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instantphoto.eu              PinStax Wide
 

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:

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Front with cap and camera pouch.

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Front with cap open.
Viewer on/off button and eject button.

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Back side. Viewfinder eyepiece, back opening button and list of speed equivalents.

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Bottom. Tripod mount.


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Back open.

First photos, quickly taken on a dull and rainy day.

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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.

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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.

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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.


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