Hi! I pre-ordered the new Nons back for the Hasselblad V series cameras (certain models) and got a chance to try it today. I made my way to Roberts Camera and picked up a couple packs of Fuji Instax Square film, and one of the employees kindly served as a model for a couple of test shots.
This is actually my second attempt to get a Nons back for my Hasselblad--and I'm actually glad the first attempt didn't work out. I ordered the previous version of the back, and it made it to the US. Unfortunately, Nons' delivery service uses some sketchy destination delivery services to bring it the rest of the way once it lands. The driver attempted to deliver it to the school where I work on a Sunday, when of course no one was there. They took the back back for "redelivery", but somehow the parcel went "missing". Not sure if the driver stole it or what, but at least Nons issued a full refund after a reasonable time. This time the new back arrived safely, although delivery progress reports were inconsistent and irregular, and it actually showed up earlier than I anticipated on a day when I was out of town so that I had to call a friend and ask them to retrieve it from my front porch. So keep that in mind if you do order one.
I'm far better off that I got the new version of the back, which fixes at least two major aesthetic problems with the original: one, there are no longer black borders around the image, it fills the entire image area of the film. And, the film is ejected out of the top of the back rather than the side, so that the wide white border (where the chemical pod is) is at the bottom of the image, where it naturally belongs. Nice!
The back and accessories are attractively boxed. The back itself is quite impressive--metal, feels very solid (if not as solid as Hasselblad's film backs). It has a power switch, a button for ejecting film when you choose (you have to hold it for a short time, so that a brief accidental touch won't trigger film ejection), and a small, round lighted LCD display that displays the exposures remaining and battery charging progress. It is a bit fiddly to put on, as there's just a channel running along the bottom for the feet on the camera, not individual slots for each. So you may have to move it back and forth a bit until the hooks at the top are in position to enter their slots.
Another way it's a bit kludgy--although this enables it to do what it does so well--is that you have to take off the viewfinder (the waist level--you can't use a prism finder because the back sticks up above the top of the camera and some prisms would block film ejection) and remove the focusing screen, slide the focusing screen spacer into the camera body (it slots in just like the viewfinder), place the focusing screen in the spacer (it has tabs, just like the body, to hold it in place), and then re-insert the viewfinder into the spacer by sliding it into place. If you are shooting beyond the closest focusing distances, you'll also want the NFRC (Nons Focus Range Converter, which is a bayonet auxiliary lens) for the lens you are using--they make them for the 80mm, 100mm, and 150mm lenses. This gives you the ability to focus accurately from a meter or two up to infinity.
The images are about the same size as the 6x6 negative. The test shots (rating the film at ISO 500, given that we were shooting indoors with no flash, and taken between f2.8 and f4) came out beautifully sharp and showing the character of my 80mm lens shot near wide open.
To get full usability of the back and your lens(es), order the focus screen spacer and the NFRC. I got the one for the 80mm, and I'm kind of kicking myself for not also getting the one for the 150mm lens, too, not sure why I didn't order one initially. (They're only $19...but shipping for one by itself is $24). My order, at the presale price and including shipping, came to $323.00 for the kit including back, spacer, and NFRC (which, by the way, came with a lens cap on the front of it). At the moment, the back is marked as sold out--but regular orders should be available before long and it looks like it's going to run $319 + $24 shipping.
To me, that's a reasonable price for something that's just so fun. It won't be easy or quick to switch between shooting film with a Hasselblad back and the Nons back. But once you set it up for use with the instant back, you can crank out Instax shots as quickly, easily, and efficiently as you choose. I'm really going to have to be careful, because I could see myself running through multiple boxes of film on occasion--at least Instax Square film is much cheaper (and better, in my opinion, other than being smaller) than Polaroid.
You can find out more about the back, and which cameras it will work with, here. While I was at Roberts, we tried to see if it would work with an early version of the SWC, but it turned out the winding crank keeps the back from mounting--disappointing, as (if I had one), using the Nons back on a superwide would be crazy enjoyable.
So, if you've got a Hasselblad and, like me, are addicted to shooting instant film, this back will very capably help you scratch that itch, and it does it in a way that's nearly entirely pain free and produces great results at a not terribly dear price. I may add to this review later after I've had a chance to play with it thoroughly, but my first impressions are quite positive indeed.
