Based on my enthusiasm for their previous model, makers of the new Kodak Ektar H35N, RETO, kindly sent me a production model to try. A few weeks ago, I tested the upgraded half frame 35mm camera, wrote a review and published my thoughts and results on Petapixel.
Alot of folks DM’d me about the article who had further questions or just to thank me. Among them was RETO, who replied to a few points in my article. I wanted to post about one thing that they said about the aperture of their new camera which I found significant.
In my Petapixel review, I stated disappointment that the flash toggle switch went from feeling very satisfying on the H35 to being harder to adjust on the H35N. I thought the switch had changed due to an issue with the flash firing unexpected on the H35. Unexpectedly related, I also I also recommended that RETO could have added a second aperture instead of the star filter.
As it turns out, the flash switch feels harder because when you rotate it, you are changing the aperture!
RETO: “we actually have two aperture settings in the H35N. The lens is at F8 when flash on while it is normally at F11. The specs on our website is updated accordingly.“
Total mind explosion!
The previous H35 model has a single f9.5 aperture. Initial spec sheets for the new H35N that I read for my review indicated that it has a single f8 aperture. But that is only true when the built-in flash is switched on.
If you shoot the H35N without flash, as I did for my first roll, you’re shooting at f11.
I felt like my negatives were denser than I expected but I didn’t use a light meter and figured the density was due to greater contrast of the H35N’s new coated glass aspherical lens.
Sure enough, I can see the two different apertures slide in and out of place as I toggle the flash on and off.
I spoke to Molly Kate and David Mihaly about this new information because they have both also recently reviewed the H35N and we’d already been talking about them.
We all agreed that it seemed strange for RETO to make f11 default, for available light and the f8 for flash. But I think what RETO intended was to brighten flash images without the need to install a more powerful flash and increase focusing accuracy, maybe sharpness too, for available light shots.
By adding the aperture setting to the flash switch, they, perhaps inadvertently, added even more creative control to the Kodak Ektar H35N!
Because the aperture is controlled mechanically by the flash switch, if you want to shoot the Kodak Ektar H35N at f8 in available light, all you have to do is remove the battery from the camera and “turn the flash on.”
Shooting at f8 instead of f11 will give you less depth of field, even less than the H35. This can make half frame photos look more like full frame by isolating the subject more.
Also, if you are shooting at the cusp of what your ISO and fixed 1/100 shutter can expose properly at f11, now you have the option of throwing a stop more light on your film before resorting to bulb shutter.
Even though it’s only a one stop difference, in my mind, this hidden feature is pretty significant and helps tip the scales in choosing the H35N instead of the H35.
So there it is! The new hidden feature of the new Kodak Ektar H35N half frame camera.
For more chatter about the H35N by some friendly and knowledgeable photographers, be sure and check out
David Mihaly’s The Old Camera Guy YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok
Molly Kate’s Eclectachrome YouTube, Instagram, and her H35N review with great photos on 35mmc!
Happy shooting and thanks for reading!
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