Is this meant for proofing only? It does not make much sense to use such a back for the main image, does it? A 4x5 camera is usually quite heavy. My Linhof weighs a ton or two ...
I'm sure it's meant for people who have a 4x5 view camera that would like to be able to get a bit more use out of it with instant film in another format. Lomo isn't really in the business of making proofing tools, although of course it could be used as a proofing tool. Many photographers, in the past, used 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10 view cameras to handle a variety of film formats from 6x9 up to their camera's format limit.
I don't think that low weight and convenience rank highly on the priority list of people wanting to play with something different like this.
😉
The practical path would be to build a front for the thing that uses a lens in shutter, with front element focusing, from a 6X9 camera. the diagonal of 56mm X 84mm is about 100mm where this Instax Wide has a diagonal of 116mm. So, the lens of a 6x9 should be able to just cover with a bit more falloff than a lens designed for 4X5. That's if you want to use it as a carry around camera.
This is why I would like to find a 4x5 Graflok back that could fit on my Mamiya Press 23 Super. The Press 23 Super has interchangeable backs and back movements, a breechlock lens mount, and lenses with a focusing mount, shutter, and aperture mechanism, all self contained and independent. The only issue is that, unlike a*bellows view or field camera, you can't move the lens standard back far enough to accommodate the depth of the Instax film processor and cartridge unit to achieve infinity focus.
For that, perhaps a light 6x9 field camera could be fitted with a*4x5 Graflok back. The mind boggles at all the entertaining ways to configure a system around this back...
Actually, one of my long term projects has been to build a light, hand-holdable camera out of an Instax Square film processing unit and the Mamiya Press 23 Super lens assembly. I made some progress on the concept this weekend ... I've determined that the correct flange registration distance is 61mm and continued dismantling of a second parts body to obtain the lens mount, and struggling with that. But a little light bulb lit up as I considered that the front panel of the Mamiya Press 25, separated from the rest of the body and with the viewfinder cut off, is just about the right dimensions to build a box*onto*it that will hold the processing unit on the rear nicely. I'm going to pursue that path ... I could have a working camera in a couple of weeks that way.
😀
G
