Like a lot of things, old-school photographic film is getting expensive – especially since it's not as widely used as it once was. The Alfie Tych camera was designed with that problem in mind, as it lets you get twice as many exposures out of one roll of film.
Created by British product developer Dave Faulkner, the Tych is a modern version of the half-frame cameras from the 1960s and 70s.
Utilizing standard 35-mm film, these cameras divided the usual landscape-format frame into two smaller portrait-format frames, each one of which was exposed separately. As a result, a traditional 36-exposure roll of film would actually produce 72 exposures.
Faulkner was frustrated by the limitations of a vintage half-frame camera he tried out, which led to the development of the Tych. Among other things, it allows users to choose between automatic or manual-shutter-control modes, set the ISO from a range of 12 through 6,400, zero the exposure counter, set a shutter delay, and make double exposures. These features are facilitated by an OLED screen on top.
Additionally, the camera sports multiple turret lenses. On the base model of the Tych, these include a 30-mm f8 polycarbonate meniscus lens (for capturing "sharp images with a unique look and feel"), a 25-mm f56 zone sieve (for "dreamy images with soft focus") and a 25-mm f125 pinhole lens (which gives a "stylish vignette to your images with enormous depth of field").
The Tych + model adds a two-element 33-mm f8 premium glass landscape lens, along with a "super bright" glass viewfinder – the base model has a plastic viewfinder. Both versions are powered by a rechargeable 3.2V lithium-polymer battery. There's currently no word on battery life.
Should you be interested, the Alfie Tych is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign. Assuming it reaches production, a pledge of £275 (about US$314) will get you the base model, with £449 (US$514) required for the Tych +.
There's more information in the video below.
Sources: Kickstarter, Alfie Cameras
