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Review: The Hello Kitty rangefinder is a camera you'll hate to love
Photo: Dale Baskin On a recent trip to Japan, I found myself in one of those situations universally dreaded by travelers: showing up for an international flight with a pocketful of unspent local currency and nowhere to spend it except a duty-free shop. I was swimming in a Scrooge McDuckian sea of unused Yen. The idea of bringing home yet another Toblerone bar, that triangular brick of duty-free despair, was soul crushing. I desperately searched for something – anything – else to needlessly throw my money at. Then I saw the Hello Kitty Toy Camera, a small rangefinder-shaped camera complete with an optical viewfinder and removable memory card. You can find these toy cameras all over Japan at stores like Bic Camera, but I never considered buying one until I was in a use-it-or-lose-it cash scenario. Watch our hands-on review of the Hello Kitty toy camera. Given the choice of drowning my sorrows in yet another Toblerone bar, snagging a box of Tokyo Bananas or dropping a pocketful of Yen on the Hello Kitty camera, my duty to DPReview came first. Which is why, dear readers, I'm going to tell you about yet another camera you never knew you didn't want. Key specifications 1.3MP Type 1/10 CMOS sensor (approximately 1.28 x 0.96mm) 3.2mm F2.8 fixed-focus lens Optical viewfinder ISO 100 (fixed) Single Micro SDHC card slot Video capture (720x480/30p) Fake buttons and controls Pink Hello Kitty styling How it compares It's hard to find cameras that are directly comparable to the Hello Kitty Toy Camera, so we decided the best course of action would be to compare it to another rangefinder-style camera: the Fujifilm X100VI. As the table below illustrates, we can make the Hello Kitty camera appear competitive with the more expensive X100VI by picking just the right specs to compare. Hello Kitty Toy Camera Fujifilm X100VI MSRP $45 $1599 Sensor size (crop factor) 1.25mm² *(27x) 369mm²(1.53x) Resolution 1.3MP 40MP Max aperture F2.8 F2 Viewfinder Optical Optical Hello Kitty-themed art Yes No Trendy color options Yes No Fake buttons to look more professional Yes No Memory card type Micro SDHC UHS-I SD Number of existential mid-life crises induced in the average camera reviewer during testing 3 0 Weight 18g 521g On paper, both cameras earn superlatives in some areas. While the Fujifilm wins on key specs like sensor size and resolution, it's hard to ignore the price tag and uber-light weight of the Hello Kitty camera. Along with the fact that the Hello Kitty camera can fit in a real pants pocket, not the ambiguous 'jacket pocket' reviewers always talk about. The number of existential mid-life crises induced in a camera reviewer is a spec that's often overlooked in reviews. The Hello Kitty camera definitely wins here. As long as we're clear that by 'wins', we mean 'loses'. Body and handling Photo: Dale Baskin The Hello Kitty camera is a rangefinder-shaped camera with silver-colored top and bottom plates and an optical viewfinder. I call it a 'rangefinder-shaped' camera because it's not actually a rangefinder. But, then again, neither is the Fujifilm X100VI. You won't use the viewfinder. It's either so bad that it makes you dizzy, or it's a window into 4-dimensional space the human brain isn't wired to comprehend. Either way, it will drive you to madness. The optical viewfinder is a nice touch, but trying to use it will drive you to madness. Photo: Dale Baskin The camera includes two functional controls along with two other controls that are just for show. The On/Off button on the top plate doubles as the shutter button, and the Mode button adjacent to it lets you switch the camera between photo, video and audio recording modes. The other controls are fake, fooling absolutely no one. The 3.2mm F2.8 lens, which I'm pretty sure is made of a chunk of polished candy, has ridged edges that beg to be rotated. But trying that would be a mistake as it would break the camera. You just have to embrace it for what it is. Here's a picture of the Hello Kitty camera that better illustrates its size. Yep, it's that small. Also, that lever on the front is fake. Photo: Dale Baskin Taking photos is best accomplished with a 'spray and pray' approach. You point, shoot and hope. I say 'hope' because the camera doesn't actually take a photo of what's in front of you but something off to one side. It's like having an integrated AI that guesses what you're trying to photograph, then fails spectacularly every time. Image quality No DPReview camera review would be complete without our studio test scene. When shooting our studio test scene with the Hello Kitty camera, we were left with digital despair. The camera's 5:4 aspect ratio results in a crop that cuts off the edges of the test scene. The camera's 1.3MP sensor captures the essence of light. Or at least a blurry approximation of it. The sensor's dynamic range can best be described as 'on' or 'off'. A quick glance at the stu
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| Photo: Dale Baskin |
On a recent trip to Japan, I found myself in one of those situations universally dreaded by travelers: showing up for an international flight with a pocketful of unspent local currency and nowhere to spend it except a duty-free shop. I was swimming in a Scrooge McDuckian sea of unused Yen.
The idea of bringing home yet another Toblerone bar, that triangular brick of duty-free despair, was soul crushing. I desperately searched for something – anything – else to needlessly throw my money at.
Then I saw the Hello Kitty Toy Camera, a small rangefinder-shaped camera complete with an optical viewfinder and removable memory card. You can find these toy cameras all over Japan at stores like Bic Camera, but I never considered buying one until I was in a use-it-or-lose-it cash scenario.
Given the choice of drowning my sorrows in yet another Toblerone bar, snagging a box of Tokyo Bananas or dropping a pocketful of Yen on the Hello Kitty camera, my duty to DPReview came first. Which is why, dear readers, I'm going to tell you about yet another camera you never knew you didn't want.
