Is anyone frustrated with Instax and hopes for the resurrection of FP100c?

[Godfrey]

I believe they tried very hard, but that they have also been less than forthcoming on numerous occasions. Some backers have received assurances that their rewards will be shipped ‘next week’ and then not receive anything for over a month or more.

Well, at least not as bad as “The Box is Back” project. I had no interest in backing that one but have followed finally out of morbid curiosity.

I’d swore off backing any KS campaign but then Ethan Moses came along with a offer of software files for 3D printing of a 35mm panoramic camera. For ONE whole USD! That’s right, $1.
So... I backed it. No idea what to do with the files, and really no intention of ever actually making this camera. But come on, one dollar? Absolutely no way to go wrong on that one.

I guess my expectations are different from some. I don't see these things are orders to a store, I don't really need for a project team to send me updates every few days, or hold them to a strict timeline. I see these crowd-funded projects as ideas that some person would like to see happen and weigh in with a pledge if I think the idea has merit. Like with science experiments, I don't expect them all to succeed.

I never put money on a Kickstarter (or IndieGoGo, or other) project with the notion that it is anything other than a high-risk bet in a casino. I do it only with money I'm willing to lose. That way I'm never disappointed when things go sour, and I celebrate all the ones that succeed. 😀

I have money into about seven projects right now. A couple of them have been running for about two years, but the person(s) running them are responsive and are posting updates, things do seem to be moving along if only very slowly. They're pretty cool projects, if they succeed, so I remain hopeful that they succeed with the products they intend. A couple have run even longer than that and are at the point where I think they're dead, but they're still listed and still occasionally send an update (like Ferrania film).

Such it is. The Jollylook camera project looks amusing. I'll decide whether to go in on it within a day. 🙂

G

 

[raid]

I purchased Polaroid Land camera used kit and new FP100C from BH, not so long time ago. I took three exposures and sold it with the rest in camera and spare FP100C packs. With profit 🙂.

I still have my Land 250 and about 20 packs of film for it. I am waiting for a special occasion to use this last film.

 

[Godfrey]

I like instax film: high contrast but not sharp. Did that really happen? kind of thing... A good match for memory. The cameras give you what it wants, not what you want. Straight horizons: forget about it... It is what it is. Better not to load it into your film holder to see if everything is set!

The Instax film is quite good. Problem is that most of the cameras are clumsy and difficult to get a sharp photo with.

This one is with the Instant Magny 35 fitted to my Leica M4-2, on Instax SQ film:

Leica M4-2 + Instant Magny 35 + Pentax-L 43mm f/1.9 Special​

It's quite sharp and the framing is very faithful to what I imagined when I framed and focused.

G

 

[Godfrey]

Another, rather severely underexposed, processed to a nice portrait after scanning:

G

 

[raid]

Lovely looking images, but such an attachment looks bulky. Are you OK with it?

 

[james.liam]

The fickleness of Fujifilm really gets to me. Despite the rising interest in analog photography in both established and new photographers, they routinely kill emulsions with a typically Japanese polite news release and indifferently carry on. How many great cameras out there will sadly become inert shelf decorations for homes and restaurants now? The resurrection of Acros was a shock but then, it’s made for them by Ilford.

I wonder if Polaroid’s new proprietors might have a go with pack films.

 

[robert blu]

I still have my Land 250 and about 20 packs of film for it. I am waiting for a special occasion to use this last film.

This is a dangerous situation Raid, do not ask me how do I know!!!

Waiting for the special occasion has the risk that a "special enough" occasion doesn't arrive, meantime the film gets old and when you decide to use it maybe it doesn't work anymore!!!

I have still a few packsfilm...and I'm waiting for that occasion ...I still have some old original Polaroid film (the real Polaroid!!!)...we should use them...
NOW !!!

I know easy to say not easy to do !!! Easier to suggest something to a friend than to do it LOL

Fuji FP3000B photo taken with the cardboard Polaroid pinhole camera

 

[raid]

Maybe I should consider bringing with me the Land 250 and the M9 only. It would force me to use the film.

