New M42 SLR with Instax Mini - Kickstarter

ChrisR

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Just launched, in theory you can get a SLR style Instax Mini camera with M42 thread mount via the Kickstarter for $179 if you're quick, $199 if you miss the early bird. The camera does not appear to have a meter, and it looks like the "5-bladed shutter" is just behind the lens mount. Instax Mini is quite a bit bigger than the 24x36mm standard 135 frame, so there'll usually be some serious vignetting, though they try and make a virtue of it! Shutter speeds 1- 1/500...
 
Fair play them for trying but that 'telescope' look isn't working for me. Instax film is roughly£1 a pop so not using 20% of the film just seems a huge waste.
 
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Got to agree. I'm quite relieved they showed the images with the "circle" frame so people could decide whether they like it or not.

Now... Where's that fella in F&C that once mentioned creating an Instax back for an RB67.... Or was that my imagination? :)
 
Got to agree. I'm quite relieved they showed the images with the "circle" frame so people could decide whether they like it or not.

Now... Where's that fella in F&C that once mentioned creating an Instax back for an RB67.... Or was that my imagination? :)
That would be a good idea, or an Instax Square back for a Hasselbald.
 
Not sure how much this has been discussed on this forum in particular and I'm sure there are technical reasons beyond my understanding (probably surrounding the shutter) that prohibit this, but why has no one made a kick starter for a non-gimmick camera that uses 135 film and takes an existing lens mount?

Surely there would be a market for such a camera, or maybe there are too many functioning 35mm slr cameras kicking round.
 
I think the answer is "the shutter".

I'm sure I heard a podcast that spke to Bellamy Hunt who said it was the shutter that killed the idea he had. I could be entirely misremembering though.
 
Not sure how much this has been discussed on this forum in particular and I'm sure there are technical reasons beyond my understanding (probably surrounding the shutter) that prohibit this, but why has no one made a kick starter for a non-gimmick camera that uses 135 film and takes an existing lens mount?

Surely there would be a market for such a camera, or maybe there are too many functioning 35mm slr cameras kicking round.

There is. It's called Reflex and was launched on Kickstarter a couple of years ago. It's still in development though.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reflexcamera/reflex-bringing-back-the-analogue-slr-camera
 
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Chances are this will make vignetting the "must have in your photos"

So why the ´ell av I spent a fortune on lenses that offer enough coverage to avoid dark corners??......I think I’ve been ´ad ☹️
 
There is. It's called Reflex and was launched on Kickstarter a couple of years ago. It's still in development though.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reflexcamera/reflex-bringing-back-the-analogue-slr-camera

.... and the shutter was one of the problems with the Reflex, ISTR.

In this particular case, I'd have been concerned about the flappy mirror. Camera makers spent decades refining the mechanisms for the mirror, and they still built some dodgy ones. Maybe this lot have been able to take advantages of some newer materials?

I'm guessing it is probably a penta-mirror rather than a pentaprism, too. There's really not a lot of information there.
 
It says pentaprism in the spec section. It also says elsewhere that they were planning to be shipping in August 2018, so it's to be running pretty late. To be honest, it strikes me that £350 for the basic body is unrealistically cheap for a precision instrument being manufactured in a small quantity (I count 263 backers for all price points that include at least a camera body). The camera looks interesting, but I get the feeling that they've bitten off more than they can chew regarding the design and development.
 
*cough* *cough*

Or, indeed, for a Chroma.... ;)

Yeah yeah, suitably subtle hints there [emoji23]

An Instax wide back, with integrated development rollers, is definitely something I’ll deliver eventually. The problem, apart from there not being 274 hours in each day, is the tolerances in the rollers for Instax being so tight that they’d have to be machined specifically for it (not printed) which pushes the cost up.

I have spoken to the guy from Escura “Instant 60’s” about their development rollers and we’ve discussed some dev parts for me to use, including a wide version, so it’s definitely got a chance of happening, just not at the moment as I’m focusing my time on the current model Chroma, as well as the two new ones that I’m launching at The Photography Show, and the ChromaGraphica holders.
 
The video has the same sort of style over substance feel as those 'Yashica' adverts from a couple of years ago, and the camera (never really shown in much detail) might be equally plasticky. What's the deal with 'Push the slider to replace the viewfinder'? No auto-return mirror?

Hope it's not pronounced 'Nonce'.
 
Quirky but different! Well over-funded, 4 days to go....
 
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