What do you think of the Film Never Die Nana camera?

Mostly Vintage Cameras

Mostly Vintage Cameras

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filmneverdie.com

Nana Semi-Auto 35mm Film Point and Shoot Reusable Camera only

Lunar New Year Special $333 only , limited time !! Comes with 2 years warranty User support page: https://filmneverdie.com/pages/welcome-to-nana-camera With its sleek metal body, crisp optics & easy operation, our reusable auto 35mm point and shoot Nana Film Camera will blow you away. Why...
filmneverdie.com

What else would you recomend that is:-
New, with a two year warranty or better of course
Under £200
Has motorised film winding
Is "normal" i.e. not fisheye or multi image on one frame etc
Can bebought individually at retail (not 1000 at a time wholesale from China or wherever)
 
It's not one I've heard of before. But it looks okay. It seems to give decent results at a good price. Will people buy it? There's no way of telling really. It's probably not going to appeal to anyone other than a film buff, and then maybe not.
 
It’s a basic Chinese non-brand camera with single piece plastic lens and a replacement front plate. I had a Harman EZ35 on my bench yesterday (looking at a possible combined project with my Double Glass 24mm lens) and it looks like basically the same motorised plastic lens camera but cost £29.99 instead.
 
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Kevin Allan said:
Some sellers of the Harman camera bundle a roll of HP5 too ……
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The one I picked up from Amazon came with a roll of Colourplus, although the box was originally printed with HP5 on the side (covered with a sticker).

For what is literally the same camera, bar the metal front plate with filter thread, FND are ripping buyers off with the claim that they’ve designed a new camera, or offered any kind of improved optical performance.
 
Thank you for the replies so far. I have become strangly curious about this subject so please feel free to comment/comment further.

From what you can see of it online do you think the FND looks nicer or more premium cosmetically than the Harman?

Put it another way if you turned up at Taylor Swift's birthday party do you think it more likely you would get through the door with the Harman or the FND in your hand?

Would it matter to you if the lens was glass rather than plastic (but still a single element uncoated lens)?

Is there an argument at this lower end of the market for a single use camera as you can be sure the film is loaded correctly as it's already in there and you are only out of pocket £15 to "try film photography" not £30 or £170 plus a film?
 
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Mostly Vintage Cameras said:
Thank you for the replies so far. I have become strangly curious about this subject so please feel free to comment/comment further.

From what you can see of it online do you think the FND looks nicer or more premium cosmetically than the Harman?

Put it another way if you turned up at Taylor Swift's birthday party do you think it more likely you would get through the door with the Harman or the FND in your hand?

Would it matter to you if the lens was glass rather than plastic (but still a single element uncoated lens)?

Is there an argument at this lower end of the market for a single use camera as you can be sure the film is loaded correctly as it's already in there and you are only out of pocket £15 to "try film photography" not £30 or £170 plus a film?
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If your priority is for the camera to simply look shinier, regardless of the fact it costs 6x the price of the literal same camera, with the same basic single plastic element and single 1/125th shutter speed, then the FND camera ticks the box.

In reality, your results from the Taylor Swift party will look like someone took them with a disposable camera regardless of which camera you use. Neither camera has a glass element.

A single use camera will deliver the same results, although you have no choice as to which film you use nor can you then use it again yourself.
 
Just to add, as you may not be aware, FND were roundly criticised for their bait and switch tactic when launching their Kickstarter campaign for the camera. It was pitched with wild claims of adjustable focus by moving the entire film plane/film (like a Contax AX) and a completely new high quality optic/camera designed from the ground up.

The reality is what you see here, a new front plate mounted to a generic basic reloadable plastic lens camera that is available via AliExpress for about £20

austerityphoto.co.uk

The Nana Drama - Nana Camera finally ships amid on going controversy

Film Never Die's Nana Camera offers a motorised alternative to the current lo-fi 35mm film camera crowd. But it's got mired in controversy.
austerityphoto.co.uk austerityphoto.co.uk
 
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Just to be clear I do have my own thoughts about this and I'm not looking to argue or justify any stand point, I really do want to know other people’s opinions without trying to promote a particular point of view.

If anyone else would like to way in please do.

I’ve also noticed the Kodak S88 which sells for around £70 which I should like to add to the conversation. Kodak are a large company well able to finance their own product planning and launch, no Kickstarter needed here.

None the less this is also the same camera as the Harman etc. I have not heard any criticism of Kodak promoting a “cheap Chinese camera” as their own work/design and charging twice that of the Harman/m.cam. Surely a trusted name like Kodak should be roundly kicked into touch by doubling the price of a camera, selling it as their own work, not telling people who made it for them and not even changing it cosmetically? I would guess Kodak are going to sell way more than pretty much any other version of this camera, certainly more than twice as many as FND so the profit they will bring in from it will be huge in comparison.

Do you have a link to the AliExpress £20 verstion please as I can only find it on AliBaba where the min qty is 1000 and it $30? I can't quite manage $30000 this close to Christmas!
 
It’s the MF301 camera that you’ve seen in bulk volume for $30, as is the Kodak S88 and Harman EZ35.

Rebranding off the shelf generic cameras, with the same underlying hardware/single plastic element lens isn’t unique, pretty much all of the 35mm reloadable cameras available from AW/Amazon etc are fundamentally the same cameras underneath interchangeable front plates (Dubble Show, Agfa, Kodak etc). It’s not ‘wrong’ or specifically criticised, but FND set out to mislead and quite clearly rip off their target market with fanciful claims which are demonstrably false.

The Harman EZ35 I had on my bench yesterday felt like a decent option for £30, if all you’re looking for is a simple autowind camera with a plastic lens.

We’re all obviously free to make our own choices about form over function though, and your wallet is your own concern.
 
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Mostly Vintage Cameras said:
Just to be clear I do have my own thoughts about this and I'm not looking to argue or justify any stand point, I really do want to know other people’s opinions without trying to promote a particular point of view.
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I'm finding it difficult to understand why you are even considering this.

If you're into collecting cameras to show, then I can understand why you might well be interested in this one as an example of chutzpah (a Yiddish word that may be translated as "sheer bluidy cheek").

As a camera for use, I would think of it as not worth looking at.
 
Although the exact same internals, if anyone prefers the front face design of the Kodak S88 over the Harman EZ35, it’s £41 via Amazon although still listed for £70 via other sellers.

 
I was amused to see this one and only review, at time of writting, of the Nana camera on the Analogue Wonderland website which on the face of it looks very positive.

analoguewonderland.co.uk

FilmNeverDie Nana - 35mm Film Camera - Limited Edition Bundle

We have a small number of launch bundles of the FilmNeverDie Nana 35mm film camera! What is included in this limited edition bundle: a Nana camera, with metal body soft carry case to protect the camera in your bag faux leather handstrap for security while shooting a roll of Zatsu 400 vintage...
analoguewonderland.co.uk analoguewonderland.co.uk


The "amusing" part is I don't see anywhere on the review that the reviewer is an AW ambassador! Givern the controversy this camera has garnered I would have thought companies selling and promoting it would have been on their guard for any activity that could be misconstrued as misleading. In fairness on an Insta' post the reviewer position as an ambassador for AW is recognised.



Having said that I am a little concerned about the qualifying criteria to be an AW ambassador, but that's a different ball of sting.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th-8R2NNnQ4
 
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