Camera: InstantKon MiNT RF70

The makers at MiNT, the small camera company that has customized Polaroid SX-70 cameras, built the MiNT TL70 TLR camera for Instax Mini film and even produced a photographer oriented watch, has now introduced the InstantKon MiNT RF70.

While pricey for an Instax camera, the camera has been boasted as the best Instax camera available.  It features a 3-element, multi-coated lens with glass, aspherical lenses, with both shutter control (timed from 1s to 1/500s plus bulb) and aperture control (from f/5.6 to f/22).  An Auto mode is also available with plus or minus 1 stop compensation.

Focusing is with a builtin rangefinder system, and an 0.44x real image viewfinder.  The RF70 uses an accordion bellows for a traditional look.  MiNT makes the bellows in-house.  No bag bellows here.

The camera uses Instax Wide film, for the largest image area available currently for Instax film.  Your blogger certainly enjoys Instax Wide with a lesser camera, so this offering should be no less exciting.

Visit MiNT for more information and pricing.

Last Chance: Ilford ULF Orders!

Today, May 24th, 2019, is the last day to place orders for unusual sizes and large sizes of Ilford sheet film.

Contact an Ilford dealer to place your order.

More details at Ilford ULF.  Look here for a directory of dealers and list of ULF products (doc format)..

Ferrania: More Updates for 2019

While some film making crowd funding projects have gone silent, ahem - Silberra - the Film Ferrania project has produced a couple of short clips showing their, perhaps meagre, progress so far.  One cannot imagine that the funds from the original Kickstarter campaign have survived the past 5 years, but the project certainly should receive accolades for perseverance.

Your blogger has sampled some of the early P30 production thanks to the online shop, and from the few shots that were exposed and developed correctly, the film is just amazing.  In the cameras your blogger used, an EI of 100 seemed to produce better exposed photos.  Ferrania rates P30 at ISO 80.

The Film Ferrania team introduced Antonio to the team back in March and Daniele last week.  Antonio was formerly a technician with the original Ferrania and brings experience with the materials and procedures for making film. 

While Daniele is a machinist who will be updating and maintaining the machinery in the plant.  Some of the parts are of quite high precision and require experienced hands to maintain. 

Hopefully, the team will actually start producing film for backers and for sale, before the money runs out and creditors come to the doors.

Ilford: Wednesday Wisdom

"Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas.
It is a creative art."

   -- Ansel Adams