Hasta La Gadget!

These cute, brightly colored plastic cameras are modern-day versions of the Kodak Box Brownie, the camera that brought photography to the masses. The concept design is set to commemorate the upcoming 2012 Olympics.

George Eastman’s design has been shrunken slightly, and jazzed up with some candy-colors, but otherwise the design remains mostly intact. The biggest change is the inclusion of an electronic pop-out flash, easy to do thanks to all the spare space left in the box after removing the film-shooting parts.

The new Brownie, designed by James Coleman, will give you an idea of how primitive and mysterious cameras once were. First, there is no screen, either for shooting or for playback, so you have the same delayed gratification that comes with film. To see what you’re trying to shoot, you peer through one of two holes on adjoining sides of the box. These can be used in portrait or landscape modes, and show a reflected image from the two smaller lenses at the front.

These flank the main lens, a fixed aperture design which is focus-free. In fact, the only user-operated control is the big ol’ shutter release, which sits low, down by your thumb as you hold it and stare into the hole on top. You can also flip up a pair of square frames to form a straight-on sports finder, although with the optical finders it is not particularly useful.

The only thing I don’t like is the face on the front, which makes this look more like a Happy Meal gift than a toy for adults. Still, it does look like a lot of fun, and I’d certainly try it out if it were indeed the price of a box of McNuggets.

Kodak Brownie Revived For The 2012 Olympics [Yanko. Thanks, Radhika!]