 

[Pál_K]

The fickleness of Fujifilm really gets to me. Despite the rising interest in analog photography in both established and new photographers, they routinely kill emulsions with a typically Japanese polite news release and indifferently carry on. How many great cameras out there will sadly become inert shelf decorations for homes and restaurants now? The resurrection of Acros was a shock but then, it’s made for them by Ilford.

I wonder if Polaroid’s new proprietors might have a go with pack films.

I think Impossible/Polaroid wouldn't be able to do it - I give them enormous credit for reviving film for 600 and SX-70 cameras and trying to get Spectra to work. But the packaging complexities of pack film I think would be beyond anyone's capabilities other than Kodak or Fuji.

Unfortunately, Fuji stopped production and scrapped the machinery and THEN told us all the product was discontinued. Maybe it wasn't profitable for them at $8/pack, but supply and demand showed people would buy it at much higher prices.

 

[robert blu]

Maybe I should consider bringing with me the Land 250 and the M9 only. It would force me to use the film.

The problem is not your camera but the films. If you fly you must keep them in your hand luggage and they take up a lot of space!

A few years ago when my wife and I flew to Ischia (beautiful island in south Italy) I had decided to shoot only Polaroid, the land camera with pack film and the 600 with the Impossible films.

I had a trolley almost full with 8 pack films and 8 Impossible! Plus of course the Land Camera and a Polaroid !!

 

[raid]

How sensitive to X-ray is peel film?

 

[Mackinaw]

I think Impossible/Polaroid wouldn't be able to do it - I give them enormous credit for reviving film for 600 and SX-70 cameras and trying to get Spectra to work. But the packaging complexities of pack film I think would be beyond anyone's capabilities other than Kodak or Fuji......

Correct. Before IP became Polaroid Originals, they publicly said they couldn't make peel-apart instant film.

Jim B.

 

[zuiko85]

I guess my expectations are different from some. I don't see these things are orders to a store, I don't really need for a project team to send me updates every few days, or hold them to a strict timeline. I see these crowd-funded projects as ideas that some person would like to see happen and weigh in with a pledge if I think the idea has merit. Like with science experiments, I don't expect them all to succeed.

I never put money on a Kickstarter (or IndieGoGo, or other) project with the notion that it is anything other than a high-risk bet in a casino. I do it only with money I'm willing to lose. That way I'm never disappointed when things go sour, and I celebrate all the ones that succeed. 😀

I have money into about seven projects right now. A couple of them have been running for about two years, but the person(s) running them are responsive and are posting updates, things do seem to be moving along if only very slowly. They're pretty cool projects, if they succeed, so I remain hopeful that they succeed with the products they intend. A couple have run even longer than that and are at the point where I think they're dead, but they're still listed and still occasionally send an update (like Ferrania film).

Such it is. The Jollylook camera project looks amusing. I'll decide whether to go in on it within a day. 🙂

G

No argument there Godfrey. When I first backed a project on KS 5 years ago I foolishly believed that Kickstarter's 'Terms of Service' that laid out what creators were 'required' to do held some kind of real meaning. Now of course I know that KS creators are free to do anything they please, with zero consequences if they violate those terms.
I would like to see Kickstarter legally forced to spell out plainly, in bold type, to never back a project unless you are prepared to walk away from what ever amount you put down. And they should drop any mention of what creators are 'required' to do since said requirement has no enforceable meaning.
In other words, if I were a bald faced scam artist then crowdfunding would be a sweet, low to zero risk way to swindle money.

 

[Godfrey]

Lovely looking images, but such an attachment looks bulky. Are you OK with it?

It's quite clumsy to use, for sure. And indeed, it would have been better to buy the version with the Nikon FM/FE compatible back rather than the Leica M compatible back ... more versatile, easier to focus, and better imaging due to the optics of the magnification section. That's why I'm building my own Instax SQ camera, based on the Instax Magny 35 film processing unit and a Mamiya Press 23 lens.

😀

G

 

[raid]

Good for you, Godfrey.

