KODAK EKTAR H35 Half Frame Film Camera, 35mm, Reusable, Focus-Free, Lightweight, Easy-to-Use (Brown) (Film & AAA Battery are not Included)

I'm still relatively new to film photography but, I can confidently say that this camera is very nice to have. I personally just wanted a film camera with the quality of disposables, and this is absolutely perfect. BUILD QUALITY Now as you could guess, the camera itself doesn't have a great build quality, it's pretty much plastic, which wasn't an issue for me, but I know could turn off some buyers to it. The leather and the part above it feel nice to the touch though. One small complaint I do have though is that the battery compartment is a bit sensitive and just grazing it could open it. But I solved the issue by slightly changing where I put my left thumb on the camera. FLASH The flash itself needs a AAA battery and works great. It's very bright and gets the job done for painting the subjects in the dark from about six feet away I'd say. To turn on the flash, you sort of have to spin the border around the lens, there's a spot to grab on to for your nail right at the top, to make it easy. It's also pretty much impossible to turn the flash on and off by accident. LOADING/UNLOADING Loading the film is very easy on this, as you just pretty much put it in there and wind it up until you hear that first click. SUPER IMPORTANT, when unloading, don't forget to click down the rewind button near the battery compartment before unwinding the film. If it unclicks itself during the process, just press it again then it should stay for sure. VIEWFINDER/EXPOSURE COUNT The biggest issue that I have with this camera is the exposure count, as it is more difficult to view than other cameras. I'm not sure why they made it that way, but it is what it is. I don't really worry about it as I have 36 exposure rolls I use (which turn to 72) and always have a spare with me. The viewfinder has little meshlike blocks on the left and right sides, to show what will be taken out of the shot. SHOOTING TIPS I got my film back and it is safe to say that this thing performs really well outdoors on a sunny day. I like the softness and the grain on the images I got back. One note that I will add, is to ALWAYS use flash indoors unless there is a good amount of natural sunlight and use flash when it's not sunny outside. Even if it's light out, if it isn't bright, use flash if capturing subjects. I included an example of what it looks like when you shot in low light without flash (I was using a roll of Kodacolor Ultra Max 400). CLOSING REMARKS I think this is an excellent camera for the price and if you want an alternative to disposables. It's really easy to just pass the camera to a friend who is inexperienced with this camera, as it's pretty much wind, point, and shoot.

I love this camera! Very easy to carry around. This is my first time shooting with a film camera and I’m so glad I picked the Ektar H35. I used the Kodak Gold film and I’m absolutely obsessseeddd with how the colors came out. Unfortunately I did drop it like a billion times so the flash broke but I haven’t gotten any of those pictures developed. I’d say 100% recommend if you are getting into film. Very fun and easy to shoot with.

Such a fun little camera. Very nostalgic. Pretty unbreakable too - I’ve dropped it several times and it’s still holding strong. Easy to use & takes great photos.

Update: the flash stopped working about 8 months into having this camera. It still works for outdoor use but I can’t use it in low light or indoors anymore. I probably got about 6 rolls out of the camera before I started having issues. Still a fun camera and a good price point but not as durable as I had hoped. It is made of plastic. ___________________________________ I’ve been looking into half frames for a while, but I wasn’t sure if I would like them, so I tried this one out before investing in a slr half frame. It’s the perfect camera to take with you on trips or to hang out with friends. I’m not worried about it getting damaged like my professional cameras and it’s pretty sturdy. Obviously it’s a fixed lens (no adjusting the shutter, focal length, or aperture) so it does poorly in low light and it’s garbage indoors but the flash is bright so that compensates a bit. The viewfinder is slightly off center so I’ve had to learn to adjust my framing accordingly after several pictures I thought were symmetrical came out off center. Overall a fun camera to play around for the price point.

