Retro camera brings back Roaring '20s
(Credit:
Rollei)
Maybe it's a function of getting older or frustration with bad design (probably both), but some of us at Crave have been drawn increasingly to retro looks of late, as long as they're done right. But we don't often see the concept applied to cameras, which is why we were especially taken with the "Rolleiflex MiniDigi."
On the outside, this throwback item is almost a dead-ringer for the Rollei's "Twin Lens Reflex" models made in 1920s Germany, according to Technabob, but their innards have gone digital with 3.1-megapixel photography. And although the camera can take videos and has an SD slot for memory cards, it retains the old-fashioned top-down viewfinders and even has a crank that navigates from one picture to the next.
We wish there were more faithful reproductions like this, especially at a relatively reasonable price of $199. But then again, the success or failure of retro designs depends in no small part on the era; if we were talking about the '70s, it would pretty much a non-starter.
