I’ve spent a month testing this Lomography reloadable film camera — and for $27, it offers unbeatable value for money

Film cameras have made a comeback in earnest, as my social media feed is heavily populated with retro-style photos. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on a good film camera either — take the Lomography Simple Use, for instance. It’s one of the best cheap cameras around, as for just $27, it comes pre-loaded with a 27-exposure roll of film and an AA battery to power its built-in flash.

Alongside the flash, the Simple Use also packs a set of colored gel filters to help you get creative shots. It’s extremely easy to use (as you’ve probably guessed from the name), and the photos it takes have a retro, vintage look to them. However, film removal is slightly fiddly; build quality isn’t the best; and there’s some chromatic aberration in the photos.

Should you still buy it? Read my full Lomography Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera Classicolor review.

Lomography Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera Classicolor review: Specs

Lomography Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera Classicolor review: Price & availability

The Lomography Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera Classicolor (I’ll just use ‘Simple Use’ from now on) is a very cheap and very cheerful film camera. If you buy it directly from Lomography, the Simple Use costs $27 / £19. In the U.K. where I’m based, you can also buy the Simple Use from Amazon, but this drives the cost up to £52.

You can get either an ISO 400 or an ISO 200 (tested) model, and both come pre-loaded with a 27-exposure roll of film, so you get your first shots for free. ISO 400 film is twice as sensitive to light as ISO 200 film, allowing faster shutter speeds and better low-light performance. If you want to photograph moving subjects, shade and cloudy days better, ISO 400 is right for you. If you want a camera that works best in bright, sunny outdoor conditions, ISO 200 should suffice.

The Simple Use is much cheaper than other reusable film cameras, like the Kodak Ultra F9 35mm ($49), the Kodak Ektar H35 ($49) and the AgfaPhoto Analogue 35mm ($81). It’s priced similarly to the Fujifilm QuickSnap Flash 400 ($21) and the Kodak FunSaver 35mm ($29) but they’re single-use cameras, so you can only use them for one roll of film. The Simple Use is, then, excellent value for money.

Lomography Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera Classicolor review: Design & build quality

If you want a compact film camera that doesn’t take up much space in your handbag, the Lomography Simple Use is the one. The camera measures just 4.5 x 2.4 x 1.3 inches and weighs 4.23oz (including film and battery), so it’s similar to other film cameras, like the Kodak Ultra F9 and the Kodak Ektar H35. I’ve had no trouble carrying the Simple Use in my trousers’ pocket.

The Simple Use comes in a few different colors, such as yellow, red, purple, orange, and turquoise. Each model is wrapped in stickers around the front and the back, with usage instructions — handy if this is your first time using a film camera. I tested the yellow model which looks fine. The aesthetics aren’t anything to write home about, and neither is the build quality.

Annoyingly, the Simple Use is made entirely of ABS plastic which feels cheap and flimsy. I feel like if I exerted even a bit of pressure on the film door’s hinges, it would fall apart. But you have to remind yourself that this camera costs just under $30. If build quality is a priority for you, I’d recommend the Kodak Ultra F9 instead — but you’ll need to spend an extra $20 for it.

Lomography Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera Classicolor review: Lens & viewfinder

The Lomography Simple Use is fitted with a 31mm fixed-focus lens. This provides a wild field of view which means you can capture a lot of the scene, making the Simple Use great for street, landscapes, travel and everyday photography. The camera has a focusing range of 1m to ∞, so any subject closer than 1 meter will be blurry and out of focus.

As a no-frills film camera, you don’t get any manual control over focus settings, so the Simple Use is excellent for beginners who just want to capture memories without thinking too much.

The Simple Use features a small viewfinder that I found easy to look through, even as someone who wears prescription glasses.

Lomography Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera Classicolor review: Controls

Lomography hit the nail on the head when it called this camera Simple Use, because it is extremely simple to use. It comes pre-loaded with film, so is ready to use as soon as you unbox it.

All the shooting settings are adjusted automatically so all you need to do is look through the viewfinder, frame your subject, and press the shutter button to take a photo. I bet my family’s Golden Retriever, Odie, could use the Simple Use too… if he had opposable thumbs.

The film advance dial is located right below the shutter button, so it’s easy to advance the film to the next frame. Unloading the film is extremely straightforward, too. You’ll know the roll has finished when the film advance dial keeps spinning. After that, press the film door button to open the door, and take your roll out. Frustratingly, though, the film door button is quite stiff and takes a couple of tries before you can push it to open the door.

