A Wee half to forget – Hayamou Half Frame Disposable Review

Turns out the Ilford Ilfocolor Rapid Half Frame disposable has some opposition. Meet the Hayamou Half-Frame Disposable. At the time the cheapest half frame on the market and possibly the easiest disposable I’ve ever had for reloading. But optically things are not so great

Focused Flower Head. Hayamou Half Frame. 2024
SPOILER ALERT THIS PHOTO SUMS UP THE CAMERA. So here reloaded with XP2 Things are not bad with the flowers in sharpness but the background is out of focus. Ironically this is the shot I’d take on a SLR but illustrates the Hayamou lens set up’s wonkiness. Dumfries August 2024. Click on image for full size.

I suspect this camera is not just available with Hayamou branding. In fact there is no branding on the clear plastic wrap it came in (no box). It’s available in a range of pastel colours, a black one and the rather fetching transparent one.

I picked mines up from their factory store and I’ve seen it listed under their branding elsewhere. The model some times is listed as the
DC-032. Hayamou sell a full frame version as well

The tl:dr

What’s good

  • Reloadable in daylight
  • Transparent version
  • The crapness of the set up almost gives a bokeh like effect if you get it right

What’s not so good

  • 200 ISO film needs good light
  • Messed up focus
  • Even the half decent shots are soft
  • Not many bangs for your bucks
  • e-waste

Looks

The body design doesn’t look a million miles different to the Harman disposable and a million other cheap disposables. The lens Bezel is bulbous and the film cartridge end makes up a grip. Unlike the Harman and most other disposables, there’s no little door to pop off to get the film cartridge out. You need to pop the clips on either side of the camera to take off but the flash wiring is a bit away from you.

Opened clip on Hayamou Half Frame
There’s a clip on each side that can be easily popped open when you need to retrieve the film using a small flat bladed screwdriver or similar probe

The top plate has a shutter button and an easy to see counter

The transparent version is quite cool if you like to see the inner working (the rear of the camera is just black)

Top plate of the transparent Hayamou Half Frame
The layout is the same on the top plate on the full colour models

Spec

This varies from seller to seller even of the Hayamou

All say it has a 28mm lens which make sense. That works out as the equivalent as shooting with a 40.3mm full frame. Hayamou say it’s f/8 and 1/100 aperture shutter combo but other sites say f/9 1/120. This is perhaps splitting lo-fi hairs.

Bridge I. Hayamou Half Frame. 2024
This is about as far as you can get to stay vaguely sharp. Hayamou Half frame reloaded with XP2. Dumfries August 2024. Click on the image for full size

Now if Hayamou set this camera correctly for half frame if the lens is focused at 4.9m the hyperfocal everything should be in reasonable focus from about 2.4m to infinity (the so called acceptable Depth of Field or DoF)

But they didn’t……

Flash is powered by 1xAA that comes with the camera

Inside the Hayamou Half Frame
Note the curved film plane and the stuck on with felt frame adjust

Inside the camera you have a curved film plane and literally 2 little plastic masks held on by felt tape. They are hand applied and this explains a little why we get odd angles and differences between frame sizes between the 2 models i tested.

And the film ?

What’s more worrying is the film frame count. Haymou say their version which I bought has a 12 Exposure roll which should be good for 22-24 half frames. Another site says 17 exposures. I got 17 & 19 on the 2 cameras. The film turned out to be 200ISO Kodak ColorPlus (from edge markings of Kodak 200-8)

Inside the film plane is curved. They’ve basically taken a full frame tweaked the gearing. Then they’ve stuck on with a bit of felted tape 2 blinders on the edge of the frame. these varied between the cameras and the one took slightly narrowed images. Neither was glued on straight on one edge.

And why are your shots off centre ?

