When you think about the TBC camera, you think about exactly what they’re saying: to be used without end. That’s contrary to what so many other disposable-style film photography cameras are. Many of them can be used over and over again. But when we think about that statement, we envision a camera that’s super durable. Indeed, how cool would it be to have a modern point-and-shoot film camera that you could take out into the rain? That begs the question: did the small team at I Used To Dream studios really make what Kodak, Lomography, Japan Camera Hunter, and Fujifilm won’t do?
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EXPERTS WE TALKED TO IN THIS ARTICLE
In pursuing better journalism, the Phoblographer is actively working to put our sources up front to combat misinformation and hearsay that otherwise taints the credibility of facts. Here are our sources, along with links to where you can find out more about them, and some information on why they’re considered experts in their field.
- Marc Morris: A sales representative at Tamron who has been in the industry for several years and knows the ins and outs of cameras like few people do.
- Ourselves: When talking about the durability of a camera, I, Chris Gampat, have worked with manufacturers to understand how they should be tested and what they can endure for several years. The camera and lens tests done here at the Phoblographer all reflect that, and we’re not shy about showing it off.
TBC Camera: The Camera Without End
TBC began as a passion project. “Although I studied industrial design, at the time, I was a videographer and photographer,” says Joshua Cirjack, the founder of I Used to Dream Studios, who designed the camera. “I wanted to combine my two passions, and I thought it would be cool to 3D print my own unique film camera. I joined forces with a friend from university, and we would 3D print camera shells after school.” The original run ended up not being durable at all — so they switched to mold making. They had fun with it.
“We want to show people that creating your own camera is something anyone can do with a little passion and creativity.”
Joshua Cirjack
With an original run of around 400 pieces, the TBC camera is truly not a mass-market product. In fact, it’s a niche product already within a niche industry, housed within a niche market segment. By that, it’s the Russian doll effect. Few people buy dedicated cameras. Fewer people buy film cameras. And so many fewer photographers reach for point-and-shoot cameras despite their popularity amongst celebrities of all sorts. But part of why these cameras have taken off is the vibe they radiate. “We didn’t specifically draw inspiration from any specific camera. However, we knew we wanted to make it transparent,” says Joshua. “We are big fans of cameras like the Concord ClearShot and the Ricoh Mycrstal.”
But does the camera really not end? It depends on how you’re looking at it. One could think of it as a camera that can’t be broken, is incredibly durable, or has some sort of lifetime warranty. That’s apparently not the case here, though. “We haven’t officially tested the durability standards, but we appreciate your concern and will look into checking this out as soon as possible,” Joshua tells us. This immediately makes us believe that the camera isn’t designed to be insanely durable.
It’s not that it isn’t possible. Olympus in years past, made many very durable cameras that claimed to be weatherproof, waterproof, and various different kinds of resistant. Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re getting with the TBC camera. Instead, it’s more or less just a name. “When giving our camera the name, we decided to use TBC as an alternative term to a reusable film camera,” Joshua tells us. “Our camera has characteristics of a disposable, but it can be REUSED without an end. By end, we are referring to disposable cameras which are thrown out after they are used.”
It’s a misconception that cameras aren’t weather resistant — which is different language from waterproof. But even during the film era, this was possible. Photographer Barney Smith, who we interviewed, proves this with the old Nikonos V. So too does Brooks Sterling. They’re doing crazier things than most photographers would do by way of underwater film photography.
Waterproof film cameras with added durability are also possible today. The Fujifilm Quicksnap 800, which we reviewed, is the latest and most famous entry.
We can tell you from several years of the industry’s most intense weather-resistance tests that manufacturers gave the green light that weather resistance refers to how the product holds up to dust, moisture, and precipitation. And often, that requires rubber gaskets, seals, and a design that makes it very difficult for that sort of debris to get in, to begin with.
Tamron’s Marc Morris, not speaking to us on behalf of the company but as a long-time sales rep in the photo industry, shared more information with us about the durability of point-and-shoot film cameras. He talked about how it was all similar to today’s sealing processes involving rubber gaskets and all. But there was only less chance of ingress with lots of the cameras that were deemed weatherproof. “Usually, a thicker body shell was used also,” Marc tells us. “In some cases with cameras like the Stylus cameras from Olympus, they’d use the sliding doors as part of the weatherproofing because when the camera was off, the lens was covered entirely by the door.” He continued to say that any lens with a zoom had sweepers around the barrels- basically little pieces of felt that kept them clean.
“The really rugged cameras like the Canon WP-1…most of these cameras don’t have zoom lenses, “Marc states. “It’s basically like a camera within a shell…and you opened the shell to use the camera within it. It’s almost like you opened a brick to use the camera.” Still, though, Marc states that there were occasions when the screws in the cameras would get rust, but that most of the time, they all worked very well, depending on the lifespan of the seals. Despite that statement, he would love to see something like this because the seals on older cameras can deteriorate over time.
Keeping all of this in mind, the lens is a very simple design. According to Joshua, the 28mm f8 plastic lens that’s part of the TBC camera is the same as most reusable film cameras on the market. “This camera is a great starting point for people starting to get into film,” he states. “It is also great to carry around because you don’t have to worry about getting the camera damaged.” In the future, the company plans on making its own custom glass lens.
The Dream
Truly, we don’t know if this camera is fully battle-tested yet or not. But by the way, Josh speaks about it, it’s easy to think that it is. However, the truth is that it hasn’t been put to the durability tests that journalists like us would do. They’re young professionals right out of college, so I’d be inclined to give them a break on this one. However, all marketing standards should be held accountable.
Will we ever see a camera that’s truly weatherproof again? I hope so.
