The PinStax Wide
is a custom made camera, based on the body
of an Instax Wide 100 with a pinhole. As with any pinhole you have to
measure the light and then calculate exposure time which is long. On
most meters there is no f/133 value, so there is an aid to transpose a
F22 measurement to F133 on the back of the camera.
The technical specifications:
Film:
Fujifilm Instax Wide Film
Exposure Area: 62mm x 99mm
Aperture: F133 No focus required
No shutter
Viewfinder: Optical viewfinder Motorized ejection. Takes 4 AA batteries
Filter thread: 52mm
Size: 190 x 120 x 75mm
Weight: 460 g with batteries and full film
Some pictures of the camera:
Front with cap and camera pouch.
Front with cap open.
Viewer on/off button and eject button.
Back side. Viewfinder eyepiece, back opening button and list of speed equivalents.
Bottom. Tripod mount.
Back open.
First
photos, quickly taken on a dull and rainy day.
Upper
photo: interior, 8 minutes. Lower photos: Calais, quartier Mollien.
Dark gray sky, rain, 1 minute. Because of the long exposure times, the
photos are blue. You can use filters to correct this.
Filtered photos: upper row: center filter and yellow filter, lower row
orange filter and the photo from the first try (lower, right). Exposure times ~1 minute.
The center filter (for a super angulon which I had in stock) helps a
bit. It should be more drastic for pinhole cameras. A yellow filter
might be the way to go, but it should be much lighter. The orange
filter did not have the effect I had expected. If I find lighter
filters, I will try again. Any source for affordable center filter will
be welcome.
I found a light apricot coloured filter in my stock. As it's dark and
grey at the moment, exposure time was still 1 minute. But it seems to
help. Maybe it's fine for shorter exposure times. Upper photo: with filter, lower photo: first series without filter.
I will make more photos when there will be sunshine, really scan them and put them here.
The
customization is very well made. There is an on/off button to prevent
unwanted ejection. The maker has found a way to keep the ejection cycle
working. This isn't the case with most other custom made Instax
cameras. One push on the red button starts a complete cycle. The filter
thread is very handy. The squeez type cap is easy to get off and back,
the cap is fixed via a strap, so you can't misplace it. A 39mm pinhole
gives very wide angle photos. The viewer is made from a door viewer and
works astonishingly well. The maker has put a tripod thread, so you can
fix the camera to a solid tripod to prevent shake. A very nice pinhole
camera which gives typical very wide angle pinhole pictures. A nice
find.
