InsTLR Project

stevelmx5

stevelmx5

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Steve
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Quick question, does anyone have an empty Instax Mini cartridge and possibly a developed Intax Mini picture that they'd be willing to send to me? I'm happy to pay the postage.

While I was away, I started thinking about my next camera :0)

Cheers
Steve
 
I'm intrigued by this sounds like another project that I want to follow !!!! I did have a instax well the wife did I will have a look when the studio cupboard is opened tomorrow ;-)
 
Thanks Owen, much appreciated mate. If you do find any spares, let me know and I'll send you my delivery details.

I've just drawn up a rough new rear door for my Yashica 635 TLR which I 'might' be able to shoehorn an Instax cartridge and rollers into. It will be a manual process to eject the shot rather than motorised to keep the original shape of the TLR though.
 
stevelmx5 said:
Thanks Owen, much appreciated mate. If you do find any spares, let me know and I'll send you my delivery details.

I've just drawn up a rough new rear door for my Yashica 635 TLR which I 'might' be able to shoehorn an Instax cartridge and rollers into. It will be a manual process to eject the shot rather than motorised to keep the original shape of the TLR though.
Click to expand...
fair play mate I have followed a few of your projects your very talented ;-) .... will do my best to find one ;-)
 
^^ didn't even know something existed like that lol fair play looks amazing but with a vintage body will take it to another level
 
Yeah, I can't take credit for the idea :0). I liked the look of the TL70 when it first came out but like most Instax it's an F8/11 lens (Instax film is ISO800) so I like the idea of shooting with wider apertures and faster shutter speeds.
 
stevelmx5 said:
Yeah, I can't take credit for the idea :0). I liked the look of the TL70 when it first came out but like most Instax it's an F8/11 lens (Instax film is ISO800) so I like the idea of shooting with wider apertures and faster shutter speeds.
Click to expand...

The TL70's actually a bit more advanced than most other Instax cameras. It boasts apertures of f/5.6, f/8, f/16, and f/22 with manual focus.

There's apparently some other aperture that they've called f/bokeh, but I'm not quite sure what that is.



Edit: This is what they say about the f/bokeh aperture:
We've hidden an easter egg in every camera. A unique non-circular aperture is included as f/bokeh in every camera. Want an element of surprise? We dare you to find out.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing it's something like christmas tree shaped bokeh effects.
 
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Cheers RJ. I really liked the look of the TL70 when it was first shown as it's the first Instax other than the Neo 90 that I like the styling of. If it wasn't nearly £300 I'd probably just buy one :0)
 
Actually, before Owen goes to the trouble of posting a cartridge if he can find one, can anyone else let me know the outside dimensions of one? I've done some Google-fu and have so far only been able to find the size of the film and not the outer size of the cartridge.

Cheers
 
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I managed to find the general size of an Instax mini cartridge so have added it to my 3D drawing for the replacement back for my Yashica 635 to check the size. I haven't printed a back out yet so need to do that to get it the right size before I do anything else but the cartridge should fit at least.

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At the moment I've drawn this with the film ejecting to the bottom of the camera but I think it would be simpler to eject it from the top so the rollers can be held there (like the TL70) so I'll spin the cartridge around.

I'll shape the back around the cartridge once I'm happy with it so it's a smooth panel rather than having angular edges.
 
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Actually, unless I can get the film to bend outwards slightly either as it goes through the rollers or before, I'll have to eject it through the base because the film plane is around 7mm in from the rear of the camera. Hmm, need to get a cartridge/film and have play around I reckon.
 
On 'paper' it shouldn't need to bend the picture much to clear the top of the camera but I'll need to fit the rollers along with a mechanism to rotate them at a constant speed into a pretty tight spot.

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I've been looking at an Instax back that a guy made from scratch for his Pentax 67 and the motor/battery he used is pretty small. However, the last update was in 2015 when he said the spreading of the chemicals was pretty patchy so he hasn't updated it since. I think his issue was that he made the rollers/gearbox from scratch so it could be ejecting too quickly or squashing the film unevenly. If I can get hold of a cheap donor Instax camera I'd prefer to use the original rollers and gearbox if possible.
 
