Friday, February 1, 2008

Rolleiflex MiniDigi AF5.0 - miniature fun for the nostalgic

There is no need to talk about PMA 08 here, you all know about the new entry-level DSLR lineup from Canon, Nikon, Sony and Pentax. It's interesting they all offer something that the others don't have, like Live View, shake-reduction kit lens, weather-seal, etc. Personally I'm more interested in Fuji's new medium format rangefinder; it looks like a huge Kodak Retina! Anyway, this post is not about that either. There is a cool little toy camera from Komamura Corporation that is completely forgotten in English news outlet. It sounds just as interesting as the Fuji rangefinder but in an entirely opposite way.

The Rolleiflex MiniDigi AF5.0 is the follow up to a similar camera Rollei MiniDigi. The difference is that it's now 5 megapixels. The camera looks like a TLR with a LCD in place of the ground glass. Shutter is activated when the crank is turned one round. It reminds me of those Red Cross hand crank emergency radios. The autofocus lens is f2.8 that is capable of focusing as close as 10cm.

I doubt it would take much better photos than a cell phone, but it is seriously cool. The Rolleiflex MiniDigi AF5.0 will be available February 25th at 41,000 yen.