Mamiya 645 with Instax mini film

[djm]

Hi,

Has anyone tried to hack a Maniya 645 polaroid back to accept Fuji Instax mini film? The dimensions of Instax Mini (62x46mm) are a near-perfect fit for the image size of the M645 (56x42mm), so it seem a lot less wasteful than FP-100C and probably quite a bit cheaper too.

There are a few shots on flickr of misaligned instax film taken (presumably) using the standard polaroid back and some stale speculation of whether it would be possible to graft a Diana F+ back onto a M645 back, but I can't see anyone who has actually tried to make it work.

 

[StoneNYC]

Hi,

Has anyone tried to hack a Maniya 645 polaroid back to accept Fuji Instax mini film? The dimensions of Instax Mini (62x46mm) are a near-perfect fit for the image size of the M645 (56x42mm), so it seem a lot less wasteful than FP-100C and probably quite a bit cheaper too.

There are a few shots on flickr of misaligned instax film taken (presumably) using the standard polaroid back and some stale speculation of whether it would be possible to graft a Diana F+ back onto a M645 back, but I can't see anyone who has actually tried to make it work.

I don't own a 645 so forgive my ignorance but don't all of those cameras have the eye level finder? I would think it might get in the way of the frame of the hacked instax holder... so it wouldn't fit on properly?

 

[djm]

I don't own a 645 so forgive my ignorance but don't all of those cameras have the eye level finder? I would think it might get in the way of the frame of the hacked instax holder... so it wouldn't fit on properly?

They have interchangeable finders (mine is the AF prism finder). The Mamiya Polaroid back certainly doesn't get in the way of the finder, and the FP-100C film that is uses is about 2x in each dimension Instax Mini so there is no obvious reason that it shouldn't physically fit.

 

[StoneNYC]

They have interchangeable finders (mine is the AF prism finder). The Mamiya Polaroid back certainly doesn't get in the way of the finder, and the FP-100C film that is uses is about 2x in each dimension Instax Mini so there is no obvious reason that it shouldn't physically fit.

oh good, then you just have to work on the mechanics of it all, the instax ejects itself so there's electronics involved to trigger the eject, where the fuji pack film is manual. So you'll have to figure out how to rig it to eject... it's a little more complicated and probably not worth doing on a mass market scale, but potentially it could be done ... this is my opinion, but what do I know?

 

[Roger Cole]

I don't own a 645 so forgive my ignorance but don't all of those cameras have the eye level finder? I would think it might get in the way of the frame of the hacked instax holder... so it wouldn't fit on properly?

Finder is not a problem. I use a Polaroid back on my 645 Pro with the AE Prism finder, no problems there.

The bigger problem is that you have to take the winder grip off. That's not really a "problem" just takes extra time and is annoying.

Oops, I see he beat me to it.

 

[djm]

The bigger problem is that you have to take the winder grip off

hmm, I don't - my Polaroid back fits with the grip attached. It's a bit fiddly, but it goes on okay.

-d

 

[wblynch]

I like the idea of fitting the Diana back since it has the electric eject mechanism built in.

 

[StoneNYC]

Yea I saw those. And sorry guys looks like you're all set then, do it!


~Stone | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Roger Cole]

hmm, I don't - my Polaroid back fits with the grip attached. It's a bit fiddly, but it goes on okay.

-d

Never been able to get the back on with the grip installed. I'll mess with it some more when I get a chance. Thanks.

 

[mweintraub]

Never been able to get the back on with the grip installed. I'll mess with it some more when I get a chance. Thanks.

Re 645Pro system: Just make sure the strap is removed.