Since day one that low-cost digital cameras captured the market— and camera phones were on the way of development to its finest, there has been a faltering cry popping up among film-camera shooters, 'Is film-camera industry going to die?' 

    The answer to this question was a rise of Lomo popularity and new-modelled instant cameras from diverse suppliers. Besides Polaroid, other creators of the industry, such as, Fujifilm, Lomography and Leica were releasing Fujifilm instax mini, Lomo' Instant Automat and Leica Sofort in the game too.

    Not only that the high-profile brands could sense the perfect mingling within the emerging of the film camera's trend among youngster's lifestyle, the Thai and Hong Kong designers were also capturing this trend and created an instant camera called Escura. Established by four partners in the business, the two Thailand-based partners are Sakon Kobkulboonsiri, a film-camera lover and an owner of a Crazy Camera shop, and Chardchakaj Waikawee, a photographer who brings back a wet-plate collodion process and opens the AIRLAB photography service. Another two Hong Kong-represented partners are Grey Leung and Eric Leung from CARBON, a graphic design company that designed One Mini, a mini digital camera with Polaroid SX-70 outlook, invigorating the nostalgic vibes. Four of them teamed up to create their project by crowdfunding via Kickstarter. And they already beat the goal. The Escura Instant-60s camera is now in the production phase and will be delivered to the backers on schedule.

    Inside the Crazy Camera shop, many cameras are sitting in the cabinets. Sakon Kobkulboonsiri, our interviewee today, walked pass one of them and took the Escura Instant-60s prototype to show us. Then, he explained its functions and instructions. For those who shoots with instant camera, it will be easy-peasy for them to play with this buddy as this camera is compatible with the Fujifilm Instax Mini— inserting the film pack into the camera, rolling to remove the first film cover, and then getting ready to shoot. Its apertures are f/8 and f/11; Its speed shutter is 1/100 sec with a bulb mode.  

    "We can use it with a shutter release cable. It can constantly produce double exposures and creative effects before we decide to roll the film out. That's it. The camera is user-friendly and there is an external flash which is an optional accessory. We have two packages available. You can buy one with or without the flash." 

    The Escura Instant-60s is different from other instant cameras in a loveable way. It gives you analog experiences like no others, no electricity or battery needed. After clicking the shutter, use your hand power to roll the film.

    "Why do we choose to whip around with the instant camera? I think it is a missing link between digital-camera and film-camera enthusiasts. The ritual of applying the film camera is too slow for them, but for instant camera, they can give and share photos immediately. We want people to capture the possible fact of how analog and digital classic could be sealed together— that the film camera could breathe in longer time."

    As one of those camera makers, he passed on his analog passion to us. An analog camera is a camera that needs no power supply. For an old camera which was used and aged, there is a high risk of being dysfunctional more than the new one. Though, the practice of analog photography allows you to enjoy every flashy click to get the best shot. Veteran photographers will discover that there are abundant tricks to make fun with the camera. Because the analog doesn't have a circuit board or battery, it's a reason why this instant camera is cheaper than others in the market.

    "Veering against the business facet, what suppose to be done is done. To gain myself an opportunity to create a camera isn't an easy thing. I think there are lots of people who want to do this, but lacks equipment, personnel and tools. I have no idea whether this Escura creation will make a profit or not, but we are behooved to do this." 

    Therefore, the attractiveness of this camera is not only about its design or function, its affordable price also makes you pay what's worth.

    Aside from the knowledge of production, ideas, effort and passion to create the Thai-made camera, the partners who have experiences designing a camera are the important part of the scenery as well.

    "Mr. Grey, our friend, is a genius. He is really good at designing. After getting a brief or sharing ideas with us, he can work it out exactly how we want. The fact that we live in different countries doesn't really matter. We can fly to see each other in a moment, consulting and having a meeting via GROUP LINE. We can do our jobs although we rarely exchange face to face communication."

    However, creating a camera is such a big deal. Sakon summarised us a brief journey of this creation.

    "Camera production is so complex. We do understand its function, but to produce one is to create hundreds of mechanical pieces inside. We must hire many factories to manufacture each distinctive part, so that means we faced some levels of difficulty as some factory could produce the certain design while some couldn't. We had to change it little by little until the prototype was executed. Luck was still on our side because a 3D printer helped us to create a sample first before the real production was achieved. If we had to follow the custom of the old-school days, we would lose lots of money."

    Following the design, the prototype and the funding project via Kickstarter which reached its target so quickly, Escura is now producing and preparing to deliver thousands of them to the backers. Meanwhile, they are brainstorming to develop the dope version for the consumers in the future.

    "There wasn't much problem in the past because when mistakes were detected, we corrected them gradually. But, I think after all the problem will be more about the backer's expectation. We're afraid that they will be disappointed. We are looking forward to develop some mechanical parts inside such as, lens, so that it will be worth every penny and make the buyers feel happy. One of the best things about crowdfunding was that we received a pile of comments. We know what they want from the camera, which hasn't yet immersed in this model, but we're sure that the next one will serve more of the needs. We prefer to grow this business with our supporters."

    Eventually, for any camera geeks, please wait patiently by the ticking second hand. When the packages are delivered to all of the backers, Escura will start selling this camera to public at a very reasonable price.