- Kodak Charmera returns in a new Y2K-inspired ‘Millennium Edition’
- It’s comes in six new colorways, with additional photo filters and frames, but is otherwise the same mini digital camera
- Like before, a single Charmera costs $35 / £35 / AU$55 and you don’t know which version is in the box
In a somewhat predictable but highly welcome product launch, the wildly popular Kodak Charmera returns in a new ‘Millennium Edition’. It’s the 30g / $35 digital toy camera as we know it, only this time it’s from a different Y2K-inspired era to the original’s 1987 look.
Charmera Millienium Edition comes in six new Y2K-inspired colorways, plus it’s armed with additional photo filters and frames that mimic the tech interface of that era, including camcorders and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.
Otherwise, it’s exactly the same digital camera with 35mm f/2.4 lens and tiny 1/4-inch CMOS sensor, that shoots some of the worst-quality 1.6MP JPEG photos and 1440x1080pixel 30p video you’ll see, which strangely is part of the charm.
Pricing is the same, too — a single Kodak Charmera costs $34.99 / £34.99 / $54.99 and comes in a ‘blind box’, meaning you don’t know which colorway you’re going to get. The ‘Whole set’ box, which includes all six varieties, costs $209.94. That’s not a dime of a discount versus buying a Charmera individually, but it does ensure that collectors get each version.
Like before, there’s a limited edition seventh look, which in this case is a shiny silver version (see the uppermost camera in the image below), but you have a 1 in 49 chance of getting one.
That’s another era checked off
Tech nostalgia is big business in 2026 — and the renewed interest in film photography, vintage compact cameras and indeed the Charmera itself prove it.
The Charmera was a marketing masterstroke and sold out in a single day on its November 2025 release. It has inspired a wave of low-cost miniature alternatives, including the even-cheaper Photo Creator Mini Digital Camera series 3, so the time was right for Kodak to return with a fresh offering.
Building on the ‘1987’ original, Kodak has pinpointed Y2K nostalgia with Charmera 2.0, the Milliennium Edition, doubling the varieties available from 6 to 12 in one swoop (plus the two limited edition versions, one for each model).
I wonder which era could be next. Kodak might just take inspiration from the quirky Fujifilm Instax Evo Cinema — a 3-in-1 instant camera which has a unique Eras dial, with a unique setting for every decade spanning the last 100 years, including the 2000s.
There’s really no need for Kodak to improve the specs and features of future editions — people aren’t buying the keychain Charmera for its capabilities as a camera, but for the vibe. Charmera seems to be a cash cow, its retro style, novel size and low-cost a winning combo.
That said, Kodak might eventually need to tweak the form factor to mimic other types of camera, like the Chuzhao Mini TLR, depending how far back in time it goes. Something tells me that the Millennium Edition isn’t the last we’ve seen of new Charmeras.
Deals for nostalgia-inducing cameras
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