Since this is a reusable camera, you can pop in a new roll of film, close the door, and you’re ready to start shooting again.

The Simple Use features a built-in flash too. To use it, you need to hold down the flash button located on the front of the camera, and take a photo while keeping it pressed.

There’s a set of yellow, cyan and magenta colored gel filters attached next to the viewfinder, so you can move one (or all of them!) over the flash to create different color effects.

Lomography Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera Classicolor review: Image quality

The Lomography Simple Use captures quintessentially retro-style images which are lo-fi and grainy — something that’s right up Gen Z’s street as retro tech has made a huge comeback these last few years. The images aren’t the most hi-res and are fit for sharing on social media. Not being able to see the photos until you get your film developed lets you stay in the moment and enjoy yourself, too.

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And I’ve thoroughly enjoyed using the Simple Use to photograph Bristol Pride, the city of Bath in the U.K., and my travels. Results can be hit-or-miss but that’s the charm of film cameras. I’ve been happy with most of the photos I’ve taken with the Simple Use, and you can see a few examples above. I love how fluffy and well-defined the clouds look in the first and second shots, and the plane’s red jet engine really pops.

Most of the images are quite sharp, too. In the third, fourth and fifth shots, the edges of the plaque and the buildings are well-defined. In terms of colors, the blues in the Union Jack flags and the West Country Ales plaque appear deep, while the buildings’ beige stone looks as textured as in real life.

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In the first two shots, taken on a sunny day, the colors look great. Each individual shade in the ‘Love Wins’ fan is discernible, as are the colors in the rainbow face paint. The third photo was taken on an overcast day but the image still looks pleasing to the eye.

There is some yellow and purple color fringing, also known as chromatic aberration, around the edges of the tent in the first shot, the trees in the fourth image and the chimneys and roof in the last photo. This is usually a sign of poor optics, but in a camera this cheap it’s not surprising, nor a huge issue. This also occurred with similarly-priced cameras like the Kodak F9.

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The Simple Use’s shutter speed is limited to 1/120s and it’s got a fixed f/9 aperture, just like on the Kodak Ultra F9. The fixed f/9 aperture lets less light in than a wide aperture lens, like f/2.8 on the much pricier Lomography Lomo MC-A 35mm ($549). This means that images shot in dimly lit environments turn out darker and potentially noisier, as you can see in the second shot above.

But you can salvage some of the shots with the built-in flash. The Simple Use’s built-in flash is fairly powerful, too, and it worked well to illuminate all the shots in the gallery above. The last two photos were taken with the color filters covering the flash, and they do what they’re designed to.

Lomography Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera Classicolor review: Film cost & yield

The Lomography Simple Use comes pre-loaded with a 27-exposure roll of film, and subsequent rolls of 35mm film aren’t very expensive either. Film costs naturally vary depending on the type you get and where you live. For example, I live in the U.K. and used a 36-exposure roll of Fujifilm 200, which generally costs $31 / £39 for a pack of three.

Film development costs will vary too. My film development cost me £18 for one roll of film (digital scans only). But I asked an American colleague about film developing costs in the U.S., and he said that it can cost as little as $10.

Lomography Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera Classicolor review: Battery life

Similar to most other film cameras I’ve tested, like the Kodak Ultra F9, the Lomography Simple Use utilizes a single AA battery (included in the box). These are easily sourced and you probably have a couple spares lying around your house, too.

Lomography doesn’t specify how long an AA battery lasts as it’s primarily there to power the flash, but I was able to get through two rolls of film comfortably while occasionally using the flash.

Lomography Simple Use Reloadable Film Camera Classicolor review: Verdict

If you want a cheap and very cheerful film camera, you can’t go wrong with the Lomography Simple Use. As the name suggests, this is an extremely easy camera to use. It’s perfect for beginners, casual users, and anyone who wants to capture retro-style photos — albeit with slight chromatic aberration (which doesn’t necessarily ruin the images).

The Simple Use is great value for money as it costs just $27 and comes pre-loaded with a 27-exposure film roll as well as an AA battery to power the flash. It’s fitted with a set of colored filters too to help you get creative shots, too.

Though build quality isn’t anything to write home about and removing film can be slightly frustrating, those are minor issues at this price point. At the end of the day, the Simple Use is fun and it makes capturing memories easy while allowing you to stay in the moment.