The following is a 100% true human-made account that is being retold to the best of my flawed human ability. And it has to do with my purchase of the Kodak Charmera from Freestyle Photographic. Like every other millennial that’s getting older and looking at what the younger generations are doing, I have looked at the Kodak Charmera with envy. And after seeing so many people express joy over using it on Reddit, I decided to put on my big boy emo skinny jeans and make the purchase. Several weeks later during my vacation, it came in. And the following is a true account that may shock some photographers.
When the Kodak Charmera came to it, it postured itself around in the sunlight as I took it by the band. Emblazed on it was a peculiar number: 1987. That was the year I was born. Could this have been a gift from past Chris to myself? Was it actually sent to me through divine intervention by a former version of my parents who weren’t marred by the economy, the fracturing family structure, New York rent, divorce, and generational trauma?
“No way, it can’t be,” I thought to myself. This was a gift from past Chris who bought it only a few months ago, waited the long period to get it and finally was holding it.
The Kodak Charmera didn’t remind me a bit of the older spy cameras that I’ve used before — like the forums say it would. But instead, it was more akin to a giant Tootsie Roll or one of those rolls of pastel-colored circular candies I had during the 90s. The size, weight, and shape felt oddly familiar. Then, I held down the power button, and 1997 came back to me.
The sound mimicked my first Gigapet. But this time, it was as if it was on easy mode. I remember my 10-year-old self getting back from school after leaving my Digipet from 7:45AM until my return home at around 3:30pm. It was angry. My Gigapet demanded that I play with it, feed it, clean up its digital excrement, and even after giving it all it wanted, it was still quite angry at me. Anything and everything I did for it wasn’t enough. Yet it couldn’t communicate to me how I could negotiate to make it all better. By 5pm every day, it would die and go to heaven — signalling that I had lost within 24 hours.
But the Kodak Charmera is like the Gigapet went to therapy and learned how to take care of itself. It powered on only when I wanted it to do so. Plus, it could shoot photos, video, and even playback images. All of the images had optional filters.
Suddenly, I was transported back to late high school and early college at the same time when cameras in phones were cool, and little tiny cameras were all I could afford. Back then, I was genuinely laughed at because I couldn’t afford the higher-end phones or the cameras that all my peers had. As a now 38-year-old man, I could embrace this camera as the charming and fun toy that I can have fun with.
As a man shooting with cameras for over 20 years, something odd happened when using the Kodak Charmera. It disappeared — not really, but sort of? I put it in my pocket and would sometimes forget that it was there. This is much unlike the big cameras from Canikony that wanted everyone to know that it was around you — fugly standard camera strap and all. More importantly, I couldn’t put one of those Peak Design straps on this camera. Those things are almost as hideous as a city with all glass buildings and the finance bros who decide to take up residence there.
To shoot images, I used the super small LCD screen. Sure, there’s an optical viewfinder — but it’s more just for the vibes. There’s also a weak little LED flash.
Every image I shot was for either joy or experimentation. Yet at the same time, I couldn’t hate on any of it.
You see, the Kodak Charmera feels like a camera that truly wants to be with me. Many other cameras on the market feel like soulless machines put out to simply be a piece of farmland that can be used for capitalistic goals. The great poet Phil Kaye said in one of his writings. It states: “Now clothed, she says plainly, ‘I have some other errands to run.’ And I think on the small cruelty of the word ‘other.'”The Charmera doesn’t seem that way to me. It does what it does at a super affordable price while looking really good. And in the end, it’s just another way to take pictures. It avoids the theatrics of a pizza chef taking to Instagram or TikTok to build hype and get people into the door for a mediocre slice that’s Peak Design bro price.
And for that, I truly commend the Kodak Charmera.
But you should never buy it. The megapixel count is too low. The high ISO output is terrible. It doesn’t shoot RAW. The Charmera doesn’t even take standard SD cards. You can’t change the lens and it doesn’t even zoom. And there’s no AI autofocus detection. It came out in 2025 for crying out loud!
No, don’t buy the Kodak Charmera. If you find it in stock online, please do let me know where it is, so I know to not shop there for all the different color variations. I definitely won’t be buying them with all the disposable income I, a millennial, should be spending on avocado toast anyway.