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MINT InstantKon RF70 accessories and more info
This is a page about accessories and about (extending) the limits of this
camera. It's a personal advice, no warranty, just take it or leave it...
The camera fits into the bag of a Fuji 500AF.
This
is a very handy bag, the camera just fits into it, no room for extras.
But it's the smallest bag I have found. Be careful not to open the back
of the camera when you get it out of the bag. It protects the camera
well and it's easy to carry around.
DIY accessory holder
A filter holder next to the ND8 filter glass.
The
filter holder seems to be a custom bayonet. It's near to the Fuji GA
series kind of holders, but it's not the same. If you want to attach
other accessories than the ND filters, you have to get one of these
custom filter
holders or destroy one of your ND filters that came with the camera. As
the result of the DIY will be a standard filter holder, you can use
standard ND filters later.
The
diameter of the front of this custom filter holder is just a bit too
small to attach a 40.5mm standard filter thread. Just a little bit of
Dremel milling or carving and you are there.
This is the part that has to be milled out.
Milling
done. Next to it a 40.5 to 49mm step up ring, a common size. A bit of
Araldite 2-component glue and the assembly is done.
A 49mm standard accesory holder home made. As most of my accessories
are 52mm, I ordered a 40.5 to 52mm step up ring. You can use other
diameters of course.
An old 40.5mm shade with the Mint InstantKon RF70 custom filter holder attached.
Shade attached to the Camera.
The camera is prone to flare if strong light hits the lens from any side. A lens shade will certainly prevent this.
A, F 16, 6m. Lens shade needed.
52mm acessory holder:
Home made 52mm accessory holder installed.
Holder with the famous Nikon WC-E75 converter lens. This makes it a 70mm wide angle focal length.
Standard 93mm view, veranda, dull day.
70mm, I switched from A to A+ as it was a dull day, and then a bit of sun suddenly showed. Impressing difference.
I
also bought a Raynox HD-6600Pro, which is even wider, a .66 factor
which makes it a 61mm ultra wide angle. They advertize fantastic
results, but I don't know how they made them. Here are mine:
Veranda, dull day. It's fine in the center, but the edges are too soft.
Calais, quartie Mollien. Soft edges as well.
Comparison with the Nikon .75 lens. No soft edges, but a bit soft overall.
And the standard view.
The
Raynox again on a very bright day. The center is fine, the borders are
unacceptable. And you reach the limits of the camera: for correct
exposure you would need a ND filter. This is not the fault of the lens.
Just to show you, what a real wide wide angle would do:
Same photo made with my SuperwideStax, 65mm.
Photo with the Raynox in the shade. Again fine in the center, ways too soft at the borders.
Again the real wide angle SuperwideStax
Th Raynox wide open, as someone told me that the results would be better wide open, F 5.6, focus on infinity. All soft.
A last comparison, Mint camera with Raynox HD-6600Pro. Really nice in the center, but to the left and right side of the photo there is distorsion or extreme softness.
Same photo with the SuperwideStax again.
So
I don't know how Raynox made these astonishing photos in their ads, on
the Mint camera it doesn't work. Maybe I will try it on other cameras
and report back.
Limits of the camera:
At
short distance my first camera had a problem compensating the different
aperture settings, this is not the case with longer distances. Mint
says that this was a fault of my camera. They sent me a replacement
camera after all commands had been served. Good service. I chose A+ as the main
item was in the shade against a bright background. This is what it
looks like:
A+,
F 5.6, 1.5 m. A Czech designer vase from the 60s on the stone rim of an
ancient well. A bit too light for my taste. Beautiful bokeh at this
stop.
A+, F8, 1,5m. This is the photo I wanted.
A+,
F22, 1.5m. Picture is too dark.
The
strange thing is that I got similar
results hand metered, i.e. the F 5.6 photo was too light and the F 22
photo too dark. Very strange indeed. The replacement camera does not
show this. The hand metered results are fine. Only the F22 setting is a
tad too dark. So I think that at F22 the aperture is a little bit too
small which can easily be taken into account.
To
make it clear once again: There is no perfect camera. This
one is fine as it is. I just received an adapter for the uncommon 2.5mm
flash jack. So there will be external flash pictures soon.