The alternative is to basically graft the rear half of an Instax body including all of the roller mechanism into the new 3D printed TLR back;

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Apart from looking a bit more clunky, my other concern is how easy it would be to actually focus the TLR with the grip of the Instax camera in the way. The major benefit is that the roller mechanism/gearbox is already in place ready to shoot. I could move the 2 CR2 batteries into new holders in the base to reduce it slightly though.
 
Assuming this back piece fits ok (I won't know until I get home from work later), I've got the next version drawn up with two battery trays in the base so I can move the CR123 batteries from the original grip location on the Instax 10 into the base of the TLR so I can make the whole thing as thin as possible. I've seen some other Instax/Polaroid conversions where the donor camera is basically glued onto the back of the body and I'm not keen on the final look.

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For a first print I'm pretty made up with the fit :0)

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I now need to add in a couple of pins so it can hinge on the original metal plate at the top and figure out the best way to clip it at the bottom. Other than that I think it's ready to go.
 
Ok, I've added the hinge pins and a clip on the front edge of the base to use the original point to secure it. Hopefully this should be enough to keep the back in place.

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Looks like this could be an interesting conversion, will be watching as this could be the answer to my dead 'Mat' (broken winder) .
 
That's why I started looking into Instax instead. It looks like FP100 is nearing the end and I'm not paying £25 for a pack when it was £14 last month. The other benefit of Instax is that it's smaller so I can keep the overall size in keeping with the original TLR.
 
There's also a back for a Holga 120 but the cheapest I could find was £40 and the shape of it isn't that good to fit to the rear of the TLR. The Diana instant back might be a bit easier to fit though.
 
My pack of Instax has just arrived so I'm doing a test fit. Looks like it was made to fit inside the original 6x6 surround perfectly :0)

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My plan is to make no modifications to the original 635 body at all so the Instax back can just be clipped on when needed then replaced with the standard 120 back. If I make it with the film ejecting through the top I think it might be too tight against the top frame of the camera back because I can't adjust the film plane location at all so have to mount the film around 6mm in from outside edge.

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The alternative option is to flip the entire Instax mechanism around so the film ejects from the base instead.

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If I do this, the film pack sits pretty much in line with the bottom of the camera so I'll need to make the base deeper to account for the rollers/controls but I was planning on moving the batteries to the base anyway so that's not the end of the world. Once my donor camera comes tomorrow I'll crack out the screwdrivers and soldering the iron to strip it down and just leave;

- Film cartridge surround
- Rollers
- Motor/gearboxes
- Circuit board for power button, shutter button and film counter display
- Battery circuit

I'll be removing the flash, capacitor, lighten/darken switch, second shutter button, focus button and the entire lens mechanism. I'm hoping that will leave a pretty flat front surface so I can get the film to line up with the original TLR film plane. I'm planning on delivering sharp TLR results and not holgarific output!
 
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Looking at images of the Mini 10 online and trying to guesstimate the distance from the top of the cartridge to the top of the camera it might actually work from the top if I can squeeze it in. I think I'd rather it ejected from the top to keep it looking like a traditional Instax but I'll annoyingly have to wait for the donor camera to arrive before I know :0(
 
I would rather it looked like a traditional TLR than an Instax (as much as possible with a Frankencamera!)

Loving your work, sir.
 
Could you not position a couple of CR2's in where the botom reel goes, should be more than enough space.keeps the base of the camera neat.
 
I did look at that first but there's a metal spring in the base to keep the film tight. That reduces the available space a bit but when my batteries arrive tomorrow I'll see how close I can get everything.

I'm going to be stuck with the overall film frame and motor/gearbox if I keep the automatic eject. If it's too bulky I might look to remove the motor completely and have a manual handle like the Lomo Belair Instax back although I'd prefer it to be motorised.

I can't find any disassembly images of an Instax Mini 10 online so I'm guessing on the layout at the moment by comparing a Mini 8 tear down on iFixit!
 
Inserts for some are available. Dad had a Rollei which could be loaded with 135 using the insert.
 
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