I’m Back Founders: Why a Digital Sensor for Your Film Camera Hit $1M – Focus Check ep115

May 7^th, 20261

by Felix TappeinerMay 7^th, 2026

In this week’s episode of our CineD Focus Check, Nino sits down with special guests Samuel and Filippo, the two founders of I’m Back — the Swiss company behind a line of digital sensors designed to slot directly into the film compartment of analog cameras.

Their latest product, the I’m Back Roll APS-C, is currently live on Kickstarter and has raised close to $1 million from over 1,400 backers. It’s a campaign that, arguably, could only have worked in 2026 — a moment when analog aesthetics are having a genuine cultural resurgence and the question isn’t just what a camera can do, but what it means to hold one.

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From a personal collection to a company

The story of I’m Back did not start in a boardroom. Samuel, the inventor, had a small personal collection of analog cameras gathering dust and simply asked himself: could these be made to shoot digitally? That single question — posed about a decade ago — set off years of engineering work. His wife eventually introduced him to Filippo, an entrepreneur with the business instincts to bring the idea to market. What began as an informal meeting over a phone call turned into a company dedicated to giving analog cameras a second life.

Samuel recalls building the very first prototype entirely by hand over the course of a year — wiring, programming, iterating — until something that actually worked emerged. The earliest I’m Back devices used an indirect capture approach: a small sensor would re-photograph an image projected onto a focusing screen inside the camera body. It was clever, but it was also a stepping stone. The real goal, as Filippo explains, was always to place a proper image sensor directly at the film plane. Everything before was a constraint of what was technically and financially possible at the time.

What the Roll APS-C actually is

The I’m Back Roll APS-C replaces the pressure plate inside the camera body — the thin metal component that held the film flat against the film plane — with a self-contained digital unit. Inside that unit is a Sony IMX571 APS-C sensor delivering 26 megapixels, a fully machined aluminum housing designed to dissipate heat, a flexible PCB (a technology that only became affordable for a company of I’m Back’s scale in recent years), a battery, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and the processing needed to capture raw stills and video.

The result is that when you close the camera back, nothing protrudes. There’s no dongle hanging off the body, no external battery pack required for the core function. Samuel is particularly proud of this: feedback from the I’m Back Film campaign made it clear that users wanted everything inside. “If it’s always inside, I buy. If it’s outside, I don’t buy,” was the distilled version of what he heard from the community. The flexible PCB made it possible to finally honour that demand.

The device connects to a companion app via Wi-Fi for live view and image transfer, supports an external hub (which doubles as a battery pack and adds HDMI out, USB-C, and a microphone input), and can now optionally accept a 2.5-inch OLED touchscreen that clips onto that hub. An OLED viewfinder — already developed for a previous I’m Back model — is also available as an accessory.

Two mid-campaign updates: touchscreen and wired sync

Within weeks of launching, I’m Back announced two notable additions to the product. The first was the optional 2.5-inch OLED touchscreen mentioned above. The second was a wired sync shutter button — a flat cable that exits the closed camera back and terminates in a physical button that mechanically actuates the camera’s existing shutter release.

The engineering logic behind the sync button is straightforward but elegant: pressing the button partially activates the sensor’s electronic shutter first; pressing it fully then fires the camera’s mechanical shutter. Because the sensor starts opening before the mechanical shutter fires, the two remain in sync across the range of cameras the Roll is designed to work with. Samuel notes that this button has actually existed as a prototype since around 2023 — it was developed, shelved, and then revived after consistent backer demand during the campaign.

Both additions are characteristic of how the campaign has been run: not so much as surprises dropped for marketing effect, but as features that were near-ready in the drawer and unlocked by community feedback.

I’m Back Roll – Battery + PCBA + APSC sensor. Image credit: I’m Back

Video capabilities — and honesty about what isn’t known yet

The campaign mentions 4K video, but at the time of recording, Samuel and Filippo are deliberately vague about frame rates, codecs, bit depth, and recording limits. This is not evasion — it’s a lesson learned from earlier campaigns where committing to specifics before the hardware and software were fully calibrated created obligations that were then painful to meet. Samuel explains that he would rather wait until the firmware and sensor calibration are genuinely complete before publishing those numbers.

