A new 35mm SLR?

So, here is an idea. The world's first manual 35mm SLR film camera design in 25 years combining the spirit of manual film cameras of the past with 21st century technology. This is what a new company has envisioned and they have a Kickstarter page and it is quite interesting.

Here is a link to the Kickstarter if you want to take a look at it.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reflexcamera/reflex-bringing-back-the-analogue-slr-camera

According to the company, the Reflex will have a magnesium alloy body weighing in at less that 500 grams, making it a featherweight. The design language used in the body hearkens back to SLRs of the 1960s.

Relfex means to develop this camera with a bluetooth application that will send metadata to your smartphone. That would mean, if you are a student or just someone who likes to track their exposure data, then no more carrying around a little notebook. The Reflex will have both a flash and a continuous LED light built into the camera body, two things that seem unnecessary to me. Powering the new electronics will be a L-ion battery rechargeable via USB.

Aesthetically, this thing is very blocky and Frankenstein-ish. I find the built-in lights and the Bluetooth to be unnecessary. I applaud this startup, though and like the direction that they are going. I like the idea of a brand-new film package for using cool vintage glass, but, only if it is ergonomically superior and will still be functionable after older cameras have finally bitten the dust.

Where this camera gets really interesting is the modular design. You can swap out lens mounts for M42, Nikon F, Canon FD, Olympus OM, and Pentax PK. So, this single camera will be able to work with a shelf full of classic glass. The Relfex will ship with the M42 standard screw mount, so, out of the box you can take advantage of a wide range of vintage Japanese, German and Russian lenses. The Reflex will have removable film backs. If you didn't finish the roll of black and white that you were shooting last night, and wanted to get some fall colors in the morning, you would normally need two camera bodies. With the Reflex, you just swap out the film backs mid roll. The camera design is meant to be open source to encourage third party mods and people with the wherewithal to create their own DIY modifications. Ideally, no two of these cameras will be the same.