Mint cameras? RF70 vs SX-70/SLR670

[joe bosak]

I'm curious, possibly a prelude to a bout of GAS... and I can't find many reviews on line (for the RF70 they seem to be of prototypes or early versions).

How does the picture quality attainable with the Instantkon RF70 compare to the SLR670? Is it signifcantly better than the Instax Wide 300?

I'm guessing SLR670 may be capable of better output than the RF70 because although Polaroid film may not be as capable as Instax (just an impression from thngs read online), the RF70 has some structural flimsiness issues and maybe worse manufacturing tolerances, and a plastic rather than glass lens. And the flimsiness/tolerances make the RF70 less likely to be reliable long term.

What's less clear is RF70 vs Wide 300, because although it has manual controls and RF focusing, it's still sounds a bit flimsy wth a plastic lens. The Wide is said to be very unreliable, but we've had ours a few years without issues.

Thanks for any perspectives.

 

[former member]

I picked up Polaroid 600 color and black and white film a few months ago- I think they are greatly improved over the impossible Film. I'm using it in a rebuilt Retrospekt SLR680 and my SLR690.

 

[Godfrey]

Of course, I'm a major addict to instant film cameras and the Polaroid SX-70 (and its derivatives) in particular. I have an original Polaroid SX-70, and the Polaroid SLR670a, SLR670m, and SLR670x by MiNT. The 'm' and 'x' variants of the latter include manual exposure mode BUT in manual exposure mode, you are limited to f/8 aperture. Regardless, the SX-70 lens is a very good quality, four element "Tessar type" lens.

The SX-70 and 600 film that is currently being sold is approximately the 17th revision of these emulsions initially created by The Impossible Project when they rescued the very last Polaroid film processing plant in the world. If they had not done that, all the SX-70 cameras ever made would by now be little more than shelf display items. The fact that Polaroid bought the Impossible Project some years ago and has concentrated mostly on film development, rather than all the other product development that IP was trying to do as well, has hastened the advance of film quality back to nearly what it was when Polaroid Corporation owned this market segment in its entirety. The B&W in particular is excellent quality, the color is close.

I also have a MiNT InstaKon RF-70, more evidence of my instant film addiction. 😉 The RF-70 was Gary's dream ... an instant film camera with a manually focused lens that permitted full manual exposure control, both exposure time as well as aperture. And a reliable film supplier ... Fuji makes so much money from its Instax film sales there's little reason to think that it's ever going to be discontinued, and of course Fujifilm corporation has way, way, WAY more financial resources than Impossible nee Polaroid does in the modern world and can leverage that to film development in ways that are simply out of reach for today's Polaroid.

The InstaKon RF-70 is a very good camera. It realizes Gary's dream nicely, has a beautifully sharp lens, accurate rangefinder focusing, high quality shutter, exposure meter, etc. The Instax Wide format is a 35mm-ish proportion (haven't measured it exactly, but it's very close to 2:3 proportion) and the Fuji Instax Wide film produces excellent image quality with clean colors or sharp and contrasty B&W. It has some limitations, like all RF cameras, and is unfortunately a bit bulkier than the SX-70/SLR670 cameras to carry, and proves a bit slower operating in use. But full manual control, easy double exposure capability, easy access to both ND and color filters for B&W use make it a find instant film camera. (I don't own a Wide 300, but a friend of mine does: the RF-70 lens is yards better than the Wide 300 lens IMO.) The RF-70 lens is not plastic as far as I understand it, and if it is, it is an excellent job of a plastic lens anyway.

I've made many many photos with both of these cameras over the past several years. I've only scanned and posted a small number of my prints, but I typically chew through a few packs of them per month. They all make very pleasing photos for me. I searched my flickr.com account for "SLR670", "SX-70", and "RF-70" ... I've shot and scanned a lot more with the Polaroids than with the InstaKon RF-70 as I found I'd only posted four of my RF-70 exposures:

InstaKon RF-70 Photos

Polaroid SLR670_ by MiNT , Polaroid SX-70 by MiNT

The Polaroid shots range from some of the earliest Impossible Project films to sometime late last year.. and the RF-70 shots are all from one pack of the always-excellent Fuji Instax Wide film.

Any questions... just ask. I use these cameras a lot! 😀

G

 

[joe bosak]

...

Thanks Godfrey for such a comprehensive reply, you've given me exactly the kind of food for thought I needed.

 

[Exploring RF]

I had both the MiNT RF70 & the SLR670x. I ended up selling the RF70, partly to fund other stuff and partly because I just didn't dig the Instax Wide format over time. The reliability of Instax is superb. I made dozens of postcards with the RF70 at the beginning of the pandemic. Bright, beautiful images with strobe lighting. The camera is a little big, and I had strobe sync issues but Gary at MiNT quickly took care of me. Excellent customer service. But the film format is such a personal choice.

But, in the end, the SLR670 is a smaller ,solid tank with great MiNT interface. I don't mind the f/8 constraint. As mentioned, Polaroid film is evolving. Prefer the square film format big time (also like Instax mini format). With both Instax & Polaroid, it's is all about managing the slim dynamic range.

And sentimentally, it was the SX-70 that my nephew gave me a few years ago that got me back into film (Minolta SRT 100 was my first camera).

Oh, pretty sure the RF70 lens is plastic, but not an issue. Great resolution and it fits the film well. Will the RF70 last as long as an SLR670? Time will tell. Huge kudos to Gary at MiNT for innovating with both these cameras!

 

[Godfrey]

I had both the MiNT RF70 & the SLR670x. I ended up selling the RF70, partly to fund other stuff and partly because I just didn't dig the Instax Wide format over time. The reliability of Instax is superb. I made dozens of postcards with the RF70 at the beginning of the pandemic. Bright, beautiful images with strobe lighting. The camera is a little big, and I had strobe sync issues but Gary at MiNT quickly took care of me. Excellent customer service. But the film format is such a personal choice.

But, in the end, the SLR670 is a smaller ,solid tank with great MiNT interface. I don't mind the f/8 constraint. As mentioned, Polaroid film is evolving. Prefer the square film format big time (also like Instax mini format). With both Instax & Polaroid, it's is all about managing the slim dynamic range.

And sentimentally, it was the SX-70 that my nephew gave me a few years ago that got me back into film (Minolta SRT 100 was my first camera).

Oh, pretty sure the RF70 lens is plastic, but not an issue. Great resolution and it fits the film well. Will the RF70 last as long as an SLR670? Time will tell. Huge kudos to Gary at MiNT for innovating with both these cameras!

bolded ... Absolutely true! And I too prefer the square format. 🙂

G

... One of these days, I'll get my custom Instax SQ camera built. It's been a moribund project for three or four years now. Sigh. ...

 

[taemo]

i also have the founders edition of the instakon rf70 and love it. feels like a giant rf camera (think fuji gf670) but instax.
dynamic range, flare and contrast is no better than instax wide camera but the rf70 allows you focus, shutter, aperture and flash control.

i seldomly use mine, but when i do it is a lot of fun