The viewfinder sits off centre over the lens maening shots are all off centre. In addition they never altered it from the finder for the full frame and it’s still in landscape when the camera shots in portrait orientation. The view from the finder looks something like this image I took on my phone

roughly what you see when you look through the Hayamou Half Frame finder. taken on Google Pixel 7
Taken on Google Pixel 7

But you get something like this

Mrs Crichton, Dumfries. Hayamou Half Frame Disposable. Hayamou (kodak ColorPlus) 2024

With closer shots Parallax error makes that shift worse

Use

Wind on frame and click, repeat. When finished you can unload yourself by popping open the 2 side clips

Reloading is easy. As ever I take no responsibility for doing this but you don’t stick screwdrivers near the electrics. That said if you’ve a heart condition, pacemaker etc then it isn’t worth the slight risk. Your more likely to damage the camera in the process.

Reloading the Hayamou Half Frame
Its one of those reload teeths that never seem to hold

As typical with most disposable the camera winds film back into the cartridge. The loading spool is detachable and you start by sliding you film leader into its’s slot. It can take a few goes and then wind some film around this before slotting both the take up and you film cartridge back in. I’d use a slotted screwdriver to keep the tension on the loading spool (there a slot on the base) while you close the rear.

Reloading the Hayamou Half Frame II
Use your thumb to keep the take up spool locked whilst you shut the rear

Keeping the screwdriver steady, take a small probe and on the front beside the grip towards the top there is a small hole you’ll want to push your probe in there and try to dislodge the winding lock mechanism that stops you from winding backward. You should with that probe in position be able to wind film onto the loading spool by turning the screwdriver (make sure you turn it anticlockwise to load). you may find the mechanism stays disengaged until you wind on and you may obliterate it completely. But this is a rare example of a disposable you can reload in the light.

Reloading the Hayamou Half Frame III
A little dexterity is required but you can do this in light

You could of course also do it the old school way in the complete dark of changing bag , dark room, or under the duvet of a room with the curtains drawn and lights out. Just load up the loading spool out of the camera by winding the film on to it. Insert that in an (you’ll likely need to keep it steady using the screwdriver as above) and position the cartridge back in the other side and try popping on the rear cover.

I don’t have a sense the camera will last doing the 2 driver method.

All rolls shot here went to Photo Hippo for processing.

Hayamou Half Frame : The Results

At The Bridge III. Hayamou Half Frame reloaded with XP2. August 2024
So the Bro and lower portion of the the bridge arch are okay for a disposable focus but above drops off as does pretty much anything after the bridge pillar. Click for full size, Hayamou Hlaf Frame disposable reloaded with XP2. Dumfries 2024.

ohh such a disappointment. They really goofed here.

How They goofed

Making a simple disposable should be child’s play. You just try and get your lens to focus on the hyperfocal point

But the trouble is they set their focus a bit closer. In a weird slightly geeky way I get the goof. This is a camera that was basically a tweaked full frame disposable. So the focal point should stay the same ?

Nope

For a full frame 28mm f/8 you’d focus at around 3.4m to give you a DoF of 1.7m to infinity. But set the same difference on the same lens and aperture at half frame and you get a DoF of just 2 to 11m.

And I think that what they did. Take this Diptych. Flower are almost sharp about 1-1.5m from me on the right. But the shot on the left of the Bridge and St Michael’s is totally out of focus.

Bridge and Flower Diptych. Hayamou Half Frame . 2024
The bridge and kirk are soft but the flowers on the right are much sharper. With the preloaded film. Click on image for full size. Dumfries 2024

And you can see things on this Diptych more at the limits

Tesco Diptych. Hayamou Half Frame. 2024
The Petrol and Exit Signs at around 3-4 M are alright but the store sign at 12-20m falls off. Hayamou half Frame with preloaded kodak fil. Dumfries 2024. Click on image for full size

And to be honest I often think cheap camera makers often set their focus slightly closer than the hyperfocal because they want to optimise the close to medium range. And that seems to have happened here as the sharpest shot I took was this street sign about 1-1.5m

WELLDALE. Hayamou Half Frame Disposable. August 2024
Reloaded with XP2 this shot was amongst the sharpest but pretty close. Note fall off at edges. Dumfries August 2024. Click on image for full size

And Other issues

Both camera I had the same issues. I think the one that took the Tesco shots above was less fussy slightly at distance but not by much. There was a difference in frame separation between the 2.

Attempting to look beyond that you see significant fall off towards the edges. it’s no worse than many an other disposable or reloadable disposable. The camera pincushion distorts but not drastically so.

