Analog.Cafe Podcast

In this episode, you’ll hear me accidentally open my loaded film camera and ruin a few frames (gasp!). But more importantly, Daren and I shoot, develop, scan, and share our first impressions with the new RETO/Kodak film camera. We are impressed.Kodak Snapic A1 is a $100 film camera with a 𝒇9.5 25mm coated glass lens, motorized film transport, 2-zone focusing, 1/100s fixed shutter, built-in flash, a double-exposure switch, and shaped like Ricoh GR1. We used a selfie taken with Snapic on the day of taping for this episode's cover.During this episode, we’ve got to test this camera together just before taping. We then took a break after recording the first part of the show to develop and scan the film so we could share our first impressions of the image quality from this lens (shot indoors on Ilford FP4+).I will be putting a few more rolls through this camera on an upcoming trip and post a full review on Analog.Cafe shortly.Show links:- I wrote about Kodak Snapic A1 briefly in last month’s newsletter: https://www.analog.cafe/r/film-photography-news-november-2025-recap-41s8- For comparison, Ricoh GR1s (detailed review): https://www.analog.cafe/r/ricoh-gr1gr1s-film-camera-review-zzrd- RETO Pano camera review: https://www.analog.cafe/r/reto-pano-reusable-35mm-film-camera-review-j7eh- Ilford Sprite 35-II camera review: https://www.learnfilm.photography/1-month-with-the-ilford-sprite-35-ii- Yashica x I’m Back digital camera: https://petapixel.com/2024/03/27/the-micro-mirrorless-is-the-worlds-smallest-interchangeable-lens-camera- About Ilford, Harman, and Ilfocolor film: https://www.analog.cafe/r/harman-phoenix-200-vs-ilford-ilfocolor-400-md99- A brief history of the Polaroid brand: https://www.analog.cafe/r/a-brief-history-of-polaroid-s3ko- Kodak Retina IIIC review: https://www.analog.cafe/r/kodak-retina-iiic-foldable-film-camera-review-sttz- About zone focusing: https://www.analog.cafe/r/how-to-zone-focus-quickly-and-accurately-s9c0- Minolta TC-1 camera review: https://www.analog.cafe/r/minolta-tc-1-wvii- Master the Sunny 16 Rule: https://www.analog.cafe/r/master-the-sunny-16-rule-2mol- How to use flash with manual film cameras: https://www.analog.cafe/r/a-simple-guide-to-using-flash-cubes-srh8One thing that we forgot to mention in this episode is that longer focal lengths will require more focusing zones or risk blurry images due to a narrower depth of field: https://www.analog.cafe/r/what-is-aperture-and-how-does-it-work-x7n6#how-apertures-affect-depth-of-field. On the other hand, Snapic A1’s ultra-wide lens ensures that most of the scene is in focus with just a simple switch for near/far.

In this episode, Daren reviews Kodak’s financial statements, explains why its stock price recently tanked, and discusses how the business is doing. We chat about money, a factory explosion, toxic chemicals, the future of film photography, and film prices.Kodak’s recent decisions, including the upcoming liquidation of its pension plan interests to pay off a maturing loan (a move that has sparked a flurry of negative news about the company). Though likely a necessary move, this also puts Kodak in a tough position, as its sales of print technology, a major part of its business, are under threat from competition.On the bright side, the part of Kodak that makes and sells film is growing fast. Its brand is incredibly recognizable — and, as we’ve learned recently, Kodak is not afraid to leverage it for gain. Though we haven’t discussed Kodacolor in this podcast, it is an example of the Eastman company going around Alaris to sell more film (see https://www.analog.cafe/r/kodak-colorplus-vs-kodacolor-200-vs-kodak-gold-200-my93).Show links:- Kodak financial report https://www.analog.cafe/r/film-photography-news-august-2025-recap-0ovn#is-kodak-in-trouble- Polaroid’s fading qualities https://www.analog.cafe/r/how-to-make-polaroid-sol-pints-e098- How to dispose of film chemicals https://www.learnfilm.photography/how-to-dispose-of-film-developing-chemicals/- Silver in the human body https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyria (gross picture)- Kodak AHU https://www.analog.cafe/comments/6lnk- Film prices https://www.analog.cafe/app/film-price-trends- Preferences for black-and-white film- Gingerbread camera https://www.analog.cafe/r/building-the-worlds-first-gingerbread-camera-twpg- Analog aF-1 https://www.analog.cafe/r/film-photography-news-september-2025-recap-7lux#analogue-af-1- Film inversion https://www.analog.cafe/r/how-to-invert-colour-film-negatives-in-photoshop-geea- Lucky film https://www.analog.cafe/r/film-photography-news-july-2025-recap-kxhx#new-colour-film-from-china-lucky-c200This episode was published on October 16, 2025. 56 min.

This is a pilot episode of the new film photography podcast where Daren and I discuss the Polaroid Flip camera and other Polaroid-related things.Daren runs a YouTube channel, @LearnFilmPhotography, and the https://learnfilm.photography blog. We live in the same city and did a lot of collabs in the past. You can find some of them here: https://www.analog.cafe/@daren.zomerman.2mcu.In this episode, we chat about:- Polaroid Flip- Setting exposures for Polaroid film- Polaroid Go- MiNT cameras- The origins of modern Polaroid chemistry https://www.analog.cafe/r/a-brief-history-of-polaroid-s3ko- How Polaroid may be losing money on their cameras- Gingerbread camera https://www.analog.cafe/r/building-the-worlds-first-gingerbread-camera-twpg- Emulsion lifts- Polaroid film comparisons https://www.analog.cafe/r/polaroid-600-in-sx-70-no-filter-no-mods-no-flash-wpr5- Macro photography https://www.analog.cafe/r/how-to-shoot-macro-photos-on-an-sx-70-2l4q- Instant photography book https://softgrainbooks.com/shop/between-blocks