 

[Godfrey]

The fickleness of Fujifilm really gets to me. Despite the rising interest in analog photography in both established and new photographers, they routinely kill emulsions with a typically Japanese polite news release and indifferently carry on. How many great cameras out there will sadly become inert shelf decorations for homes and restaurants now? The resurrection of Acros was a shock but then, it’s made for them by Ilford.

I wonder if Polaroid’s new proprietors might have a go with pack films.

The packaging of multiple frames of pack film is definitely beyond what a small outfit like Impossible Project or any other startup can handle ... the custom machinery required is simply too laborious and expensive to develop even for the niche market that would be delighted to buy it at a high price.

However, there is an effort underway to build a reduced version of pack film, a version with just one frame per pack. It's called "One Instant" and is indeed a Kickstarter that is a half year behind schedule on delivery of product.

Yes, I have a pledge on that one too. I enjoy the hopeless and impossible causes, you see. And if it seems a fairly heedless way to fritter away money, well, I don't do a lot of other things that are basically just ways to fritter away money and keep yourself amused. So I'm okay with it. 🙂

A One Instant pack film basic pledge nets six three-packs of film at the breathtaking price of $18 per exposure. What I've seen from their updates looks quite entertaining and so, presuming that they achieve shipping product soon, I intend to have some fun making a one-time project out of shooting my last 18 exposures of pack type instant film. I've sourced another Polaroid pack film camera to do this since I sold my last pack film camera a couple of years before this project surfaced. (And I still have a compatible pack film back for my Hasselblad ... but I just can't see using these precious frames in that...)

Pack film is dead, dead, dead unless Fuji decided to open up that production again, other than weirdo little things like this.

G

 

[Godfrey]

No argument there Godfrey. When I first backed a project on KS 5 years ago I foolishly believed that Kickstarter's 'Terms of Service' that laid out what creators were 'required' to do held some kind of real meaning. Now of course I know that KS creators are free to anything they please, with zero consequences if they violate those terms.
I would like to see Kickstarter legally forced to spell out plainly, in bold type, to never back a project unless you are prepared to walk away from what ever amount you put down. And they should drop any mention of what creators are 'required' to do since said requirement has no enforceable meaning.
In other words, if I were a bald faced scam artist then crowdfunding would be a sweet, low to zero risk way to swindle money.

Kickstarter does warn folks that a pledge to a project should not to be considered ordering a product in a store. The whole purpose of this kind of crowdfunding is to allow innovators to try to do something that needs more money than they can put together on their own. Innovation and new products are always risky things.

I just don't really see the point of taking such a negative view on it. Of course people can concoct scams with just about anything, it's up to pledges to not allow themselves to be deceived. MOST of the folks I've met who are involved in crowdfunded projects are good, honest, young people who want to try to make something. Many are simply young and inexperienced at it, and make awful mistakes (the biggest of which is woefully underestimating what it really takes to make an idea in a sketch into an actual quality product). I have been guilty of that myself in my career, long since ended now, so I have a great deal of compassion for young people who are trying to innovate and making a mess of things.

I've had many good KS projects deliver good products, and I've met and spent time discussing the projects with a number of the makers along the way/over the years. Some have become good friends, even when they screwed up their first project something awful and cost me a small fortune. All who went back to do a second project after a disaster did a MUCH better job.

Participating in KS projects is one way I keep my fingers in 'the game' from which I'm now thoroughly retired. I find it fun and I can afford to play a few small, risky games. AS I said, I don't do much other heedless frittering away my money (like of my friends do...) so I just add it up as entertainment costs. ;-)

G

 

[f.hayek]

Kickstarter is the Millenial version of Bernie Madoff. Better off burning your cash in a bonfire. At least you get some heat from it.

 

[Huss]

Kickstarter is the Millenial version of Bernie Madoff. Better off burning your cash in a bonfire. At least you get some heat from it.

I got my Kickstarter backed Lomo Metropolis film no issue.

Then again I backed the Reflex 35mm camera. That looks gone, even though they are still trying to plug away at it.

 

[f.hayek]

I got my Kickstarter backed Lomo Metropolis film no issue.

Then again I backed the Reflex 35mm camera. That looks gone, even though they are still trying to plug away at it.

Leap of Faith.

Faith that is betrayed more often than not.