‘A new way to experience film cameras’ – this digital ‘film’ roll will take just seconds to upgrade your classic 35mm film camera with an APS-C sensor, 4K video and wireless uploads

Since 2016, the company I'm Back has been tinkering with its digital 'film' roll concept, its way of ‘bringing historic cameras back to life’ and into the digital world.

Its previous attempt, the soon to be out-of-stock 2023 I’m Back Film, comprised a film canister fitted with a 20MP Micro Four Thirds sensor instead of actual film, that slotted inside a 35mm film camera – you can see how it works in this post on the company's Instagram.

A neat concept, but it fell flat for me because of the sensor format / film size mismatch, and more so because it required a bulky module which attached to the underside of the camera.

Well, the aptly-named company has returned this week, with Samuel Mello Medeiros, the company’s founder, lifting the veil on plans for an updated version; this time with a larger APS-C format digital sensor that can be mounted inside a 35mm camera in seconds.

We don't know which APS-C sensor is used yet, nor therefore how many pixels it has, but the device will shoot in RAW and JPEG and allow 4K video capture. Crucially, this time, it seems as though I'm Back has found a way to do away with the additional module, fitting the necessary tech inside the digital film roll, inside the camera.

The idea, just as with its (somewhat clunky) predecessors, is that photographers can continue to use their analog camera bodies, which have perhaps languished at the back of a cupboard in recent years, equipping them with digital smarts instead.

Beyond simply allowing photographers to capture digital images with 35mm film cameras they already own, some of them possibly even quite valuable, I’m Back hopes to bring some of the unique charm of film photography into the digital age.

“The goal of this project is simple: allow photographers to return to the cameras they love while embracing a contemporary digital workflow. No external display. No visible modules attached to the camera”, says Medeiros, whose comments on the dedicated Kickstarter page for the product also highlight some awareness of the past failings and the issues many people had with early prototypes.

“Everything stays inside [the camera]. The only external element is a small Bluetooth remote control used to synchronize the shutter.”

Currently, further details are a little thin on the ground, besides the aforementioned sensor size, photo formats and video chops. However, we do know that the roll will feature internal storage, along with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and a rechargeable, removable battery, rather than a built-in unit.

Interestingly, the Kickstarter page also refers to the inclusion of Presets, which bestow the image styles of iconic film types. In the post-Fujifilm film simulation era, this makes sense, and there probably isn’t a more appropriate imaging device to feature such picture styles.

Ten years in the making

I’m Back first attempted its digital film concept around 10 years ago. The first model was anything but compact and featured a modest 16MP resolution, squeezed onto a tiny 1/2.33 sensor. Of course, ideas have to start somewhere, nevertheless it gained a significant amount of interest, paving the way for further development.

In 2020, the I’m Back Film was unveiled, featuring a larger 20MP Micro Four Thirds sensor. While half the size of full-frame, it was a step in the right direction, and Yashica showed interest in the project.

Next came 2023’s I’m Back Film, which sought to compress the system into a truly film-canister-sized package, helping to preserve the original handling properties of the host camera. It was much smaller than earlier models, but it still required a base unit.

The arrival of the I’m Back 'Roll' with APS-C sensor marks the biggest step change to date, removing the base unit from the picture, and potentially bringing the quality in line with some of the best entry-level and enthusiast digital cameras of today.

I'm curious which APS-C sensor is used – whether I'm Back has played it safe with a dated 18MP to 20MP, or upped resolution to 24MP or greater. I'm hoping for the latter.

“I’m Back Roll does not aim to replace analog photography or compete with modern digital cameras. Its purpose is to offer a new possibility: bringing historic cameras back to life and allowing them to continue telling new stories”, says Medeiros.

I’m keeping my eyes peeled to see if the final product can do either. The latest effort is still on the drawing board, with its crowd funding page launching soon (note, the previous version was delivered to backers quite some time after its crowd funding page went live).

It's still might not have a full-frame sensor to match the size of a single frame in a roll of 35mm film, but with it's truly compact setup, the latest I'm Back product has me more convinced than ever to try the digital film roll out, in the hope that I might be able to resurrect my collection of 35mm cameras with convenient digital smarts. What do you make of the project? Let me know in the comments below.

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