You’ve probably seen those “same photo, totally different camera” transformations all over your feed. A polaroid. A CCTV frame. A drone shot. A grainy VHS freeze-frame.
The trick is simple: short slash-codes that tell an AI image tool exactly which camera, lens, angle, or film style to reinterpret your photo with.
Below are all 50 codes, grouped by vibe, plus how to use them and a few tips for better results.
How to use the codes
Open your AI image tool and start a new chat.
Upload your photo. A clear, high-resolution image works best.
Type a code, for example
/polaroidimage.Send the message. The AI reads the code as a visual transformation and applies the matching camera, perspective, or photographic treatment.
Try another photo and reuse the same code.
Example: Upload your photo, type /dronecam, and send. You’ll get back an elevated, overhead drone-style version with your subject still recognizable.
Pro tips
Keep the person exactly the same. Add this line after your code:
“Keep the person’s identity, face, body, clothing and pose unchanged; only change the camera/perspective treatment.”
Control the strength. Add a short instruction like “make it subtle” or “make the camera effect obvious.”
Remember the rule behind the codes. They change how the photo feels captured, not just the color filter. Camera position, lens behavior, film medium, framing, distortion, and capture artifacts all shape the result.
The 50 codes
📸 Instant & Retro Snapshot Looks
/polaroidimage: Instant-film print with a white border, soft flash, analog grain, and slightly faded, nostalgic colors./vintagecamera: A 1970s–80s consumer-camera look with warm film tones, subtle grain, and imperfect exposure./photostrip: Several sequential frames of the same moment stacked vertically like a developed photo strip./oldb&wphoto: Aged black-and-white film with silver-gelatin texture, scratches, faded contrast, and old photo paper feel./photoboothprint: A tightly framed portrait with direct flash, a spontaneous expression, and authentic booth-print texture./disposablecamera: Harsh built-in flash, imperfect focus, heavy grain, warm skin tones, and an accidental-looking composition./instantflash: A close-range snapshot with bright flash falloff, soft analog colors, mild overexposure, and instant-film imperfections.
🎞️ Film Stocks, Formats & Darkroom
/35mmfilm: Natural analog grain, realistic film halation, subtle color shifts, and classic photographic depth./mediumformat: Highly detailed, with soft tonal transitions, shallow depth of field, and refined rendering./35mmcontactsheet: Several small film frames arranged like a photographer’s analog proof sheet./darkroomprint: Traditional photographic paper with deep blacks, chemical-print texture, and imperfect development./negativefilm: Inverted colors and tones with visible film-strip characteristics and a translucent negative texture./slidefilm: Saturated colors, crisp detail, and rich contrast, like projected transparency film./halfframecamera: Two portrait-oriented photos presented together in one frame, mimicking a half-frame film camera./panoramicfilm: An unusually wide horizontal composition with analog grain and cinematic framing.
📼 Old-School Video Frames
/camcorder: Early digital-video aesthetic with low dynamic range, slight motion softness, and consumer camcorder character./vhsframe: A VHS freeze-frame with analog noise, scanlines, color bleeding, and tracking imperfections./minidv: Early-2000s digital video with interlaced-looking detail, harsh highlights, and consumer-camera colors./8mmfilm: Strong grain, flicker, rounded frame character, warm colors, and a handmade home-movie feel./super8: Nostalgic cinematic grain, soft focus, warm exposure, light leaks, and amateur-film atmosphere.
🔭 Lens Effects
/fisheye: Extreme ultra-wide perspective with curved edges, enlarged foreground elements, and dramatic distortion./ultrawide: Expansive environmental framing with strong foreground-to-background depth and exaggerated perspective./telephoto: Compressed background, isolated subject, flattened depth, and creamy distant scenery./macroshot: An extremely close view that emphasizes fine texture while the background melts out of focus./tiltshift: A miniature-world effect with a narrow sharp plane and heavily blurred surroundings./softfocuslens: Glowing highlights, diffused edges, dreamy skin rendering, and reduced micro-contrast.
📐 Camera Angles & Positions
/dronecam: An elevated overhead perspective looking down, with the environment dominating the composition./birdseye: A nearly vertical top-down view that turns the scene into a graphic composition./wormsview: A camera near ground level looking up, making the subject and architecture appear towering./groundlevel: The camera almost touching the ground, with foreground texture dominating the frame./overtheshoulder: The camera sits behind the subject, showing part of their shoulder or head and what they’re looking toward.
🪞 Mirrors, Glass & Windows
/convexmirrorselfie: Shot through a curved mirror with optical distortion and an expanded peripheral view./sideviewmirror: The subject appears reflected in a car’s side mirror while the road or surroundings stay visible./rearviewmirror: The scene is captured through a car’s rear-view mirror, framed by the vehicle interior./rearwindowcam: The camera sits inside a vehicle looking out through the rear windshield, with the car interior framing the scene./reflectionshot: The subject photographed through reflective glass, blending reflections with the real scene./windowreflection: A window-side portrait with natural reflections, layered foreground glass, and soft distortion./prismreflection: Refracted duplicate fragments, rainbow flares, and geometric reflections around a recognizable subject./crystalball: The scene appears refracted inside a glass sphere in the foreground while the environment stays visible around it./doorpeephole: A circular vignette with strong barrel distortion, as if seen through a door peephole.
🌗 Light & Shadow
/shadowcam: A composition built around the subject’s shadow, creating a deliberate relationship between person and cast shadow./silhouettecam: Strong backlighting turns the subject into a dark silhouette against a bright sky or glowing background./flashcam: Frontal on-camera flash, a sharply lit subject, darker surroundings, and a spontaneous snapshot feel.
🕵️ Surveillance, Night & Thermal
/cctv: A fixed high-corner view with wide-angle distortion, timestamp-style overlay, and compressed image quality./securitymonitor: The image appears recorded off a monitor, complete with screen glare, compression artifacts, and slight moiré./nightvision: Green-tinted low-light imagery with infrared-style illumination and electronic noise./infraredphoto: A surreal tonal response where foliage turns unusually bright and skies go dramatically dark./thermalcam: A heat-map visualization that separates the subject from the environment through temperature patterns.
🎥 First-Person POV Cams
/bodycam: A chest-mounted, first-person viewpoint with wide-angle distortion and natural environmental framing./helmetcam: An action-camera view from head height, with a very wide field of view and dynamic first-person composition.
Final thoughts
The fun part is mixing and matching. Run the same portrait through /polaroidimage, /cctv, /dronecam, and /vhsframe, and you’ll get four completely different “photographers” from a single image.
Start with your favorite photo, pick a code, and see where it takes you. Then try a different photo with the same code and compare.
Save this post so you can come back to the full list anytime, and share it with a friend who loves experimenting with photos.