| Photo: Dale Baskin |
The original Camp Snap camera was a surprise hit, a minimalist camera that succeeded largely because of what it lacked. Originally marketed as a low-cost, screen-free camera for kids to take to summer camp, where devices with screens are sometimes banned, it found a second audience among adults drawn to its no-frills, toy camera simplicity.
The Camp Snap 2 is built around the same basic hardware, but has a slimmer design that takes cues from classic rangefinder aesthetics, and includes several small but meaningful improvements. It’s a likable little camera, though with a sensor much smaller than a typical point-and-shoot, image quality isn’t the reason to buy one.
Key features
- 8MP, Type 1/3.2 image sensor (15.7mm²)
- 26mm (equivalent) F2 lens
- Dual-tone LED flash (6500K cool / 3000K warm)
- 6 present ‘Filters’ for different photo looks, changeable in-camera
- Screw-lockable door to access memory card and date/time settings
- 30.5mm filter thread
- Tripod socket
- 4GB microSD card included
- USB-C port
The Camp Snap 2 is available in nine colors, including translucent options, and costs $70. It can be ordered directly from Camp Snap.
The case for a dedicated summer camp camera
Before diving into the camera, it’s worth some context, particularly for those outside North America. Summer camp is a big tradition in the US and Canada, with kids spending anywhere from a few days to a few weeks at outdoor camps. For many kids, it’s the highlight of the summer.
I have some personal perspective here: not only did I attend summer camp as a child, but I ran one for several years. Back then, if kids brought cameras, they used film and waited until they got home to see the results.
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The Camp Snap 2 camera is designed for kids to take to summer camps with a screen-free policy, but it has found a second audience as a fun toy camera. Camp Snap 2 camera | F2 | 1/1700 sec | ISO 100 |
Today, many camps prohibit devices with screens, including smartphones and most digital cameras. They want to keep kids engaged with each other and the outdoors rather than staring at screens or messaging friends at home. That’s the scenario the Camp Snap was designed for.
What’s new
If you’re familiar with the original Camp Snap, here’s what’s changed.
The most important addition is a dedicated on/off switch. On the original, the shutter button doubled as the power switch, which was awkward and potentially confusing. The Camp Snap 2 also gains an automatic sleep mode, so a forgotten power-off won’t drain the battery.
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The back of the Camp Snap 2 camera is as simple as it gets. An on/off/flash switch (upper left), a tunnel-style viewfinder, a tiny LCD frame counter, and a button to change the filter style of the images (center right). There’s also a speaker that emits shutter sounds when the shutter button is pressed. Photo: Dale Baskin |
Filter presets (color modes) can now be changed in-camera. The original required a computer connection to change modes, and if you wanted to change it, you had to reconnect to the computer. The Camp Snap 2 offers six: Standard, Vintage 1, Vintage 2, Vintage 3, Analog, and Black & White, cycled through using a button to the right of the frame counter. Holding it for 10 seconds locks it, useful if you’d rather your kids not fiddle with the settings.
Like the original, the Camp Snap 2 has a small screw securing the card slot door, and the new model adds a conventional slide-lock so you can remove the screw if you prefer.
Also new: a 30.5mm filter thread and a tripod socket. I don’t anticipate many people will use this camera with screw-on filters, but Camp Snap has strongly hinted that it plans to release some. The tripod socket is of limited utility without a self-timer or a way to remotely trigger the shutter.
In use
The Camp Snap 2 is exceptionally easy to use because there’s so little to control. It’s the closest thing to a ‘plastic fantastic’ disposable camera you’ll find in the digital world. The only controls are the shutter button, the power switch (which also activates the flash), and the filter button. A tiny LCD on the back displays the shot count and the active filter.
“It’s the closest thing to a ‘plastic fantastic’ disposable camera you’ll find in the digital world.”
Since there’s no LCD screen for composing shots, you frame photos through a simple tunnel-style viewfinder. It’s not fancy, but it works, which is all it needs to do.
The camera includes a 4GB microSD card, which Camp Snap says should hold around 2,000 photos. That’s plenty for a week at camp, and you can always use a larger card if needed.
