Category: magic news

Polaroid Land x Lomograflok – shoot instax wide with your Polaroid Land packfilm camera!

instant film, instax, Lomograflok, magic news, Polaroid Land

Well, I did it. I am now offering a conversion service for your own Polaroid Land Packfilm camera, any model.

You send me a camera with a working shutter, I convert it and ship it back to you.

Read all about it on the corresponding product page, then contact me and order a conversion service for your beloved packfilm camera which now can shoot new and available instax wide film.

Well, you’d need to buy your own Lomograflok, but the Lomograflok slides in and out so you can use it on this camera as well as on your fancy pants 4×5 camera. Yeah, even a graflex with graflok hooks!

Order away and let’s keep these cameras alive and shooting!

Upcoming products !

magic news

When someone asked me “what’s next” at Polacon NYC almost one year ago, I didn’t think anything else would be on the pipeline.

Lo and behold I’m working on two projects, both very close to a working prototype and then production:

  • A Polaroid Big Shot adapted to shoot modern integral film AND with a flash-sync socket + an “dumb” flash on a removable bracket on top. Just add film and shoot! Don’t have a name for it yet, my dear friend Gregory Hevelin makes these with instax wide backs and calls them Big Stax and Mario makes a redesigned from the ground up version with a large format lens and calls it Big Roid. I decided the Big Shot is a fixed focus rangefinder designed to do one thing – flash portraits and went Gregory’s way, but for Polaroid film.
  • Polaroid Land cameras adapter to shoot Instax Wide using your own Lomograflok! Yes, it’s possible, and apparently without messing with the rangefinder! I will mod my second Polaroid 195 to do this, and a few Polaroid 250, 350, and 450 I have around! And I will be offering this as a service for your own Polaroid Land camera! I’m very excited about this one

I’m also working on two other little related project, both Instax Wide based:

  • Rehouse Fuji Instax Wide guts to make an Instax Wide back with Polaroid 600SE hooks – but this will ONLY work on the Polaroid Portrait 203 cameras – too long of an explanation why not on a Goose. This would have centered hooks, automated eject but still no film counter.
  • Rehouse Lomo Wide guts, but to add a Mamiya Universal Press Mount on it for a better looking Mamiya Instax Wide zone focus camera with a film counter and automatic eject, and MUCH better viewfinder compared with the current mod based on Fuji Instax Wide.

And no, I’m still not making Instax Square backs for Mamiya RB67, there’s already a very affordable solution out there .

RB67 and RZ67 Polaroid Backs shipping updates

magic news, RB67, rz67, Uncategorized

Yay, I fixed the little annoying light leak I discovered post beta testing in the RZ67 Polaroid back and I am now resuming shipping, the first two orders are out the door on July 5th!

Also resuming work on the RB67 nextgen backs, shipping order 3 of 7 (first batch) on Wednesday as well, and with a little luck, even 4 of 7.

All remaining first batch orders should ship by end of next week (July 14th).

RZ67 Polaroid Back News

Design, instant film, magic news, new project, Photography, polaroid, rz67

For those waiting for a Polaroid Back for their RZ67, based on available Polaroid hardware, the wait is almost over. I have received the first shipment of laser cut metal lock rings and currently printing the final version of the adapter top. With a bit of luck, I will have a working prototype this weekend, and will bring it to Polacon NYC for a few lucky people to test.

To reiterate, this will have a dark slide, automatic one button eject, and on off button, and will function on 4 AAA (replaceable) batteries

Stay tuned!

Hey Andrzej, here comes some help – IP Lab conversion tip

magic news, RB67, rescueme

If you’re Andrzej and you’ve just sent me an email asking for help with the IP lab conversion, I just added a note with photos in the Install your RB67 analogue.studio Impossible Lab conversion kit! Rescue Me page!

Your yahoo email bounces so I had to find a way and hoping you see this!

For everyone else, this is how to correctly reconnect – notice the orientation of the blue tape – the ribbon cable to the eject board when you build your Polaroid Back from an Impossible Project Lab.

 

 

long live Polaroid Backs – new design, RZ67 in the works.

Design, instant film, itype, magic news, new project, RB67

After a full year of sitting on it, i took the time and finished the design for using newer itype Polaroid cameras as a support for my Polaroid backs!

Impossible Lab limited and super expensive inventory, move aside!

Here is the prototype for an integral film Polaroid Back for RB67 (for now, since this is my most used camera).

It uses 4 AA batteries as power source for the motor so no more recharging, lost charging cables, etc. The charge from one set of AA should last for quite a while, have not tested it yet but I would not be surprised if it lasts for 20-30 packs, one alkaline AAA has a capacity of ~2000 mah, which is more than 6 times the capacity of the Impossible Lab batteries (old or the replacements I make/sell).

I know I know there’s already other backs out there on ebay that use iType cameras as the basis for Polaroid Backs so how it this special ?

  • Mine has a dark slide (stainless steel). My competition does not. And it’s really nice to have one.
  • The backs have single action automated eject. You press the eject button once, it ejects one frame. You need to keep pressing the eject button till the frame ejects for the “other” backs and you can easily eject multiple frames at once, since the polaroid eject action is so quick. Sure, you can get used to this but why?

So when can you buy these? Not just yet. This is just the prototype, the finished product will look slightly different and may use a nicer looking and less fragile eject button. And still need to undergo testing. So maybe mid September 2022 till they hit the market.

What about the other systems you’re making backs for based on IP labs? I will redesign those this fall, maybe available in Oct 2022 or so?

And the question I receive so often, what about RZ67?

Yes, it’s possible, based on my measurements. As a matter of fact, I am working on the design now and stay tuned for news mid September 2022, hoping to have a prototype by then and maybe have it on the market by mid October 2022.

What about Hasseblad series V or Bronica SQ, etc? Nope, sadly never. Those systems are simply too tight and they have a frame size of 58x58mm, so Polaroid film is such a waste on them anyway. Instax square is my only (complicated and therefore expensive) option for Hasselblad now and yes, I will make more of those backs.