DIARY

two Impossible Labs on the way, also more Mamiya Instax Wides soon, and yes, maybe the Hasse Instax SQ :D

instant film, instax, magic news, polaroid

If you’ve expressed interest in a complete Polaroid back for your RB67, MUP or P600SE, I have two Impossible Labs on the way so that means some of you will get notifications of availability, be on the lookout for an email from me ( alin tolea) sometimes next week.

Also, I have a complete Mamiya Instax Wide almost dolled up with all the brackets, etc, just waiting for the cable releases, and have two more Fuji Instax wides to be converted, so I should have 3 of these ready by next week!

And yes, I may have found a solution to build that motorized Hasse Instax SQ back after all, upright frames and automatic frame counter and automatic eject, but I no dark slide, at least for the prototype. No promises, BUT i may something working in a week, No additional anything needed for infinity focus.

a few Impossible Labs in stock, ready to mod, also kits are now available again.

magic news

I have a few IP labs in stock, ready to be made into Polaroid Backs. I’ve listed them all under the Polaroid Film Back for Mamiya RB67 (only) – itype, type 600, SX70 film page, but I can build a MUP/P600SE back instead, just add it in comments.

Also, I have quite a few separate RB67 kits ready to be assembled, these are JUST the kits, not the complete backs.

The lead time for any of these is about 4 weeks.

 

updated lead times for all orders / resume new products development as well

instax, magic news, mamiya universal, polaroid

hi everyone, and apologies for the delays (again).

just moved into a new house and can now resume work.

i am now working through the remaining April (gasp!) orders, and those should ship mid June

any IP labs complete orders (customer lab)  should start shipping mid June as well.

any complete backs waitlist orders will ship early July (as informed in email)

thanks for bearing with me, it’s been some crazy 2 months with all the packing/moving.

on the new products line, I may have some Mamiya Instax Wide bodies up as well soon, as I unpack the boxes with parts.

also resuming design and next on list – instax square backs for RB67 – pending a dark slide solution.

 

post emulsive review order backlog and lead time

magic news

A hopeful if tardy update of the orders situation post -review in Emulsive.

I am currently catching up on orders, and JUST shipped my first (kit only) order in line from mid April.

Bear with me. I anticipate to get all those mid April orders out in the next two weeks. You will receive an email update as I print out the label in Paypal and ship.

Also, for the customers on the waitlist, I will make a bit of progress on that too, I have about 6 IP labs coming my way. I will keep everyone posted once I’m done shipping the mid april orders and I can get onto the new ones.

Also, for now and till I make a sizeable dent in the shipping backlog, any new order will have about 3 weeks lead time from the moment of payment. Apologies, again I’m a one man shop with a day job too..

Thanks again!

A Mamiya Instax Wide with Mamiya Universal Press lenses

instant film, instax, magic news, mamiya universal, Technology

Yes I know I’m no pioneer and I know that https://sprkplg.com/ popularized and is selling 3d printed adapters to do the same thing.

But when you have pesky customers (that shall remain unnamed on request) who’re not quite happy with the existing solutions and really need their lens to be upright, you get to work.

Long story short, I designed my own version of an an adapter that allows me (and you!) to mount a Mamiya Universal Press (MUP) lens on a Fuji Instax Wide 300 camera.

Of course, you’ll need to disassembly the Fuji Instax Wide 300, remove the electronics and rewire the eject to be triggered by pushing the trigger button, and cut a bit of the plastic “nozzle” on the Instax Wide, but none of that is very difficult. It just takes a bit of time and patience. And a Phillips 00 screwdriver and a wire cutter to cut the plastic, and maybe a file to even out sharp edges.

So how’s this mod/adapter different than what SPRKPLG offers?

I added a 3/8″ tripod socket with a metal insert, and this is built into the lens collar/adapter, so it centers the weight better.  And I went through two iterations with this, first using a narrower adapter, but then going for a wider base, though that may be overkill.

A under the hood improvement is the way the adapter mounts on the Fuji Instax Wide body, as in it uses an existing breech mount on the nozzle to mount and register the adapter. This results in a consistent mounting position and assured the tripod socket is always vertical and the mounted lenses end up upright.

Why is that last bit important? Initially I thought of that being just a cosmetic issue, but then Leong really wanted to use this with his Mamiya Universal Press 100mm 2.8, and this lens has a rectangular field stop on the film end of the lens and if that ain’t vertical, you’ll notice, to the tune of half a degree off.  It ended up that because of the internal light cone of the Fuji Instax Wide, this particular lens vignettes a lot.  So I’ll have to actually make a V2 of this with a replaced / designed in house light cone for the MUP 100 2.8 (or the 65mm 6.7 for the matter). Not there yet.

So while we’re at this, I tested this build with the MUP 100mm 3.5 and the 90mm 3.5 lenses and I recommend you use these. Another _good_ reason to use these lenses is that the original plastic crap lens that Fuji decided they’d use in all their instax wide cameras is a 90mm focal lenght lens. Thus the viewfinder it designed for a 90mm lens. But since the MUP 100 3.5 is a lot easier to find, I’d go fo it. It provides almost perfect coverage for Instax Wide, with only a bit of corner darkening at 3.5.

I also made a trivial but oh so useful improvement, I added a little raised plastic ring around the trigger button. How’s that useful? Before adding that, I would accidentally touch that trigger ALL THE TIME,, resulting in partially ejecting a frame and well, losing it. Same thing would happen inside a non padded camera bag. I once ejected a whole pack by mistake. While typing this I realize that I could really add an on off button switch somewhere (I think rewiring the existing on off may not be possible, or not really useful since there would be no indicator the camera is now on and I really don’t want to add an extra led for that). So there you go, something you didn’t know you need it but you really did and now it’s there.

And thanks for an idea by another modder/builder out there, I printed a little holder for a standard cable release that allows you to shoot the way you should, using your index finger to push on something. If you’re right handed. I know, I DO need to find a either hand solution.

So that’s that for now. With my 3d printers in storage till early July, I really only have one camera ready for sale (after I sent one to Leong), and that’s the one I’m currently using.  It has all those improvements, cable release holder, and two cold sockets designed for light meters, flashes, or electronic range finders. None that I use, but you may. This is the “all dolled up version”.  I may have another copy with no cold shoes or cable release bracket, but the adapter is reall tight (it was a draft) and I’m not comfortable selling that to anyone, I’d rather use it myself if the “dolled up” version sells,

So go ahead, buy your Mamiya Instax Wide from my Candy Store!

I’ll need to shoot a “how to” video to cover the eject part, but luckily enough, it’s a fairly trivial and consistent process with these Fuji Instax Wides.