NONS Instant back for Hasselblad

[etn]

Just discovered this Instax Square instant back for Hasselblad 500:

NONS Instant Back

Shipped within 7 working days. * 1 year warranty. Instax Square Film back for the Hasselblad. Full range focus without adjusting the viewfinder or focusing screen. Compatibility Confirmed available models: 500C, 500CM 501C, 501CM 503CX, 503CXi, 503CW 2000 FCM SWC, SWC/M, 903SWC PME5, PME51...

nonscamera.com

Reviews seem positive if you ignore the slightly de-centered black frame to images (as the Instax film is slightly larger than what a Hassy can expose), and the fact that the larger margin is on the right side instead of the bottom of pictures (due to the orientation of the back). No biggie for me, although opinions might differ on this.

I ordered one for kicks. Can't wait to try it out.

 

[itsdoable]

There's a good review here, from one of the frequent contributors on another MF forum.

I have the Escura Instax back, which can take both mini and square, but is a little finicky to operate, and does not properly focus to infinity. I think the NONS is a better design, and I'll probably pick one up eventually. I signed up for the Escura ~4 years ago when they started thier Kickstarter, when NONS was nons-existant...

 

[etn]

Thanks, yes I have seen this review. It is the one which convinced me to give it at try.

The fact that other backs do not properly focus (or - in technical terms - the plane of the Instax film is not the same as the film plane of "regular" Hassy backs) is a no go for me, although I am not sure whether it is that big a hurdle in practice.

 

[rulnacco]

I'm definitely getting a NONS back, soon as I have $279 to spare. I bumped into someone a couple of weeks ago who was shooting one on his Hasselblad, which he said he had used quite a lot in the several weeks he'd had it.

It seemed very well built to me, I saw some of the photos taken with it that evening and they were nice--not Fuji FP100C nice (not the back's fault, of course), but for today nice enough--and he very enthusiastically told me that he totally enjoyed shooting it, he had zero problems with it and it was quite easy to use.

Given how much I love shooting instant film--and my Hasselblad--I'm sure I'll put it to very, very enjoyable occupation myself.

 

[etn]

Got the back yesterday and took it out for a spin today. Here my observations:

1) It's a lot, lot of fun!

2) The image area is not fully covered as expected. I knew it (and chose black background instax film for this reason), it disturbs me even less than I thought.

3) ISO 800 is at the limit, or even over, of what a Hasselblad can do with 1/500 at f/22 in daylight conditions. You'll need a 2-3 stops neutral density filter if shooting in the sun.

4) Instax is low-fi. A Velvia it ain't. But that's part of the fun I guess.

5) The film has very low exposure latitude. See example below.

6) Did I say it was fun?

Here my very first photo. I told my wife I wanted to take her portrait, but did not tell her about the Instax thingy. Seeing her picture immediately was a nice surprise to her. Her reaction was, "Your new gadget is fun, but if I had known, I would have dressed differently"
I exposed for the foreground. See how overexposed the background is.