Adapting an Instax back to a Graflex 4x5

[mhcfires]

I bought an Instax Wide back for the Lomography Bel-Air camera with the intention of putting it on one of my Graflex 4x5's or maybe on a Speed Graphic. I haven't figured out how to do it without butchering either the camera or the back. Any ideas out there?


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[Oren Grad]

As I'm sure you've figured out, it's designed to fit around the shape of the Lomo Belair camera body, which creates a problem with the position of the film plane. To get it in the right place, it seems to me you either need to butcher the back, or make some kind of thick GG spacer that will let you align GG focus properly. Or maybe you can fabricate some sort of frame that will go on the camera body in place of its existing back, and on which either the Belair back or the camera's GG panel can alternately be mounted.

 

[oldlincoln]

It looks like you would need to fab a spacer/mask for GG position and to fit the Graflok back. You might have to trim off (Don't "butcher", Trim!) the area that fits to the bel-aire body and the viewfinder. I would want to arrange for a darkslide as well. I think it will be a very workable mod though. Some enterprising individual should pick this up as a product, judging from the price of used instant (Polaroid) backs for 4X5 that will take Fuji FP-100C.

 

[xya]

someone on polaroid-passion.com did it, but the images have disappeared from the server. I bought the back from him, it has a mamiya universal frame. even closest trimming won't get you as near as a polaroid pack 100 back, without dark slide it's 8mm difference, it now has a dark slide and its even more. I'm working on it, but it'll be some more work to do.