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The bottom of the Camp Snap 2 houses the USB-C port, tripod socket, and a screw-locked door covering the memory card slot and date/time controls. The screw discourages kids from opening it, but can be removed if you’d prefer Photo: Dale Baskin |
The card lives behind a panel that screws shut, and that’s very much by design. From personal experience running a summer camp, I can tell you that kids are remarkably good at losing things. Placing a screw on that door is a meaningful deterrent between a curious kid and the only copy of their photos.
Of course, there’s no guarantee they won’t lose the entire camera (because: kids), but if they do, it was only $70 to start with.
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Camp Snap 2 camera | F2 | 1/2500sec | ISO 100 |
The flash is an LED type, similar to a smartphone flash, which can produce that same washed-out look. Auto flash mode is gone this time around, which is a minor loss. That said, given the limitations of the LED unit, leaving it off unless it’s absolutely needed is probably the right approach anyway.
The camera runs on an internal battery charged via USB-C, which is one less thing for kids to lose. Camp Snap rates it at around 500 shots, which seems reasonable in my experience.
Image quality
It’s important to set appropriate expectations for image quality. It’s an inexpensive camera that’s designed mostly for kids to capture memories, with the idea that it’s potentially disposable should disaster happen.
Don’t expect the same level of image quality that you would get from a modern smartphone or even a retro point-and-shoot camera, though. The camera’s imaging sensor is tiny. In fact, it’s smaller than the ones used in most smartphone cameras, and it doesn’t benefit from any of the computational photography techniques those devices use to improve image quality.
It’s worth illustrating this with some real-world examples. In the table below, you can compare the Camp Snap 2’s sensor and lens to other cameras that have lenses with similar focal length, including the Kodak C1, the Olympus Tough TG-5, a rugged camera introduced in 2017, and the iPhone 13, a several-year-old smartphone.
| Camp Snap 2 | Kodak C1 | Olympus Tough TG-5 | iPhone 13 (main camera) |
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| Price | $70 | $120 | $450 | $799 |
| Sensor type | 8MP | 13MP (BSI) | 12MP (BSI) | 12MP (BSI) |
| Sensor area | 15.7mm² | 15.9mm² | 28.1mm² | 35.2mm² |
| Lens* | 26mm F2 | 26mm F2 | 25-100mm F2-4.9 | 26mm F1.6 |
| Light captured** | 1x | ~1x | 1.8x | 3.5x |
*Focal lengths are 35mm equivalent.
**Relative to Camp Snap 2, based on sensor area, aperture, and sensor type (BSI sensors capture more light than conventional sensors of the same size).
In general, the more light a camera gets, the better the image quality, and the numbers on the last line tell a clear story: the Camp Snap 2’s sensor captures roughly half the light of the TG-5 and less than a third of what the iPhone 13 captures – and that’s before the iPhone’s computational wizardry kicks in. The Kodak C1’s BSI sensor gives it a slight edge over the Camp Snap 2 despite their similar size, along with a flip-up LCD screen, for just $50 more.
Of course, what none of those cameras can provide is the simplicity and screen-free experience of the Camp Snap 2, and if a screen-free camera is what you need, or simply the experience you’re after, it stands out.
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The Camp Snap 2 is prone to clipping bright highlights, like clouds. Camp Snap 2 camera | F2 | 1/1150sec | ISO 100 |
In most cases, the Camp Snap 2 does a good job of getting exposure correct, but it struggles with strongly back-lit scenes, and while the white balance is generally on target, photos can occasionally exhibit a slight color cast.
The most visible artifacts you’re likely to encounter are clipped highlights on bright objects or JPEG compression artifacts, which are obvious if you pixel peep images at magnification.
Verdict
The Camp Snap 2 is a good camera to send to camp with your kids, particularly if there’s a no-screens rule. It’s incredibly easy to use and lets kids capture memories that last a lifetime. Older kids, or those with some photography experience under their belt, might find it too simplistic and would be better served by something with a bit more control.
However, it has a fun factor, and if you’re buying it for your child to take to summer camp – or even for yourself to have some fun – it’s up to the task. When I look back at photos I took at summer camp as a kid with a film camera, the image quality leaves a lot to be desired. But adult me doesn’t care one bit about that. The purpose of those photos was never to be fine art. It was to capture memories of something that mattered, and they do exactly that. The Camp Snap 2 can do the same.