easy120 Development Blog - 3

The easy120 has completed another prototype stage, and we are ready to share details of the next easy120 prototype with you. We will also talk about what we have done so far, the steps going forward, pricing and when you can get your hands on one.

Prototype 3

Prototype 3 has gotten a new all-metal body. Prototype 2 focused on testing the concept while Prototype 3 was intended to bring it closer to how the final product will look and feel. This meant getting custom tubes machined out of aluminium, designing a filter thread cap for the tubes and refining the tolerances on the rotation tube. You can see that the tubes in the pictures are without a coating - the final tubes will be the same aluminium but will be coated in a matte black anodization.

Sheet metal body

Furthermore, the original concept of the sheet metal housing was refined to get close to the final look, including painting it to ensure tolerances didn’t change. The new housing optimised the construction and fit, and it also refined the spring-loaded holder locking mechanism - more on that below.

Holder design and refinements

Finally, we made refinements to the holders, creating different versions for different sizes and improving the attachment mechanism. The easy120 will come with a spring-loaded polished ball bearing inside that captures the holders when they are in the correct position. We’re quite proud of this mechanism, and we think you will enjoy the smooth and quick, but secure operation of it. To insert the holders, you simply slide them in until you hear a click. To remove them, you just push them out. As you can see, some of the holders are still grey - this is the natural colour of the material they are made of, but they will be dyed black in the final production version.

Advancer unit

One part that didn’t make it into the current design round was an Advancer unit. A unit that attaches to the easy120 and provides similar film advancer capabilities to the 360 Advancer has been in the plans, and the unit itself was tested, but the attachment for it will change before final release. If the Advancer is there on initial release or not, remains to be seen.

What’s next?

Our next step is to put these into pre-production. This is the stage where we make 10-20 units to both test the design across more than one or two units, to get input from our assembly team and to then send those units out to test users. Over the past few months we have been gathering a short list of testers that we will reach out to in the coming days. Those will provide hopefully feedback before final production as well as help us spread the word.

Pricing and feedback

Beyond the tweaks we will make from user feedback, we are starting to gear up for placing the units in your hands. This includes things like finding out exactly what will be in the box, doing final pricing, designing packaging, writing manuals and more.

Speaking of pricing, we are currently aiming for a retail price of about 500€. This would likely include a holder for 35mm and a holder for 120 (6x9, universal). Additional holders, if you, for example, wanted a dedicated 6x6 holder, would be available separately. We believe this price is justified by the high-quality materials used - this unit should last a lifetime and the light will be replaceable.

When though?

At the moment, we are on track with most parts of the system for shipping in October. To fund the initial batch, we will be offering them on pre-sale to those who are interested. That pre-sale will be open as soon as we have confirmation of the final price and we are confident we can deliver in the time we expect. Most likely that will be at the end of August or start of September. Once we have more details about it, you will hear from us!

As always, we are interested in hearing what you think about the current progress - just drop a comment below if you want to join the conversion!