There’s some fringing going on as well

Flash

It’s usual fare. Close up it does well.

Flash Selfie. Realoded Hayamou Half Frame Single use. 2024
My arm reach for Selfies is around the 70cm mark and this is 400 ISO XP2 reloaded (hence the top left likely loading leak. Click on image for full size

But it drops off rapidly even at around 2m it’s power is dropping

Flash test. Hayamou Half Frame. 2024
With preloaded film (Kodak 200-8). Click on image for full size

How does it fare in cost ?

It was cheaper when I bought them (about £14 with tax). But Currently (Jan 2025) this will set you back £19.45 on AliExpress after taxes and with free postage. That puts it on a par with the Kodak FunSaver, the disposable to beat. That will give you 27 to 39 shots (depending on what version you get). Those shots are much more likely to be useable and the camera is well known for it’s reloadability. The processing cost is likely to be the same if not cheaper than the 17 or so half frame image you get from the Hayamou.

Ilford Ilfocolor Rapid Half Frame
Ilford Ilfocolor Rapid Half Frame. Cheaper, better and more bangs for your buck of a better ISO quirky film.

The Ilford Ilfocolor Rapid half frame also sells for about £16 at moment on the ‘Bay. Optically way better than the Hayamou Half Frame and delivers about it’s target 54 shots and it has better ISO Film.

Near and Far test image Diptych. Ilford Ilfocolor Rapid half Frame. 2023
The Ilford Ilfocolor Rapid Half Frame is sharper close up centrally but even then at distance not that bad for what it is. It has a better film choice in a 400 ISO stock. Diptych shot Dumfries Dec 2023. Processed and scanned by Analogue Wonderland. Click on image for original on Flickr

Final Thoughts on the Hayamou Half Frame

Just don’t. If you must have a half frame disposable get the Ilford Ilfocolor one. Just look at that Diptych taken on the Ilfocolor above. Then look one taken on the Hayamou

Suspender Belt Diptych. Hayamou Half Frame. August 2024
Dumfries 2024. Hayamou with preloaded film. Click on image for full size

The left belt case is about as good as focus gets but even the bridge about 20m away is soft and woolly. The 200 ISO film is okay and exposes well enough on this shot but lacks the flex of 400 ISO film that most decent disposable have. The frames are squint and I’ll also get about 19 half frames top versus over 50 on the Ilfocolor.

Lomography Simple Use
Lomography Simple Use Not half farme but for £20 you get a full roll of film and reliable reloading and okay lo-fi images

If reloadability bothers you get a Lomography simple use or BHF-01 if you really want the cheapest lo-fi Half Frame (and you can do way better than the BHF see below). The both do make more sense as they’re designed to be reloaded. and whilst they probably won’t last for years and tears of use they’ll last longer than this POS.

But really they screwed up the focal point. They should have adjusted for half frame but I don’t think they did. You might be able to pull so weird lo-fi almost Boken shots but whilst anything under 5 metres is okay, everything else is softer than a Mr Whippy.

There is no logical reason to buy this in 2025


Other options

Lomography Lomourette
Lomography Lomourette awful but no where near as bad as this

I listed every half frame in production last year (including this one). This makes the Lomography Lomourette look good and that won my worst camera of 2024. I’ve already suggested the Ilford Ilfocolor if you must go half frame disposable. It’s really good. The BHF-01 is the most budget reloadable although trying to get a half frame dubblefilm clone would be better like the Escura Snaps 35 half.

Agfaphoto Half Frame
Agfaphoto Half Frame, Like the Escura is based on Agfaphoto’s clone of the Dubblefilm Show chassis. It was the cheapest out there but now is hard to find,

That’s before we’ve touched on the Brilliance that is Reto’s Kodak Ektar H35 series with the H35N winning the I can’t believe it’s not full frame award.

Bikes. Kodak Ektar H35N & XP2. 2023
Suomenlinna, Helsinki, October 2023. Reto made Kodak Ektar H35N with Ilford XP2. Click on image for full size on Flickr. This is what a good lo-fi half frame can do

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