Make your film cameras digital
Turn any film camera into a digital camera with I’m Back Roll
Part of the reason to shoot film is the film itself but also the shooting experience. The ergonomics of the camera. the glass, the overall feel. But there is something to be said for the convenience of digital, as well as the cost savings for those who are simple hobbyists.
That’s where I’m Back come in. Over the years you may have seen the development of their digital conversion tools and now they have launched a kickstarter, releasing the Roll. I’m Back Roll, takes things to the next level, with an (almost) entirely internal kit to add digital photography to your favourite film camera.
The idea is simple but a lot of engineering has gone into it and you can read the full story on the kickstarter page but essentially uni get a film canister shaped object that sits in the usual place, which leads to a section that sits along the film plane and houses a sensor. There’s a small bluetooth remote that you attach near your winder, that synchronises the shutter and that’s it. The battery, sensor, processor and everything else are all contained inside your 35mm film camera but can be removed, when you want to shoot film.
Installation is as simple as loading a roll of film.
he sensor is a high quality 26mp Sony APSC with a bayer filter. I’m a big fan of a bayer sensor which can give beautiful results, much like the original Fujifilm X100. Now the APSC sized sensor will mean you get a crop factor, as it doesn’t cover the entire image surface of a 35mm frame, so you will need to account for that when shooting. The crop factor is around 1.5.
I shoot both film and digital but almost always prefer the experience of shooting with a film camera, so I’m very excited to try this out and hope it’s a winner that will allow photographers the flexibility to shoot however they prefer, for any given situation.
There’s also an option for using the I’m Back Roll with Leica M cameras, which could be a big deal and I’ll be trying this out too.
Price and availability
The Kickstarter is now underwya, with early bird pricing set at £339 which feels like a good price to me. Delivery will be early 2027, so there is a bit of a wait but it’s one I’m ok with, if the results are anything as good as we are led to expect.