I’m Back Teases APS-C Digital ‘Film’ Roll That Entirely Fits in a 35mm Camera

Living up to its name, I’m Back has returned. The company is teasing its latest product, a new “film” roll with a new, bigger APS-C image sensor that photographers put inside their 35mm film camera to capture digital images, aiming to breathe new life into old, vintage analog camera bodies.

I’m Back has been around for a long time, having released a big, bulky digital back for old 35mm film cameras in 2017. Two years later, a version for medium format film cameras arrived, still sporting a small image sensor — just a 16-megapixel Type 1/2.33 chip. Then in 2020, the I’m Back 35 was unveiled, promising a new and improved version of its original product. However, even then, the I’m Back 35 was still really big, adding significant size and heft to film cameras.

The original I’m Back from 2017

In October 2023, I’m Back returned with I’m Back Film, which took the same concept — a digital sensor for film cameras — and put it inside a film canister-type device.

Although this design was much more interesting and more compact, the I’m Back Film still featured a relatively small image sensor, a 20-megapixel Micro Four Thirds chip. It nonetheless had a massive launch on Kickstarter in late 2023, which quickly led to I’m Back partnering with Yashica.

Now, I’m Back’s founder, Samuel Mello Medeiros, is addressing one of the biggest complaints against 2023’s I’m Back Film, which didn’t actually start shipping until just over a year ago. The Micro Four Thirds sensor is quite small, meaning that lenses designed for 35mm film cameras have a 2x crop factor, which isn’t always a bad thing but is a limitation for wide-angle lenses in particular. Photographers using a 28mm lens typically want the look of a 28mm lens, not a 56mm lens. The move to an APS-C-sized image sensor should alleviate some of these frustrations, albeit not entirely. A 1.5 times crop factor is still something photographers must contend with.

“The goal of this project is simple: allow photographers to return to the cameras they love while embracing a contemporary digital workflow. No external display. No visible modules attached to the camera. Everything stays inside. The only external element is a small Bluetooth remote control used to synchronize the shutter,” Medeiros explains on the I’m Back Roll APS-C Kickstarter page.

This new project not only wants to fix the sensor size problem, but it also moves storage and power inside the camera. The Yashica x I’m Back Film ultimately had a separate processing module, which I’m Back says is now gone. The company notes that this design change has benefits beyond making the overall package smaller and sleeker. Since everything is now inside a photographer’s film camera, the I’m Back Roll can actually work with waterproof film cameras, like the legendary Nikonos that PetaPixel‘s Sarah Teng took on an underwater adventure in French Polynesia just a few months ago.

Photo by Sarah Teng

While details are still scarce concerning precise specifications — there’s no word on megapixel count, for example — I’m Back notes that the new APS-C “film roll” will feature internal storage, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a rechargeable, removable battery, and an improved CNC-machined aluminum design built to be durable and stay cool. The sensor will support RAW and JPEG image capture and 4K video recording.

“I’m Back Roll does not aim to replace analog photography or compete with modern digital cameras. Its purpose is to offer a new possibility: bringing historic cameras back to life and allowing them to continue telling new stories,” Medeiros continues.

As DPReview mentions in its coverage, the idea of a digital image sensor inside a film roll-shaped device has been around for a very long time. This dream has been about 25 years in the making, and it wasn’t always I’m Back that was chasing it.

DPR calls back Silicon Film, a failed company that had a similar idea during the very earliest days of consumer digital photography. The Silicon Film saga is far too expansive to discuss in detail here. Fortunately, photographer Olivier Duong did that over a decade ago in a now-archived article that is well worth reading. The Silicon Film EFS-1, which ultimately never saw the light of day, made essentially the same promises the upcoming I’m Back Roll makes — putting a digital sensor and all the necessary components inside a film camera. It has taken this long, and will technically take even longer since it’s unclear when the I’m Back Roll will actually ship, for this seemingly straightforward idea to be realized.

Whether this dream is still worth pursuing remains to be seen, but the I’m Back Roll is definitely a product to keep an eye on.


Image credits: I’m Back unless otherwise noted

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