Transfer over compact point-and-shoots. There’s a brand new in-demand digital camera on the scene — and it’s so small it suits within the palm of your hand. The hype surrounding the Kodak Charmera is actual. Pre-orders have bought out not as soon as, not twice, however thrice within the final month. On the second-hand market, they’re promoting for two–5 occasions retail worth, and digital camera shops are begging individuals to cease messaging them.
Even Kodak’s manufacturing associate, Hong Kong–primarily based Reto, appears stunned by the demand for this new keychain digital camera. Alerts on their web site warn of excessive demand and delivery delays.
I used to be fortunate to get in on the primary spherical of gross sales; my full set of 6 cameras arrived two weeks later. Not all 6 have been for me — I bought 5 to my images buddies at value. Because it arrived, I’ve used my Charmera daily, and I’ve to say: it’s essentially the most images enjoyable you’ll get for $30.
So what’s the Kodak Charmera and why is it so common?
Introducing the Kodak Charmera
The Kodak Charmera is a 1.6-megapixel toy digital digital camera utilizing a ¼-inch CMOS sensor. It weighs simply over an oz. (30 g) and is simply 2.2 inches (58 mm) lengthy.
A single Charmera retails for $29.99, making it much more inexpensive than different hyped cameras in current occasions. The Charmera is fueling demand not solely from photographers however from most of the people, because of its aggressive worth level, collectability, and retro allure.
Filters and Frames
True to kind as a toy digital camera, the Charmera comes with 12 “appears,” together with an ordinary picture, 7 filters, and 4 frames. With the usual look, picture high quality is about what you’d anticipate from a 1.6-megapixel digital camera.
The filters and frames ship the magic for this tiny digital camera. Along with heat tone, cool tone, and black-and-white filters, the Charmera has 4 frames (icons, movie, paint, 1987) and 4 pixel tone filters (purple, blue, yellow, grey). You may see the impact every of those appears has on the identical scene in my video:
Though the Charmera has a minuscule viewfinder, composing on the LCD display screen is best — it helps you to see in actual time as you turn between filters and frames.
The Charmera additionally takes video, which jogged my memory of uneven Tremendous 8 footage. The frames and filters aren’t accessible on this mode.
I put a 16 GB Micro SD card in mine every week in the past, and regardless of taking just a few hundred photographs and a pair dozen movies, the Charmera informs me I nonetheless have sufficient house for an additional 54,000 photographs. No, that’s not a typo.
The Labubu Issue
One other issue fueling the Charmera’s recognition is a contemporary twist. The advertising geniuses at Kodak and Reto have copied a preferred system: the Charmera is bought in blind packing containers.
In the event you’re questioning what a blind field is: one reply is that they’re the scourge of oldsters everywhere in the world. This advertising approach is used for the whole lot from Lego minifigures to Labubu to McDonald’s Glad Meal toys.
A extra useful reply is that every Charmera field accommodates certainly one of 6 customary designs — there’s no selecting your favourite. You might find yourself with any of them. There’s additionally a 1 in 48 probability that you simply’ll land the particular mannequin, a semi-transparent Charmera. I’ve heard stories that these are commanding large cash on second-hand markets.
In the event you’re attempting to gather all of them, you’re higher off shopping for a whole set of 6: you’re assured certainly one of every customary mannequin. There’s nonetheless an opportunity of touchdown the particular mannequin, with one of many customary cameras being changed within the set.
Sensing some curiosity from my images buddies, I purchased a set of six, unboxing all of them in a current YouTube video:
Impressed by the Kodak Fling
In the event you’ve been round for some time, the Charmera will look acquainted. That’s as a result of it takes inspiration from the 1987 Kodak Fling. In actual fact, one Charmera design appears very very like a Kodak Fling.
Barely larger than a field of 110 movie, the Fling was Kodak’s first disposable digital camera, altering informal images perpetually. It was the final word grab-and-go resolution for holidays, events, or anybody who wished to take just a few snaps with out shopping for a “actual” digital camera.
Preloaded with a 110 Kodacolor movie cartridge, the Fling bought for simply $6.95 — undercutting competitors from Fujifilm, which had overwhelmed Kodak to the market the earlier 12 months.
Bought together with different disposable objects at checkout like cigarette lighters and batteries, the idea was easy however sensible: make images inexpensive and easy.
That very same could possibly be stated of the Kodak Charmera: it’s enjoyable, gentle, simply replaceable (as soon as provide catches as much as demand, that’s) — and just like the Fling, picture high quality is within the “low-cost and cheerful” class.
The Fling was discontinued simply two years later, however its bigger sibling, the 35 mm Kodak FunSaver, dominated the booming disposable digital camera market of the Nineties.
Toy Cameras Are Having a Second
Compact cameras have been in large demand for the final 5 years, however now toy cameras are having a second. So given the low-quality pictures they create, what’s with the fascination for them?
In January 2024, I reviewed the tiny Kenko Tokina DSC Pieni II toy digital camera. In my Fstoppers article, I cheekily requested “Is This the Worst Digital camera Ever Made?” Initially, I used to be somewhat disillusioned with the article and accompanying video efficiency, however then a humorous factor occurred.
Ten months later, in November 2024, views on that video began to take off. A lot in order that it’s now certainly one of my highest-viewed movies. I spotted later that the elevated curiosity coincided with the discharge of the second model of the Pieni. Why have been so many individuals ?
Since then, different toy cameras have appeared. In mid-2025, images teams on social media have been going loopy for the Chuzhao, a fake digital TLR.
It appears customers are clamoring for tactics to seize lo-fi imperfect photographs, reasonably than the pixel-perfect pictures produced by at this time’s smartphones. Maybe it’s additionally a response in opposition to the wave of AI-generated pictures flooding the online — a means of bringing again some primitive authenticity to images.
In a means, this digital toy digital camera craze feels just like the recognition of Lomography circa 2010. With the massive curiosity within the Pieni, the Chuzhao, and now the Charmera, it makes you marvel what’s subsequent.
How To Get a Charmera
In the event you’re eager to get a Charmera after studying this, try B&H Photograph. In the event you’re eager to be taught what I’ve found utilizing my digital camera, try my Kodak Charmera Ideas and Tips.
