Martin • Gear
What Camera Does Martin From CORTIS Use?
This is the look. Direct flash, five megapixels, no editing.
If you have ever seen a CORTIS photo and thought those look so good, it is not a filter and it is not a phone. It is a twenty year old compact camera that cost almost nothing, and Martin carries it everywhere.
The short answer
Martin uses a Fujifilm FinePix Z2 in white, a 5.1 megapixel compact from 2006, and a Casio Exilim EX-ZS6. Neither is made any more and neither costs much secondhand. The grain, the hard flash and the slightly washed out colour that people keep trying to copy with presets are just what those cameras do on their own.
The two cameras
Fujifilm FinePix Z2
2006 · 5.1 megapixels · the white one he holds up in the vlog
What it is
A slim sliding-cover compact from the middle of the digicam era, built around Fujifilm’s fifth generation Super CCD HR sensor. You open it by pushing the front cover down, which is also how it turns on. There is no viewfinder, just a 2.5 inch screen on the back, and the lens never sticks out of the body.
- Sensor5.1 megapixel Super CCD HR
- Resolution2592 × 1944
- LensFujinon 3× zoom, 6.1–18.3mm, f/3.5–4.2
- Equivalent36–108mm
- ISO64–1600
- Screen2.5 inch, 232,000 pixels
- VideoVGA 640 × 480 at 30fps
- Released2006
Why the photos look like that
Three things happen at once. The sensor is tiny, so anything shot indoors picks up grain instead of the smooth plastic smoothing a phone applies. The flash sits right next to the lens and fires straight at the subject, which blows out skin, flattens the background to black and gives you that harsh party photo look. And 5.1 megapixels is simply not enough resolution to record every pore, so faces come out soft without anyone touching a slider.
Put together, you get a photo that looks like it was taken in 2007 and found in a drawer. That is the entire appeal, and it is why a camera that was considered ordinary at the time is now hard to buy.
What it costs now
It has been discontinued for the better part of two decades, so the only way to get one is secondhand, from auction sites and Japanese and Korean used camera shops. Prices move around a lot and the white body is the one people chase, so it usually goes for more than the black. Two things to check before you buy: it takes xD-Picture Card memory, which is long dead and has to be bought separately, and it needs its own Fujifilm battery, which is the part most sellers have lost.
The Fujifilm FinePix Z2 in white. Super CCD, 5.1 megapixels, sliding front cover.
Casio Exilim EX-ZS6
2011 · 16.1 megapixels · the easier one to find
What it is
A budget Casio compact from a few years later, and a very different camera despite doing a similar job. It has more than three times the resolution of the Fuji, a much wider lens and a faster aperture at the wide end, which makes it more usable in a dark room.
- Sensor16.1 megapixel CCD
- Lens5× zoom, f/2.8–6.5
- Equivalent26–130mm
- ISO100–1600
- Screen2.7 inch
- Video720p HD
- Released2011
How it differs from the Fuji
The Casio is sharper and wider, so it is the better camera for group photos in a small room, and 26mm at the wide end means you can get all five of them in frame without backing into a wall. What it does not have is the Fuji’s particular softness. If you want the exact CORTIS photo look, the Z2 is the one doing most of the work.
What it costs now
Also discontinued, but it was a cheap camera when it was new and it is still a cheap camera now, which makes it the sensible first digicam if you just want to try the look. It takes ordinary SD cards, so there is no memory card hunt.
Martin showing the camera in the vlog
He holds it up on camera in their vlog 「초:록색 밥:풀」 and explains that he carries it around with him. That clip is where most people first worked out what the camera was.
Martin holding up the Z2 in the vlog.
Photos Martin has taken with it
This is the best argument for the camera. None of these are edited, none of them are shot on anything expensive, and they all look better than the equivalent phone photo would.
Nine of Martin’s photos: hard flash, black backgrounds, blown out skin, grain in every shadow.
Why a 2006 compact beats a phone for this look
The sensor is small, and that is the point
Modern phones spend enormous effort removing noise, evening out light and sharpening faces. A Super CCD from 2006 does none of that. What lands on the card is what the sensor saw, grain and all, and grain is most of what makes a photo feel like a memory rather than a product shot.
The flash is the whole aesthetic
A phone flash is an LED that tries to be gentle. A compact camera flash is a xenon tube right beside the lens that fires hard and fast. It freezes motion, kills the background and lights the subject from the front, which is exactly the look every film photography preset on the internet is trying to fake.
Low resolution does half the work
At 2592 by 1944 pixels there is not enough detail to look clinical. Skin smooths out, edges go soft, and colour shifts slightly. You cannot get that back by adding grain to a 48 megapixel file, because the underlying detail is still there underneath.
How to get the CORTIS photo look
If you want the exact camera
Look for a Fujifilm FinePix Z2 in white, and check the listing includes the battery and an xD-Picture Card. Buying the body alone is how people end up with a camera they cannot turn on.
If you want something easier to live with
Any CCD compact from roughly 2005 to 2012 with a built in flash will get you most of the way, and the Casio Exilim EX-ZS6 is a fine one. Use SD cards, use the flash indoors, and do not edit the result.
If you only have a phone
Turn the flash on, stand closer than feels comfortable, shoot in a dark room and then knock the resolution down. You will get about seventy percent of the way there. The last thirty percent is the sensor, and you cannot fake it.
Frequently asked questions
What camera does Martin from CORTIS use?
A white Fujifilm FinePix Z2, a 5.1 megapixel compact from 2006, and a Casio Exilim EX-ZS6. He shows the Fujifilm in their vlog and says he carries it around with him.
What camera do CORTIS use for their photos?
The behind the scenes photos that circulate from the group share the same look, and Martin is the one who has shown the camera on video. Nothing has been confirmed for the other members individually.
How many megapixels is the Fujifilm FinePix Z2?
5.1 megapixels, giving images of 2592 by 1944 pixels. That is lower than any phone sold today, and it is the reason the photos look the way they do.
Can you still buy a Fujifilm FinePix Z2?
Only secondhand. It was discontinued long ago, it needs xD-Picture Card memory that is no longer made, and it uses its own Fujifilm battery, so check both are included before buying.
Is the Casio Exilim EX-ZS6 better than the FinePix Z2?
It is sharper, wider and more usable, with 16.1 megapixels and a 26mm equivalent lens. It is not as good at the specific soft, grainy look, which is what most people are actually after.
Can I get this look with my phone?
Partly. Use the flash, get close, shoot in low light and reduce the resolution. The grain and the colour shift come from the sensor, so a phone will always land somewhere near it rather than on it.
Where this comes from
Martin holds the Fujifilm FinePix Z2 up on camera in the CORTIS vlog linked above and talks about carrying it with him. The second camera and the photo credits come from fans matching bodies and image files across posts, which is not an official confirmation.
The specifications on this page are Fujifilm’s and Casio’s own published figures for each camera. Both models are discontinued, so any price you see is a used market price and moves constantly.
Keep going
More of his world is one click away: what Martin wears, the perfumes the group wears, and what they read.
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