A few days ago, I received the G6 Thumb Camera ~ a knock-off version of the Kodak Charmera available from cheapo plastic junk merchants like AliExpress. A copy was always going to happen when it became clear that the Kodak would sell-out quickly.
As I tore the box open to reveal the toxic green G6 keychain toy camera, my contribution to environmental pollution gnawed at me. It’s a feeling that grows with each passing year. We might have cherished our expensive mechanical film cameras for many years in decades gone by, valuing their form and function in a much slower and less product-addicted world, but now it seems as though we can’t get enough of the next thing and the next thing and the next…
I edited all of the photos in Exposure X7 using settings that disguise the mushy and detail-bereft shadows, the blown highlights, the oversharpened edges, and the oversmoothing – though the G6, despite clipping the red channel as soon as even a hint of red appears in a scene, doesn’t seem to sharpen or smoothe things quite as much as the Kodak Charmera. Consequently, the images are bad in a different way, weird banding artefacts included.
The G6 can do a few extra things – I can set the EV, the image quality, and even the White Balance. I have mine set to -1 EV, 2 megapixels, and Daylight WB. Even though the image quality settings extend to a whopping 12 megapixels, I’m not even going to bother as I imagine things would only get worse if an almost useless image resizing algorithm were to be engaged.
The focal length is too wide to be really comfortable, and the 16:9 aspect ratio is not ideal. However, this does encourage different thinking around framing and composition – not a bad thing at all. Oh, and if I long-press the up-button on the back, the LED flash turns on and the G6 becomes a torch…
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I looked at AliExpress and saw tens of listings, all with different prices ($5 – $30), all claiming the G6 Thumb Camera name.Did you buy from there?I saw comparisons of images/videos of the two on YouTube and also read a short piece on the G6 at PetaPixels (they mentioned the price as $10).
I’ll wait for the Kodak to get here, but if it’s really $10, I might just spring for a G6. I am annoyed that Amazon is selling what looks like the G6 for the same price as the Kodak. Not paying that much for one . . . although I saw listings for a slew of other tiny cameras with all sorts of interesting designs. Some were from name brands.
Side note: I’d be interested in your opinion on Exposure X7 compared to other packages you’ve tried.
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Apparently, some of the cheapo ones are just empty plastic shells. I got mine from ebay for just over $20 Australian, so I suppose $10 USD is about right. Anything cheaper might just be an empty shell.
I’ve had Exposure X7 for quite a few years and find myself upgrading it every few years. It has a similar workflow to Lightroom, without the subscription. But it does lack some of the conveniences. Theres no AI noise reduction yet, if that’s important. You can do all the basics in it without issue. It does contain extra modules that relate to the film or vintage look. Youc an even stack layers if you want. I think the film grain, module, for example, is the best one I’ve used. It has some nice colour grading tools as well. Not as sophisticated as Lightroom, but also cheaper, and has some extra tools to get different photo looks related to old film photos. Of course, you don’t have to use those extra modules. I use Lightroom for most photos, but for the toy camera ones it’s a nice tool for adding an extra look to disguise the digital uglies.
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The $120 (US) I pay Adobe per year is well worth it (Lightroom, Photoshop, Rush, a few other perks). I have other aggregators/editors I own outright, but Lightroom has been the one I settled on.
Editors, I’m always interested in. Topaz, PhotoLab, ON1 (the old version), Nik Collection, and others I’m not currently remembering (I go through phases as to what I use), but now, they are all moving to some kind of AI assisted editing. Some for better, some for worse.
Again, my interest is because I’m seriously considering switching to Linux, and the choices are limited. Thank you for the answer.
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Wait . . . are you running it in Linux?
I’m asking because I just remembered Exposure X7 was the software listed as a replacement for Lightroom if switching from Windows to Linux (something I’m considering).
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No, in Windows. There’s a version for Windows.
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