Like a digital back, but an insert (not sure where this belongs)

I just spotted a kickstarter for the "I'm Back Roll" - a project to produce an insert that will go into a 35mm camera to convert it to digital with an APS-C sensor. I see a few articles about it around the web, and it's interesting. Has anyone tried this company's previous products? I see they've made progressively smaller digital backs, leading up to a micro 4/3 film insert, I'd be curious about hearing any experience Photrions might have with it. Or just more informed opinions than mine - maybe I got rid of the 35mm gear too soon?


Nah. My instinct says "nice idea, but I'll keep my film cameras for film, and use digital cameras for digital" - but I would definitely like the idea of using my trusty old reliables for digital work.


Anyway, let's see what people think!

New to me, but a curious project. Why wouldn't it work considering what phones can do these days. I'm sure the people on here who actually know about tech will quickly identify its limitations. For me the issue is that I think it sort of missed the window of opportunity to a degree. 15 years ago lots of people who loved their film cameras wished there was something like this that would 'modernise' their beloved gear. But I think attitudes have evolved and most people who are shooting film cameras now are doing so because they want to shoot film, and not to use a sensor that is possibly inferior to their phone cameras. If film prices continue to spiral though, this thing might take off.

There is a review by channel "LGR" on Youtube for the m4/3 version. From what I remember the contraption is hardly universal and only fits a few cameras; the image quality is pretty bad compared to film.

My take is that 1) it would drive me nut to have to compose on the central crop of the VF; 2) jamming a sensor inside a camera with no regards to alignment sounds like a bad idea (these are usually adjusted to 0.05mm)

Oddly enough, despite the claims on the Kickstarter of thousands of people using the earlier version, I never talked to anyone in real-life or online who had used one of these. The concept has been around for a long time. The Kickstarter mentions it goes back to 2016, but it's much older and rumors or ideas about the same approach date back several years before that.

In the meantime, the whole thing has pretty much taken over by the advent of mirrorless cameras which allow the mounting of virtually any 'vintage' lens through an adapter, but offering superior performance on the digital end compared to something that needs to slide into a 35mm compartment.

For those who like the tactile experience of using a film camera, it appears that most choose to simply use actual film.

This product will remain a small niche within a niche; if it ever had a change of taking off for real, its window of opportunity is pretty much gone now.