Tag Archives: Retro

Kodak Super 8 film camera revival is finally happening but there’s a huge catch

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The Super 8 film camera has become an important part of photography history, particularly when it comes to cinematography. The distinctive design of the camera and its unique format inspired many amateurs who would later become industry veterans, and that legacy is fondly remembered and even commemorated in a 2011 movie bearing the camera’s very name. Not long after that film was released, Kodak, whose name has become closely associated with the camera, announced a new version of this beloved camera that sticks true to its unique analog experience while adding a few digital conveniences. Almost 8 years later, that camera might finally be ready to roll, but it seems that very few fans will actually be able to get their hands on it.

Designer: Kodak

The Super 8 camera can probably be credited for giving birth to home movies that are now made using smartphones. Making motion picture cameras more accessible to the masses helped aspiring moviemakers get started without having to burn through their savings. Although Super 8 cameras are actually still available today, they are already considered vintage by today’s standards, especially because of their use of physical film. That said, a faithful Super 8 successor won’t be able to win hearts unless it also stays true to that format and medium.

That’s exactly what Kodak was going for when it revealed plans to upgrade the Super 8 camera back in 2016 at CES. It would still be a film camera like its predecessors, but it would add a few convenient features taken from digital cameras. The new Super 8 would also retain the same basic shape, especially the gun-like pistol grip that has become iconic of the camera’s design. There’s an addition of a top handle with an integrated run button for more difficult angles. It does modernize the aesthetic, though, adopting a more industrial appearance with plenty of flat planes and sharp angles. It is a look that’s both fresh and new yet still unambiguously Super 8.

As for those modern conveniences, it sports a 4-inch LCD swiveling viewfinder, similar to all video cameras today. It comes with a detachable wide-angle 6mm 1:1.2 C-mount lens, so you can actually use any other C-mount prime lens or adapters, depending on what you need. There’s an SD card reader for recording audio directly into storage, as well as a micro HDMI port for connecting an external monitor. Ironically, despite all the new hardware, the camera still charges with an old and slow micro USB connection. And yes, it still shoots on analog film, so you’ll need to make sure to have a stock of KODAK’s Super 8 cartridges at hand.

Given how long ago the announcement was, there were perhaps some doubts about whether Kodak would actually be able to pull this off at all. The good news is that Kodak has finally opened up sign-ups, with shipping expected to start next month. The bad news is that, in addition to limited availability, the price tag for this new Kodak Super 8 film camera is a whopping $5,495, more than twice the announced SRP back in 2016. This immediately puts it out of the reach of all but the most dedicated collectors, a rather disappointing U-turn for a camera that originally catered to amateurs and aspiring moviemakers.

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Analogue Pocket Classic retro gaming handheld puts the color in Game Boy Color

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Just because you’re trying to design a retro interpretation of an old design doesn’t mean you have to copy the original inch for inch. In fact, it might even be illegal in some cases to be an exact replica of the product you’re trying to pay homage to. It’s definitely a good opportunity to address the flaws of the past or to implement designs that were intended but couldn’t be implemented because of the limitations or tastes of ages past. It wouldn’t make sense, for example, for a modern recreation of the Game Boy Color to display the extremely limited palette of the original in this day and age. Fortunately, Analogue had the sense to equip its retro gaming handheld with modern capabilities while staying faithful to the original’s essence. So faithful that it, in fact, even tried to recreate the playful colors of the Game Boy Color while also expanding that selection with almost all the colors of the rainbow and then some.

Designer: Analogue

Even by yesteryear’s standards, the Game Boy Color’s chunky design clearly earmarked it as a toy for kids. Those kids, however, have now grown up, and many of them want to relive those fun-filled days but probably with something that doesn’t look like it was plucked out of a time capsule. The Analogue Pocket is an attempt to feed this hunger while also making the design and the heritage accessible to a lot more people. Its more modern and sleeker aesthetic easily appeals to gamers of all ages but still exudes that charm that made the GBC an icon. Still, the retro handheld seemed to be missing one particular element that would really set it apart from other Game Boy Color recreations.

That missing piece of the puzzle was delivered by the “Classic” edition of the Analogue Pocket, which basically gives the device a colorful paint job. The very first GBC was a rather boring and very industrial gray, but the market eventually exploded in a variety of colors, including a transparent one. The Analogue Pocket Classic brings back not just one or two or five of these but offers no less than eight hues. That’s on top of the plain black, white, transparent, and glow-in-the-dark editions that came out in the past.

The full palette includes Indigo, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Orange, and Silver, all of which Analogue boasts have been color-matched to the original models. It might just be a change of hue, but it immediately gives the Pocket a vibrant character befitting of a gaming device. With these accurate colors and the overall design of the handheld, there is very little doubt that this retro revival truly captures the spirit of the Game Boy Color as faithfully as it can without tripping over legal landmines.

The story doesn’t end on a high note, unfortunately, with all variants of the Analogue Pocket now declared to be completely sold out. That’s true for this colorful yet limited run of the “Classic” edition as well as the original models. It’s uncertain if these will ever return to shelves, and collectors will have to stay on their toes while waiting for hopeful news in the coming days.

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This retro gaming console is actually a mini PC disguised as a classic Macintosh

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Nostalgia is a very powerful emotion, especially judging by the number of successful “retro” products sold in the market in the past years. Although the flood has seemingly trickled down a bit, it continues to flow especially in the gaming scene. Old gaming brands have suddenly resurfaced to bring nearly forgotten designs to the present, taking previous generations down memory lane while introducing today’s gamers to old-school experiences. While some of these retro consoles actually try to relive the past, this interesting and rather cute box might take your head for a spin with its Mac design and PC internals, combined to offer not just a gaming computer but a piece of desk decoration as well.

Designer: AYANEO

Compared to the computers put out by the likes of Atari and Commodore, the early PCs didn’t really have a memorable design that would go down in history as iconic computers. It was the original Apple Macintosh, instead, that captured people’s attention and imagination of what a home personal computer should look like. Of course, that was decades in the past, but the imagery has stood the test of time as proof of the design’s timeless character. AYANEO, a brand better known for gaming handhelds, is now taking that immensely popular design and giving it a rather curious twist.

As part of its AYANEO REMAKE concept line, the AYANEO Retro Mini PC AM01 slaps the old Mac design onto a new machine. The basic elements that have distinguished one of Apple’s earliest successes are there, tweaked a bit to avoid potential controversies, of course. There’s the telltale sign of a floppy drive, as well as a square rainbow badge that’s a nod to the old Apple logo. There’s a black rectangle near the top that’s purely cosmetic, denoting where the screen is supposed to be located. There’s nothing there, though, which is a bit of a waste, but it doesn’t really matter considering how the mini PC is used.

Unlike the Mac, the AYANEO Retro Mini PC is meant to lie down on its “back” rather than standing up, with that black rectangle in the rear. That’s because the ports for the computer are actually located on what would have been the top and bottom sides, so it has to be horizontal to actually be useful. Of course, this product is a gaming console anyway, not a standalone computer with a built-in display, so you’ll need to plug in peripherals to make it work. And yes, it runs Windows 11, which, given the eternal rivalry between Macs and PCs, some might find a bit insulting.

AYANEO has other retro designs also in the pipeline, including the Retro Mini PC AM02 that takes after the classic NES design. Curiously, that one does have a functional mini display since it can actually be used upright. It’s also working on a handheld that brings back the dual-display design of the not-so-old Nintendo DS, though the practical purpose of that second display is yet to be revealed.

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