Key specifications
- 1.3MP Type 1/10 CMOS sensor (approximately 1.28 x 0.96mm)
- 3.2mm F2.8 fixed-focus lens
- Optical viewfinder
- ISO 100 (fixed)
- Single Micro SDHC card slot
- Video capture (720x480/30p)
- Fake buttons and controls
- Pink Hello Kitty styling
How it compares
It's hard to find cameras that are directly comparable to the Hello Kitty Toy Camera, so we decided the best course of action would be to compare it to another rangefinder-style camera: the Fujifilm X100VI.
As the table below illustrates, we can make the Hello Kitty camera appear competitive with the more expensive X100VI by picking just the right specs to compare.
| Hello Kitty Toy Camera | Fujifilm X100VI | |
|---|---|---|
| MSRP | $45 | $1599 |
| Sensor size (crop factor) | 1.25mm² * (27x) |
369mm² (1.53x) |
| Resolution | 1.3MP | 40MP |
| Max aperture | F2.8 | F2 |
| Viewfinder | Optical | Optical |
| Hello Kitty-themed art | Yes | No |
| Trendy color options | Yes | No |
| Fake buttons to look more professional | Yes | No |
| Memory card type | Micro SDHC | UHS-I SD |
| Number of existential mid-life crises induced in the average camera reviewer during testing | 3 | 0 |
| Weight | 18g | 521g |
On paper, both cameras earn superlatives in some areas. While the Fujifilm wins on key specs like sensor size and resolution, it's hard to ignore the price tag and uber-light weight of the Hello Kitty camera. Along with the fact that the Hello Kitty camera can fit in a real pants pocket, not the ambiguous 'jacket pocket' reviewers always talk about.
The number of existential mid-life crises induced in a camera reviewer is a spec that's often overlooked in reviews. The Hello Kitty camera definitely wins here. As long as we're clear that by 'wins', we mean 'loses'.
Body and handling
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| Photo: Dale Baskin |
The Hello Kitty camera is a rangefinder-shaped camera with silver-colored top and bottom plates and an optical viewfinder. I call it a 'rangefinder-shaped' camera because it's not actually a rangefinder. But, then again, neither is the Fujifilm X100VI.
You won't use the viewfinder. It's either so bad that it makes you dizzy, or it's a window into 4-dimensional space the human brain isn't wired to comprehend. Either way, it will drive you to madness.
 |
|
The optical viewfinder is a nice touch, but trying to use it will drive you to madness. Photo: Dale Baskin |
The camera includes two functional controls along with two other controls that are just for show. The On/Off button on the top plate doubles as the shutter button, and the Mode button adjacent to it lets you switch the camera between photo, video and audio recording modes.
The other controls are fake, fooling absolutely no one.
The 3.2mm F2.8 lens, which I'm pretty sure is made of a chunk of polished candy, has ridged edges that beg to be rotated. But trying that would be a mistake as it would break the camera. You just have to embrace it for what it is.
 |
|
Here's a picture of the Hello Kitty camera that better illustrates its size. Yep, it's that small. Also, that lever on the front is fake. Photo: Dale Baskin |
Taking photos is best accomplished with a 'spray and pray' approach. You point, shoot and hope. I say 'hope' because the camera doesn't actually take a photo of what's in front of you but something off to one side. It's like having an integrated AI that guesses what you're trying to photograph, then fails spectacularly every time.
Image quality
No DPReview camera review would be complete without our studio test scene.
 |
| When shooting our studio test scene with the Hello Kitty camera, we were left with digital despair. The camera's 5:4 aspect ratio results in a crop that cuts off the edges of the test scene. |
The camera's 1.3MP sensor captures the essence of light. Or at least a blurry approximation of it. The sensor's dynamic range can best be described as 'on' or 'off'. A quick glance at the studio scene reveals... absolutely nothing. It doesn't reveal anything except unfiltered digital despair.
I have to come clean. I didn't take this photo in our studio because I couldn't justify the time it would have taken to do so. Instead, I used a life-sized print of the studio scene I keep at home, captured using a $45,000, 150MP Phase One camera. Don't worry; you won't be able to tell the difference in the images from the Hello Kitty camera.
For that matter, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the real studio scene and an impressionist painting of it.
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The photos from the Hello Kitty camera are so bad as to border on some kind of avant-garde art. Photo: Dale Baskin |
The one redeeming quality I can see in the images is that they're so bad as to border on some kind of avant-garde art. They have a certain je ne sais quoi, if the 'quoi' is 'blurry, pixelated and eye watering.'
Video
It's incredible that this camera even shoots video, capturing 720x480 resolution, which I'm pretty sure is the same resolution my not-inexpensive Panasonic DVX100 vIdeo camera captured about 20 years ago. Though the Panasonic had the advantage of being a 3-CCD system. And having a lens that could fully resolve an image of an avocado.
If your idea of quality video is watching a bootleg copy of the movie ET your parents recorded on network television in 1984, you'll be delighted with the results.
Conclusion
With my journalistic integrity now hanging by a thread – or a pink piece of yarn – I have to find some way to wrap up this review. My professional reputation is in the hands of an animated cat, and I'm strangely OK with that.
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| Photo: Dale Baskin |
I'm not sure if this camera is a toy or a subtle form of psychological warfare aimed at photographers. I've temporarily convinced myself it was a sound purchase, knowing a crushing pink wave of buyer's remorse will eventually hit me like a pixelated tsunami; after all, this is one of the worst photography products I've ever used.
And yet, I have a weird affinity for it.
My six-year-old niece loves using the Hello Kitty camera. So does my cat. But instead of taking photos, he mostly just wants to kill it. I don't know if he has some kind of Hello Kitty issue he's working through or if it's just because cats are basically little killing machines who happen to be cute.
But it does make me wonder if it might actually be possible to put a price on happiness: $45 (plus the cost of therapy).
Sample Gallery
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