Hi,
I very much like the Instax Wide Film and kind of hate the Instax Cameras for their slow lenses and the absence of manual controls (except the lighten/darken knob). So I thought about the possibilitiy of giving it a different lens. For price reasons I tried with the 105/4.5 "Bonotar" with "Tempor" shutter which I ripped out of an old Belfoca II 6x9 folder (made in GDR).
This is what the camera looks like now:
First there were some light leaks, which resulted in this:
And after fixing it:
For transportability reasons I've chosen to preserve the motor driven barrel. Otherwise it might have been possible to reduce the vignetting a bit with a rigid construction. I had to shorten the barrel for allowing for infinity focusing by filing it down some millimeters. As a "lens board" I used the front cover of the original lens. To take a picture you first have to press the power button on the back of the camera and then the "focusing" button. Shutter speed/aperture (1s - 1/250s + B and f/4,5 - f/22) and distance (1,5m - ∞) have to be estimated - sometimes I use a little external rangefinder (russian "BLIK") and a light meter. If you like flash photography you could use one via the PC connector (never tried it so far). --> CLICK!
The picture comes out when you press the actuator button on the handgrip.
Greetings!