This is actually my second attempt to get a Nons back for my Hasselblad--and I'm actually glad the first attempt didn't work out. I ordered the previous version of the back, and it made it to the US. Unfortunately, Nons' delivery service uses some sketchy destination delivery services to bring it the rest of the way once it lands. The driver attempted to deliver it to the school where I work on a Sunday, when of course no one was there. They took the back back for "redelivery", but somehow the parcel went "missing". Not sure if the driver stole it or what, but at least Nons issued a full refund after a reasonable time. This time the new back arrived safely, although delivery progress reports were inconsistent and irregular, and it actually showed up earlier than I anticipated on a day when I was out of town so that I had to call a friend and ask them to retrieve it from my front porch. So keep that in mind if you do order one.
I'm far better off that I got the new version of the back, which fixes at least two major aesthetic problems with the original: one, there are no longer black borders around the image, it fills the entire image area of the film. And, the film is ejected out of the top of the back rather than the side, so that the wide white border (where the chemical pod is) is at the bottom of the image, where it naturally belongs. Nice!
The back and accessories are attractively boxed. The back itself is quite impressive--metal, feels very solid (if not as solid as Hasselblad's film backs). It has a power switch, a button for ejecting film when you choose (you have to hold it for a short time, so that a brief accidental touch won't trigger film ejection), and a small, round lighted LCD display that displays the exposures remaining and battery charging progress. It is a bit fiddly to put on, as there's just a channel running along the bottom for the feet on the camera, not individual slots for each. So you may have to move it back and forth a bit until the hooks at the top are in position to enter their slots.
Another way it's a bit kludgy--although this enables it to do what it does so well--is that you have to take off the viewfinder (the waist level--you can't use a prism finder because the back sticks up above the top of the camera and some prisms would block film ejection) and remove the focusing screen, slide the focusing screen spacer into the camera body (it slots in just like the viewfinder), place the focusing screen in the spacer (it has tabs, just like the body, to hold it in place), and then re-insert the viewfinder into the spacer by sliding it into place. If you are shooting beyond the closest focusing distances, you'll also want the NFRC (Nons Focus Range Converter, which is a bayonet auxiliary lens) for the lens you are using--they make them for the 80mm, 100mm, and 150mm lenses. This gives you the ability to focus accurately from a meter or two up to infinity.
The images are about the same size as the 6x6 negative. The test shots (rating the film at ISO 500, given that we were shooting indoors with no flash, and taken between f2.8 and f4) came out beautifully sharp and showing the character of my 80mm lens shot near wide open.
To get full usability of the back and your lens(es), order the focus screen spacer and the NFRC. I got the one for the 80mm, and I'm kind of kicking myself for not also getting the one for the 150mm lens, too, not sure why I didn't order one initially. (They're only $19...but shipping for one by itself is $24). My order, at the presale price and including shipping, came to $323.00 for the kit including back, spacer, and NFRC (which, by the way, came with a lens cap on the front of it). At the moment, the back is marked as sold out--but regular orders should be available before long and it looks like it's going to run $319 + $24 shipping.
To me, that's a reasonable price for something that's just so fun. It won't be easy or quick to switch between shooting film with a Hasselblad back and the Nons back. But once you set it up for use with the instant back, you can crank out Instax shots as quickly, easily, and efficiently as you choose. I'm really going to have to be careful, because I could see myself running through multiple boxes of film on occasion--at least Instax Square film is much cheaper (and better, in my opinion, other than being smaller) than Polaroid.
You can find out more about the back, and which cameras it will work with, here. While I was at Roberts, we tried to see if it would work with an early version of the SWC, but it turned out the winding crank keeps the back from mounting--disappointing, as (if I had one), using the Nons back on a superwide would be crazy enjoyable.
So, if you've got a Hasselblad and, like me, are addicted to shooting instant film, this back will very capably help you scratch that itch, and it does it in a way that's nearly entirely pain free and produces great results at a not terribly dear price. I may add to this review later after I've had a chance to play with it thoroughly, but my first impressions are quite positive indeed.
