Sofort/Sofort 2 Instant Adventures

[dave lackey]

I have a wall-mounted hanging arrangement - two vertical strips of wood with five pieces of string between them, and the prints clip onto the strings with small clothes pegs. That gives me space for 30 Instax (mini or wide) prints that I can rotate out every so often.

Right now one string is devoted to my old cat who died back in January, for instance.

Love it! Sorry about your cat, though.
I had not thought of displaying the Instax prints! Hmmmm…

 

[Timmyjoe]

Don't have a Sofort 2, but do have a Fujifilm Instax Mini 40 and we find they're perfect "front of the fridge" images. Have quite a few of them up there.

Best,
-Tim

 

[dave lackey]

Don't have a Sofort 2, but do have a Fujifilm Instax Mini 40 and we find they're perfect "front of the fridge" images. Have quite a few of them up there.

Best,
-Tim

What’s the best way to put them on a fridge other than magnets?🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[Timmyjoe]

What’s the best way to put them on a fridge other than magnets?🤷🏼‍♂️

We use magnets, just on the corners of the pic (they are so lightweight you don't need much holding power).

Best,
-Tim

 

[dave lackey]

Ok, holiday update of sorts. 😇

After two months of shooting and printing, what is my opinion as a newbie to using instant film camera?

Well, it was NOT what I expected. Which is a good thing. Never once did I get an image that was blurry, or anything like my old One-Step results decades ago and that was pretty much all I got. 🙂

Here are the prints that made so far… a lot🙂:



They are far better than I expected. Though not a replacement for any of my film cameras, I totally get the instant film interest. It is also fun! And not terribly expensive, with 6 10-print Instax Mini film packs available for $40.

What is the allure? It’s different! Instant film prints have their own presentation different than anything I have used before and it appears I can learn to be creative and I’m looking forward to that.

The Sofort 2 has been a welcomed surprise. It is black of course and looks less like a toy than all the other Fuji variants in bright colors.

It is intuitive to work with and best of all, the images when stored on the micro SD card are uploaded and processed through LR and PS, they are more than acceptable for large prints. While I shoot my M2 and Nikons as before, this is becoming a fun thing. It has its own black/red leather Leica hand strap, and I carry the camera, extra film packs, prints in a storage case and much more in my old X1/X2 shoulder bag which is far smaller than my Billingham Leica bag. It is its own complete Leica kit.

What will I be using it for? One word…FUN. I am curious to see what I can do with it. Do I wish it had larger prints? Sure. But if I’m going to do that I will either scan my instant prints or print from the SD card or computer or iphone...

Let’s see how this goes as the holiday season is here and Spring will offer a lot!

🙂

 

[Timmyjoe]

You're getting quite a collection there David.

Have you used the camera to print images that you captured on your cell phone? Interested in seeing if that really works, or if it's something too complicated to really be fun.

Best,
-Tim

 

[FIegiso]

I’ve been tempted by the Sofort for a while. Back in the day I shot SX-70 for my creative work for several years.

Question: is the film as maleable as the old Polariod Time Zero film? I loved doing image transformations…

 

[lxmike]

This is not a good thread for my GAS

 

[dave lackey]

You're getting quite a collection there David.

Have you used the camera to print images that you captured on your cell phone? Interested in seeing if that really works, or if it's something too complicated to really be fun.

Best,
-Tim

Tim, I have been so busy lately I haven’t tried it yet but I will soon! I’ll post my results for you. Thanks!😊

 

[dave lackey]

I’ve been tempted by the Sofort for a while. Back in the day I shot SX-70 for my creative work for several years.

Question: is the film as maleable as the old Polariod Time Zero film? I loved doing image transformations…

Well, I can’t answer that yet since I haven’t gotten that far into this adventure.🙂 I will be getting back to the instant film journey in a few days.👍

 

[G Dogg]

Instax film is very different than the original SX 70 film and cannot be manipulated by pushing the emulsion around post exposure.

 

[dave lackey]

Instax film is very different than the original SX 70 film and cannot be manipulated by pushing the emulsion around post exposure.

Thanks, I had no idea how to answer this since i have never shot an SX-70 and I am more interested in the manipulation of the digital images and still printing on instant film. Tim’s question about printing digital images from the iPhone or computer, etc. is a good one but I have not yet tried it. The Sofort digital files are easily manipulated in LR and PS.

 

[Coldkennels]

Have you used the camera to print images that you captured on your cell phone? Interested in seeing if that really works, or if it's something too complicated to really be fun.

I don't own the Sofort, but I've printed directly from a couple of Fuji mirrorless bodies and my iPhone to one of the Instax Link printers (including, somewhat hilariously, transferring a 35mm negative scan from Lightroom to my phone and "printing" it onto Instax Mini film). It works pretty well and is generally well-received when I give them to people.

The only catch is that I find the "prints" are much darker than the images appear on my phone or laptop, so I usually have to lift all the levels slightly before sending it to the Instax Link. I don't know if that's an issue with the medium or the Instax Link itself, or if the Sofort would be any different in that regard. Just something to keep an eye out for.

 

[dave lackey]

The coolest thing for me is realizing that I do not have to print anything on the Instax Film or I can select only what I want. And I can print as many as I want of the same capture. No more wasted prints.

It will be interesting to work with importing photos to the Sofort 2 to print!😇