When I first got this I just though of it as a camera that took half frame photos and would net you a sort of 2-in-1 photo. Now, over a year later, it has me thinking of interesting ways to take photos to take advantage of the half frame format. Remember that by default the photos will be in landscape because it's a half frame. But what if you took consecutive photos that when put together make one interesting landscape photo? There's lots of techniques online and I encourage anyone who wants to get creative to look them up. The camera itself is not complex. It's a simple plastic camera with a plastic lens that takes run of the mill film. I've really enjoyed the way the photos come out, especially when there's a lot of contrast in the image. There's something about a dark room with a hard light pouring in from one area that really gives the photos a mysterious, vintage vibe to them. I literally just took a boring photo of my garage with the lights out but sunlight hitting the window and it came out as a moody art piece somehow. It's a very surprising little camera. It does have a built in flash that uses a AAA battery if you want to use it but generally speaking I haven't met a flash on a camera that looked good. I'd definitely recommend this as a gift or as a tool for any artist who wants to be creative with photography in an uncommon way.

Ok so qualifications: I've spent the past year or so getting into 35mm film cameras and the like and have done lots of research and accumulated many point and shoots (P&Ss) and SLRs. No, I haven't been in film photography my entire life or since the '80s but I'd consider myself fairly observant to know that this camera is not worth it. DISCLAIMER: I did not test the camera's functionality in terms of producing film images. I returned it within the hour I received it based on its build quality alone. THE POSITIVES (or the reversals, pun intended): For starters, I'll list out my comments so it's easier to read/skim: - This camera looks nice and the packaging is very sleek. - I love the color of the Sage green and the overall design looks very retro and cool. - It's also a half frame camera, meaning you get twice as many shots out of a roll of film at the cost of a little less than half the normal resolution. - The flash being powered by a AAA and not some weird proprietary battery is also nice and more user-friendly. THE NEGATIVES (if you even decide to use this camera) To be frank, my name would have to be Frank. But it's not. But if I were Frank, I would probably consider this camera a piece of garbage for a few reasons: - Did you see the weight? It's 100 GRAMS. That's the weight of a small box of paperclips or a half a cup of sugar. I suppose if you dropped it into the ocean it might float but if you drop it on the pavement I imagine it would just shatter (I don't know this for sure but man is it light). - Yes, weight is not always indicative of quality but in this case it seems Kodak used the cheapest, lightest plastic possible in making this camera. When I unboxed this camera an hour ago, to the right of the viewfinder is a silver scratch that came for free on the camera (2nd picture). Lovely. - The film rewind crank is made of that same cheap plastic. You can see in the 3rd picture that the bottom cap section and the rod inside of the actual camera appear to be bonded from two separate pieces. I've read reviews of this rod breaking (or the arm coming off the cap section), rendering the camera useless. Every time I pulled the crank away from the body I was met with a lot of tension and I do not trust the strength of the arm nor the rod to stay intact for a long period of time. - One possible issue I found is that if the film canister isn't seated at the bottom of the camera body, the film might not be able to rewind. Maybe it's a personal issue but it seemed like the rod that grabs the film spool wasn't long enough if the film roll was too high up. You would otherwise have to use a darkroom or changing bag to open the camera back and adjust the film roll. - Many of the P&Ss I have picked up from Facebook marketplace or eBay have usually been on the range of $10-20. This camera DID retail for $49.99 USD as of last night (5/27) with a 9% discount at $44.50, but they've since updated the price today to reflect $44.50 without any discount. Pretty sleazy in my opinion. CONCLUSIONS: - This camera is not worth $45. Maybe $15-20 but I suppose its appeal as a "reusable" disposable film camera would pay itself off with two rolls. - I can't speak to its image quality but the build quality itself leaves a lot to be desired. It feels very fragile and there's little issues that I encountered having opened it for 10 minutes. - I do not recommend this camera. I recommend you find a nice Canon Sureshot on eBay or some other P&S for $45-50 because I wouldn't consider this a P&S but a POS. TLDR: overpriced, poor build quality, not worth it.

I love this little camera! It was perfect for travel. Not the best quality film images but it definitely has a cool vibe and it less wasteful than disposable cameras!

Love this camera and now I’m starting to think my life isn’t fun enough to finish a roll. Motivating me to take more pics and get out of my house!!