My Two Cents on Papershoot Cameras
The papershoot cameras are little camera modules with a piece of cardboard wrapped around it. It is not waterproof and requires 2 AAA batteries to operate. It has 4 different film filters, and can also record 10-second videos, and time-lapses, if plugged into a power source (it has a micro USB port). I have used it for over a month now. My experience with the camera has so far been pleasant, although there are a few quirks that I am not a fan of.
First off, the camera doesn’t come with a camera lens. I had to build one out of a tiny circular cardboard, to block dust and dirt from the camera lens. Papershoot does sell camera cases and camera lenses separately, which kinda sucks, cause you have to pay more to just protect your camera.
The company also strongly encourage users to use rechargeable AAA batteries, as stated on their websites. I am not a fan of rechargeable batteries because they don’t have a long lifespan, and are expensive, thus I am not using them in my camera. So far the battery life has been good, it lasts about 5 days before I need to change the batteries. The company claims that their cameras turn off automatically after a period of inactivity, which will help conserve battery life. However, the first time I used it, my batteries went flat within 48 hours. Maybe they were just faulty batteries.
That aside, the camera is full auto. Meaning you get no control over the settings, just like a point and shoot. I always forget this point when shooting in the dark, and thus my photos are always underexposed and blurry. I would suggest new users hold the camera still when shooting in low light conditions, to get better photos. On the other hand, the camera works as intended in brightly light scenes, like outdoors.
I guess I expected too much from this camera, as I am a frequent DSLR user, and wanted this to be an upgrade from a normal film camera. Honestly, the resulting photos are the same if I applied a film filter to photos taken using my iPhone. You are just paying for the technology and the ‘feels’ of carrying around a film camera.
Nonetheless, if you are looking for a long term investment, do consider papershoot as the photos are stored digitally on an SD card. This will help you save costs on buying and developing films, which are also expensive in the long run.
As the camera is still quite pricey, even after applying the discount code ‘shotsbyseah10’, I would not recommend beginners starting with film to purchase papershoot cameras. Get your hands on a disposable film camera first, try it, and then decide whether shooting film is what you are interested in. Else, you can save up and get a low-end DSLR, with detachable lens modules.
Overall I would rate the papershoot cameras 7.9/10 stars.
