Kenko Tokina makes us think about our shots and feel extra emotion when we finally see how they turned out.
Recently, our Japanese-language reporter Go Hatori has gotten really into taking pictures, so much so that instead of using his phone for them, he wanted a dedicated device. After looking over his camera options, he decided to treat himself to the Pieni II from Kenko Tokina, a Japanese manufacturer primarily known as a lens maker.
There are a couple of reasons why Go chose this model, one of which is easy to see, and one of which, in a sense, is not easy to see. Let’s start with the easy one, though.
The Pieni II is incredibly compact. Though it’s a legitimate, functional photo-taking device, the packaging describes it as a “toy camera” because of how tiny it is.
Included with the camera is a strap so wear it around your neck, but the camera is so compact that you could even attach it to your key ring or use a clip, like the one Go picked up at a 100 yen store, to attach it to your bag or beltloop.
And as for the “not easy to see” reason Go chose this camera? Well, although this is a digital camera, with a slot to insert a microSD card on which to save your images…
…there’s no screen.
That means you don’t get a preview image, constantly being updated in real time, showing you the exact composition and lighting your image will have. Instead, you have a little clear viewfinder to help you see where the lens is pointed, and that’s it. What’s more, the Pieni II doesn’t have an app or any other sort of wireless connectivity that automatically uploads your photos to cloud storage or your other devices. In order to see how your photos turned out, you have to pop the SD card itself out of the camera and into your PC or phone.
In other words, the Pieni II’s design eliminates the instant results that are usually part of digital photography and replaces it with a gap in time between when you take a photo and when you see it, bringing back the exciting sense of anticipation from when film cameras were the norm. That’s the sensation that Go has been chasing as he takes photos, and he’s very, very happy with how some of his photos with his new camera have turned out.
Looking at the photos, you can probably guess the other thing Go loves about this camera. The Pieni II (which Go picked up for 5,280 yen [33] on Amazon Japan) isn’t designed for taking ultra-high-resolution images. In fact, its 1.31-megapixel count is pretty paltry by today’s standards.
On the other hand, that level of resolution is a great fit with the nostalgic retro-tech vibes of taking pictures without a preview screen.
The resolution isn’t so low that the photos become a blurry mess, but the softer lines and lower-key colors make then look like there were taken years ago, and add a sort of wistful significance to scenes of the present day.
All of a sudden, a quick selfie snapped with a friend feels like a precious memento that you’ve treasured for ages, and ordinary scenery looks like it could be a jazz fusion album cover.
Of course, the camera not having a screen means there’s no way to know right away when you’ve taken a dud that needs to be deleted, and when Go “develops” his photos by slotting the microSD card into his PC, he’ll always find at least a few that aren’t worth keeping.
That minor frustration, though, pales in comparison with the immense satisfaction he feels when one of his shots comes out just right and feels miraculously cool.
Photos ©SoraNews24
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