Analog.Cafe › News ›6 min read by Dmitri. Published on September 26, 2025. Updated on September 26, 2025.
I recently evaluated the thinnest full-frame camera in the world, a design from the 1990s that still retains that distinction, despite the remarkable advancements in digital technology that have occurred since then. Consider this: over 30 years have gone by, and we still haven't managed to fit a sensor into a body as slim as that of the Ricoh GR1, which also accommodates the motor drive and compartments for the film cartridge and take-up spool. What else have we lost by moving away from film?
In this correspondence, I will discuss the thinnest and smallest full-frame film cameras ever produced, share the preferences of Analog.Cafe readers regarding the best film camera, and include statistics about the most-read film reviews, revealing which films hold the community's interest today.
In this newsletter: Complimentary film. The slimmest and smallest full-frame cameras are 1990s film point-and-shoots. Your choice for the "best" film camera! The most favored films on Analog.Cafe. What’s next for Analog.Cafe? Support this blog and unlock premium features through GOLD memberships!
Free film.
If you are not yet a GOLD subscriber, here's a little motivation: Since May, I have been giving away packs of three rolls of film to one random winner each month — and you could be the next lucky recipient with your membership. So far, I’ve given away 12 rolls of hand-rolled Kodak Vision 3 film, packaged in plastic-free boxes made of 100% upcycled materials. Starting this month, I've set aside an additional 12 rolls of black-and-white film: Cinema Shorts BW 3200 and Cinema Shorts 200.
Details.
The thinnest and smallest full-frame cameras are 1990s film point-and-shoots. In 2025, we can integrate a tiny 100-megapixel sensor into a slim mobile device. However, the quality of mobile photographs falls short compared to full-frame sensors in aspects like noise, bokeh, or any lens-related characteristics that make images visually appealing.
Minolta TC-1 — the smallest full-frame 35mm film camera ever manufactured. The crisp, smooth images from mobile devices are often heavily edited, distorted, and susceptible to significant flaring. While these images can indeed be impressive, they remain technically inferior to photographs taken with larger sensors.
Digital image sensors can deliver impressive resolution (although not quite as much as film) in compact formats, but they don't compete with the practicality of analog in larger sizes. The most extensive digital camera sensor used in a telescope is a connected array of multiple sensors, as creating a single sensor of such dimensions is impractical (yet achievable using photochemistry). For consumers, medium format digital sensors are prohibitively expensive and don’t match the area offered by significantly more affordable 6x7 cameras like the Mamiya RZ67.
Interestingly, the smallest and thinnest full-frame cameras available today were created in the 1990s: the Minolta TC-1 and the Ricoh GR1. Ricoh GR1s — the slimmest full-frame 35mm film camera ever produced.
In this letter, I will share information about the thinnest and smallest full-frame film cameras ever produced, along with the preferences of Analog.Cafe readers regarding the best film camera. Additionally, I will provide statistics on the most popular film reviews to highlight the films that the community is currently most interested in.