What is known: the sensor supports raw stills (files in the region of 20–30 MB each), and video will be an available mode. Thermal management will be a real consideration, as it is for any compact imaging device — Samuel is candid that extended video recording will generate heat, and the exact limits will only be known once proper testing is done. The primary use case, in Samuel’s view, remains stills. Video is an addition, not the headline.

Camera compatibility

One of the most common questions in the I’m Back community is whether a specific camera will work. The short answer is: probably yes. Samuel estimates 99% compatibility across the cameras he has encountered. He has tested roughly 100 bodies in his studio, spanning Leica, Minolta, Contax, Olympus, and Pentax, among others. A community member in the Facebook group has apparently worked through over 600 different models.

The exceptions are cameras where, once the pressure plate is removed, there is not enough physical clearance for the 4mm-thick Roll unit and the camera back cannot close. Nikon F bodies (the original F, not later F-series cameras), the original Contax (not the G2), and some older Alpha bodies are among the known edge cases. For those, Samuel suggests a 3D-printed back cover as a workaround. He also notes that the Roll can sometimes be fitted without its outer frame, using only the PCBA and small spacers, in cases where the full assembly is marginally too thick.

During the episode, Nino suggests that I’m Back publish a verified compatibility list — not exhaustive, but at least confirming the bodies that have been properly tested in-house. Samuel agrees. It is a simple thing that would remove a significant source of anxiety for potential backers.

Addressing criticism and unfair comparisons

The conversation also touches on a recurring frustration Samuel has with how some reviewers assess the device. The specific complaint: taking a straight-out-of-camera JPEG from the Roll and placing it next to a fully developed and colour-graded analog scan — then declaring the digital result inferior. Samuel’s response is measured but firm: that comparison is meaningless. A raw file from the Roll, properly developed in Lightroom, is the correct basis for any honest comparison. More importantly, the output of the Roll is not supposed to replicate the look of a Kodak film stock. It is a digital image made through an analog lens and mechanical shutter — a different thing entirely.

The broader point is that I’m Back has never positioned the Roll as a replacement for a modern digital camera. Samuel puts it plainly: if you need a professional tool, buy a professional camera. The Roll is for the pleasure of picking up a camera that has a history, slowing down, and making photographs with intention.

Delays, COVID, and the road to August 2027

Past I’m Back campaigns have shipped late — I’m Back 35 by roughly two and a half years, I’m Back Film by approximately a year. Nino raises this directly, and Filippo’s answer is detailed. The I’m Back 35 delays were heavily compounded by COVID: three consecutive software suppliers closed during the pandemic, forcing the team to restart the development process from scratch each time. Travel to China was impossible for much of the critical period.

The I’m Back Film delays had a different cause. Moving from a screen-based capture approach to direct focal-plane capture required changing almost everything — suppliers, PCB design, firmware architecture — and the team underestimated how little they could carry over from previous work. The hope for the Roll is that I’m Back Film has already burned through most of that learning curve, and that the supply chain developed for Film can be adapted rather than rebuilt. The current target for backer delivery is August 2027.

Filippo also takes the opportunity to say openly that I’m Back is looking for a larger partner. The company has previously worked with Yashica and is open to conversations with any brand interested in what the platform represents. As the campaign matures and the backer base grows, the question of how to scale support and operations becomes more pressing for a three-person team.

Gadget or tool?

The episode closes on a question that has followed I’m Back since Samuel first described his original device as a “Lomography-style fun device” back in 2017. Now, with machined aluminum, a Sony sensor, and a price point between $500 and $1,000, is the Roll a gadget or a tool?

Samuel’s answer is unambiguous: it is a toy for adults, and he means that with full affection. He has professional cameras for professional work. The Roll is for the pleasure of picking up a particular camera — one with a story attached to it — and using it slowly and deliberately. Filippo frames it differently but arrives at the same place: the analog cameras the Roll brings back to life are wonderful machines with histories. The Roll is not about competing with a Sony a7 or a Fujifilm X-S10. It is about self-determination. About having something that is yours, that means something, that has more to say than its megapixel count.

The I’m Back Roll APS-C Kickstarter campaign is live for a few more days at the time of publication.

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