charmera has been regularly out of stock, thanks to the “blind box” experience, if you’ve wanted a specific colour, then you’ve often had to buy multiple cameras, it’s the perfect storm to drive up sales, and with a price of roughly $30/35 for many it’ll seem worth the expense.
With the camera regularly out of stock this is where copycats come in – on eBay, Ali Express and other sites, you’ll be able to find “keychain cameras” (or thumb cameras) in similar colours, and with a similar design to the Kodak Charmera – along with much lower prices – plus you can choose the colour when you buy rather than leaving it up to chance.
Scam charmeras… if you’re even more strapped for cash, and desperate to get a piece of the action then buyer beware – if it’s too good to be true – then it most certainly is – as some sellers are selling fake charmera cameras – they don’t even take photos, they simply look like a keychain camera, with stickers on a plastic box. Listings have appeared on sites like Amazon, eBay and others, but most reputable sites remove the listings. Others, like eBay, let the seller explain it away in the fine print. But if the price looks way too cheap, then it’s probably not a real camera.
Old but new …
Other cameras that have been recently released come from brands like “Yashica” (long since removed from the original Japanese Yashica camera company), which we’ve reviewed here at AP, I particularly like the look of the Yashica FX-D 100 and it’s not without it’s own charm.
But compared to a modern smartphone, the images are lacking. In my opinion the camera is not a scam, offering reasonable value for money, for a nice looking camera that is quite fun to use. But other websites haven’t been so kind for similar models.
Back in the early days of compact cameras, cheap compacts used to be called “Toy cameras” and the low-resolution images, and compact size was all part of the charm.
If you look at some of these models as toy cameras, and don’t expect to be blown away by image quality then almost everything can be forgiven. And at least, as far as I’m aware, these companies are clear about the specifications on offer.
Scam-cameras
But there are other cameras out there that are deliberately pretending to have higher specifications than they actually have, namely the AgfaPhoto DC8200 (and others from this brand) with claims of 18MP or more (when it’s clearly an 8MP camera) as we showed in our investigation into the model.
Vintage digital cameras
Competent digital cameras have been around for over 20 years – 2-3MP camera from Fujifilm have been around since the year 2000, featuring not only good image quality, but also real Xenon flash, and if you want something cute, just look for one of the many vintage digital cameras that came in a range of colours: Pink, Red, Blue, Black, White, and more.
You’ll even find a period of time where companies like Sony, Olympus, Canon, Pentax, Minolta / Konica-Minolta were all making ultra-small cameras, like the Sony Cyber-shot U20, Olympus Mju Mini, and the Canon Digital IXUS, amongst others, sometimes also in interesting colours.
These cameras are likely to give better images – have real flash – and are often available for similar prices to the Charmera. So, if you want to avoid getting ripped off, perhaps like 10 and 20 years ago, avoid the Toy cameras, and simply buy from the main brands instead.
*Who makes the Kodak Charmera anyway? – it turns out it’s a company called RETO Production Ltd who also make the Kodak branded film cameras. Kodak PixPro cameras are made under license by a company called JK Imaging Ltd.
Related reading
- The worst camera I’ve ever used! Sonida DC202 ‘fake X100’ review
- Chuzhao Retro Camera – cheap, cheerful, and charming Digital TLR
- Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo Cinema review – please don’t fall for the hype
- Why everyone should try this $60 Camp Snap camera
The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Amateur Photographer magazine or Kelsey Media Limited. If you have an opinion you’d like to share on this topic, or any other photography related subject, email: ap.ed@kelsey.co.uk
