A Kickstarter campaign for the Jollylook instant camera has gotten off to a roaring success. In a single day the Instax film loaded device has not only met its US$15,000 goal but almost doubled it, earning over US$29,000 in contributions at time of writing.

The appeal of Jollylook is really no surprise as it is an utterly charming concept clearly targeted at at millennial (sorry) audience. A fold out analog camera with a 1920’s steampunk (sorry again) visual aesthetic, made out of eco-friendly recycled paper and cardboard; it practically screams the dreaded hipster mantra of “new- age fun with a vintage feel. ” When you throw in the fact that it doesn’t rely on any kind of batteries or external wires to run, it’s a damned easy sell, beard-oil crowd or otherwise. That charm remains true even if you’re fully aware you’ll have to keep the Jollylook damn far away from rain, as cardboard isn’t exactly known for its weather resistance.

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This project, created by a team of Ukranian designers and photography fans, is the brainchild of Oleg Khalip, the co-founder and author of the project. He explained how the Jollylook came about:

“Once I was showing my son what's inside the analog camera and how analog photography works, I thought then - ‘what if the package itself transformed and fulfilled the function of the camera and the picture turned out immediately?!’”

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Using the Jollylook is remarkably simple. It has a 110mm meniscus lens that can have its position set to one of the modes of landscape, group, portrait or macro. Following that, a wheel spin lets the user pick the desired aperture between f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22; f/32; f/45; f/64, and pinhole. It’s then a matter of looking through the Fresnel lens viewfinder and snapping the shutter release. The shutter itself is set to an automatic speed of 1/250 or 1/160 but there is also a manual shutter mode listed, providing the ability to manually control exposure times.

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While the basics of Instant cameras are of course well established, in order to create this little marvel, the team had to get creative. Right off the bat they needed to design a new simple shutter mechanism for the unit as well as the folding accordion-style body shape to keep it compact. The real problem issue they encountered was removing photos after capture.

“We had difficulties with the unit for getting the photo out from the cartridge,” explains Khalip, “but after testing many options, we achieved a perfect result, photographs are now developed and pulled out with a rotating handle. ”

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Indeed, once a photo is taken, it’s as simple a matter of (rather satisfyingly) spooling it out. However, the Jollylook takes 10 shot Fujifilm instax mini film cartridges. So though the price of the initial Jollylook may be relatively cheap (US$35 on Kickstarter including a cartridge), keeping this stocked regularly may be expensive. It must be also noted that actual picture quality may be hit and miss, some getting a lovely retro vibe while others come out a blurry mess.

Regardless the Jollylook is still a marvelous object for any throwback photo fan, albeit one who stays as far away from moisture as a gremlin owner. It’s due for a June 2017 launch and still has 30 more days of funding to go, so hopefully we’ll see progress (and review versions) of this very soon.

“When moments of life that we see freeze on paper - it is magic!”, says Khalip.

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You can find out more about the Jollylook on its Kickstarter page

2017-2-1 03:00