Rollei Rolleiflex MiniDigi

For the last few weeks, I’ve been scouring the internet looking for the perfect pocket-sized camera that can go with me everywhere as a supplement to my trusty Digital Rebel — preferably something with some personality, to boot. I haven’t settled on a camera yet, but in my searches I stumbled across the Rollei Rolleiflex MiniDigi (try saying that one five times fast). If you’re familiar with with the Rollei name at all, it’s probably from their 1920’s twin lens reflex Rolleiflex camera which has maintained its popularity, even into today’s photography world.

To keep up with today’s digital age, Rollei has introduced a pocket-sized reproduction of the original Rolleiflex called the MiniDigi. The MiniDigi maintains a construction that’s faithful to the original design, complete with twin lenses up front (the top one is purely for aesthetics) and a hand crank that has to be turned to reset the shutter for the next shot. Add into the mix a 3MP sensor that shoots in a square format (the original Rolleiflex shot 6cm x 6cm medium format film) and a minuscule size of 4.9cm x 7.3cm x 4.5cm, and you’ve got what might just be the perfect pocket camera for grabbing street shots.

Images from the MiniDigi apparently have a vein of unpredictability, much like the venerable Holga toy camera. A user over on the Fred Miranda board described the images for me: “Sometimes they look like normal 3 MP digital images. Other times they have flare, distortion, color shifts or other inexplicable weirdness.” Check some out for yourself at the Flickr MiniDigi group.

The $200 price tag has me still debating on whether to grab one of these little guys, but I have a feeling I may cave pretty soon. If anyone has either a MiniDigi or a Ricoh GR Digital (another camera I’m considering), please fill me in on your thoughts!

–Danny Nathan