There’s no question about where Camp Snap got the idea for the CS-8. It looks just like an old Super 8 movie camera, the type that families used to capture memories in the 1960s and ’70s, before VHS camcorders took over the market in the ’80s. Camp Snap embraces the style with enthusiasm, giving the CS-8 an old-school silver-and-black finish and analog gauges to show battery life and memory card capacity.
(Credit: Jim Fisher)
The size also follows Super 8 cameras—by digital standards, the CS-8 is pretty big. It measures 8.3 by 2.8 by 8.8 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.1 pounds, it’s roughly twice the size as the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo Cinema and many times larger than an action cam like the GoPro Hero13 Black. I think it’s pretty comfortable to hold, as its large pistol grip fits naturally in my hand and its Record trigger sits naturally under my index finger, but I worry that kids will have a hard time. Camp Snap started as a brand for summer camp kids, and the CS-8 feels like a natural movie-making machine to catch memories of youthful exploits, but it seems too cumbersome for small hands.
(Credit: Jim Fisher)
The size is not the only form-over-function concern either. The CS-8 has large W and T buttons to set its digital zoom, but they’re awkwardly placed at the top of the right side panel. If you want to adjust them when you’re recording, you’ll need to hold the camera with your left hand—that’s not a problem for southpaws, but it’s easier to hold a camera steady with your dominant hand, and we live in a right-handed world. The left side also has Mode, Up, and Down buttons below the Camp Snap 8 logo—you won’t use these much; they’re only there to set the camera’s internal clock.
The remaining controls are small, knurled dials, all located on the left side. On/Off is self-explanatory and is joined by an aspect ratio control that switches between 4:3, 16:9, 1:1, and 9:16, and another to switch between the five built-in filters (Analog, Black and White, Standard, Vintage 1, Vintage 2). The dials are attractive, for sure, but they’re also pretty tight and narrow, so they require some effort to adjust.
The built-in microphone is pretty typical for a digital camera; it sounds a little hollow and picks up plenty of background noise. You can attach an external mic via the 3.5mm jack, and there’s a cold shoe on the top plate for easy mounting.
(Credit: Jim Fisher)
Camp Snap started out making digital still cameras with optical viewfinders only. The CS-8 bucks that trend by including an electronic viewfinder but omitting in-camera playback, so it’s pretty close to the original concept. The viewfinder itself is pretty decent; it’s easy to see the LCD’s grill pattern, but it’s large and clear enough to see a good preview of the scene. The eye relief isn’t good, though. When wearing my eyeglasses, I can only see about half of the viewfinder. When I take them off and jam the eyecup to my face, I still struggle to see the bottom portion without peeking down and missing what’s going on up top. The Instax Mini Evo Cinema also shows the LCD pattern when using its eye-level viewfinder attachment, but makes it easier to see the whole frame.
Get Our Best Stories!
All the Latest Tech, Tested by Our Experts
By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy
Policy.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
(Credit: Jim Fisher)
The CS-8 is powered by a built-in battery and charges via USB-C, and comes preloaded with a 4GB microSD card. The battery is sure to outlast storage; I recorded enough video to fill the card to capacity in about 30 minutes, and the battery stayed above 90%. It’s worthwhile to swap out the 4GB card for one with a larger capacity (the camera works with cards up to 128GB), but this requires some work. You’ll need to use a Philips-head screwdriver to remove the two screws around the USB-C port, then slide the back panel down to access the card slot. The CS-8 doesn’t have Wi-Fi, so you’ll want to plug it into your device via USB-C to offload video—it mounts as a disk on computers, smartphones, and tablets.
