Finally!! The instant camera we want!

Never found time to do make any photos today ... was too busy running errands all day long. Sigh.

But I least I got all the holiday plans and shopping taken care of. :)

G
 
Godfrey said:
I spoke with the folks at MiNT about the rangefinder slop and have assessed that it is normal.

For the low price point on what is essentially a very niche product camera, they're not trying to compete with something like a Leica M on precision and accuracy, nor is it really warranted since the output is by definition a small print with limited resolution.

The folks at MiNT suggested that for best results I stop down to f/8 or f/11, which is about what I figured; it works well.

I've done more testing and found that the rangefinder is quite accurate if I start focusing from the closest distance setting and 'pull out' until the target lines up. And the sharpness is really quite good if I do that, at close distances and infinity, and even wide open. The lens does perform best between f/8 and f/16 anyway.

G
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input, but man this just confirmed how disappointed I am with this. I thought that at $1000 and with an RF, and be able to pick apertures we were getting a high quality piece.
Unfortunately your and others' experience has shown this is not the case.
 
The MiNT InstaKon RF70 proves to be a pretty nice camera. I'm one test roll into it now and having a good time learning it and how to get good results with it. Six of my ten first exposures are actually pretty nice photographs ... a darn good hit rate for any new camera ... and the first exposure from the pack of B&W Instax Wide film I think is remarkably good—and it's a flash exposure!

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MiNT InstaKon RF70 + Fujifilm Instax Wide B&W
ISO 800 @ f/5.6 @ -- @ 1m focus​

I'm satisfied that it will make a lot of fine photographs for me, and was worth the money. :D

enjoy, G
 
B&W is also growing on me on the Instax Wide both for portraits and long-exposure. too bad it is more expensive than the color version

31949444858_462e131da0_c.jpg


Manual mode with flash-fill
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Nice photos!

I put the InstaKon RF70 to work yesterday evening to record our holiday dinner gathering of friends. I loaded up one pack of Instax Wide Color and did all flash photos on Auto in our condo. I am happy to report that it made ten excellent photographs. I used the rangefinder to set the focus and mostly used f/11: All are in good focus with clear bright colors; all but one are exposed as well as they can be and the one that isn't was purely operator error (it's slightly dark due to shooting into too big a room past the 3m limit of the flash's power).

Very pleasing, solid performance out of this new MiNT camera. For this set of photos alone, the price was well warranted. I need to order more film... :D

Scans a little later on.

G
 
great shots, the built-in flash and A mode seems to be capable of getting the right exposure.

if you guys have an amazon prime account, I found subscribing for 100 sheets (5x20) is the cheapest way to get Instax Wide (80CAD$ which is approximatelly 60US$).

sadly, Instax Wide B&W, cheapest place I could find is locally at The Camera Store for 15CAD$ or 11US$.
 
taemo said:
great shots, the built-in flash and A mode seems to be capable of getting the right exposure.

if you guys have an amazon prime account, I found subscribing for 100 sheets (5x20) is the cheapest way to get Instax Wide (80CAD$ which is approximatelly 60US$).

sadly, Instax Wide B&W, cheapest place I could find is locally at The Camera Store for 15CAD$ or 11US$.
Click to expand...

Yes, the built-in flash works well as long as you stick well inside its 3m range. f/8 and f/11 were used for these photos. I'd like to rig a cable for the external flash receptacle so I can also use my RF flash trigger and more powerful flash units, reflectors, etc.

You don't really need Prime to buy that set of five two-packs. The best price I can find on Amazon is US$78.49 for that set (CAD $108 at present). Monochrome is only sold in single pack units and the best I've found anywhere is US $13.99 each (CAD $19). $15CAD is quite a discount.

That said, I've found that unless I'm building inventory for a specific shooting project, it's best for me to buy in two and three pack quantities. I have too many cameras, many taking different film, and don't shoot enough with any single one to want ten packs of film on the shelf or it will age out before I'm done with it. Instant film has traditionally not aged well, and I have limited refrigerator space. ...

G
 
Brought the RF70 to work today and took some B&W shots with Yellow-Green filter.
I broke the glass on the ND2 filter, filed the edges and glued it on a 46-52 step up ring

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46111244581_e6d1844d46_b.jpg

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Just received another batch of film (two B&W, two color packs) so it's time to exercise the InstaKon RF60 again.

One thing I'm noting is that this camera isn't particularly economical on battery life. A fresh set of high energy alkaline AAs was completely consumed in one and a half packs of film. Admittedly, most exposures were made with flash, and I didn't turn the speed selector to OFF when I put the camera away, both of those things might have had a big impact. But I'll be watching the power consumption more carefully and trying out a set of Eneloop NiMH rechargeable batteries to see how the camera fares with them. It's quite different from the Lomo Instant Square, which uses a pair of Lithium CR2 batteries: I've exposed a dozen packs of film with that camera, also a lot of flash, and the batteries are still fine. That camera doesn't even have an OFF switch, it just completely powers down when you fold it. (I wish Fujifilm made their B&W emulsion in the Instax Square format.)

Such it is. Lessee how the Eneloops work out. :)
 
Yes, lately I've been experiencing the same issue too.
On my initial run, I was able to shoot over 6 packs before the battery was gone (the 2xAA alkaline batteries included with the camera)
Now though, I can probably do 1-2 packs before I'm out.
2 factors that I can think of:
-I'm using 4+ years old Energizer Rechargeable batteries NiMH rated at 2300mAh
-winter weather may has some impact with the battery life, although it is not like I shoot outside extensively

I'm leaning more to the fact that I'm using NiMH.
 
NiMH are 1.35 V vs alkaline @1.5V, so I do expect some fewer exposures per charge, but there's the difference: rechargeability. :)
 
I was on my bicycle ride and stopped at a downtown cafe. I took out the RF70 to make a little still life photo of my coffee, pastry, and helmet. The woman who runs the smoke shop next door saw the camera and came over to say, "That's a beautiful camera! What kind is it?"

We talked for a few moments, and then I said, "I'd be honored to make a photograph of you with it. I'll make two so you can have one, too." She got all excited and said, "Sure! Let me get ready.." and ran into the store to get her shawl and arrange herself.

After the two photos had processed, I told her to take the one she liked most, as long as I snapped a photo of it with the iPhone.


MiNT InstaKon RF70
Fujifilm Instax Wide Monochrome​

What a glorious and regal look she has!

enjoy!
G
 
Thanks for sharing. I'm still experimenting with the RF70 (my second one, the flash of the first did not work). So far only used 3 packs of color film. At this moment I can't comment on battery life with the supplied batteries. In my Lomo'Instant Wide I use Duracell Ultra Power and they seem to last long.

Update: just took another test shot. 1 mark of the battery indicator already gone now. If the pack is finished I'll try the Duracell. I do not know if the Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries are currently available in AA size, should have a look into that. In future I'll also try some rechargeable batteries.
 
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