ZINSTAX

This came a little bit as a surprise. The notification of that the creator - Haan Chen - the Zinstax for Mamiya RZ67 studio camera, had created another batch of that instant back. It is an impressive creation which he shows how this all came to be - and the challenges to create such a device along several years (since 2019 i believe ?)

Instax Square film

It is "simply", a back for instant (Fujifilm INSTAX) square film, which you can adapt directly to the Mamiya RZ67 camera. The legend of studio camera that ruled the fashion world back in the 80s (and during the 70s the Mamiya RB67 manual version, was the favorite of portrait photographers. You know, when people went to the photographer to get their portraits taken).

Solid beasts of cameras

They are beasts of camera - but oh so solid. My camera i bought back in 1987 (Thank You, grandmother Elfriede ❤) - and it is still going strong, together with numerous lenses i bought second hand, when analog photography came out of fashion.

Grandmother Elfriede

I remember that my grandmother was worried that my interest in photography was just a "phase" or so. But oh no - it became an "endless phase", (in good and bad, like with many technical stuff we guys tend to get captured by).

Haan Chen

Read the Story of Zinstax

https://zins.tax/the-story-of-zinstax/

It is quite a fascinating story, how a guy develops a back that fits the Mamiya RZ67 perfectly (in the end). It takes time, effort, and a lot of work for sure, which includes even that you at times have to dress yourself in a sealed suit, in order to deal with the chemical paint for the filmback. Incredible.

I read the whole thing, because he illustrates everything, and writes in a fun way, yet at the same time you do realize the effort and work he has been putting into what originally was just a "little home project". Now watch how it turned out along the road with bumps.

I find that simply fascinating... Hand crafted art - litterally !

Gallery of Zinstax images

https://zins.tax/gallery/

Why Square Instax ?

I can't use my Wide film Instax film i had bought (together with an Instax printer). it doesn't work for the Mamiya RZ67 simply because the back is 7 cm at it's broadest, while the Wide Instax is 10 cm in length. So, he designed a 6x6 Zinstax, because it fits the Square Instax film perfectly (which too, is 6x6 cm) in size.

Cost of Zinstax

All together the price was 446 € which corresponds to sensitive 5350 SEK, which is caused by our weak currency in Sweden nowadays. It would otherwise, in the previous days between € vs SEK when it was 1:9.3 - only cost me 4100 SEK instead. So, quite the difference since the Swedish Krona plunged during the past couple of years.

Nevertheless - the guy has really done some stunning work. And you know what - it is worth it (as long the device works as advertised, of course, and I will treat it gently...)

Well, i treat all my photo equipment gently - that's why it lasts.

Using all Mamiya Sekor Z lenses

with Instax film is pretty cool, if you ask me. From the Fisheye Sekor Z 37mm to 50mm, 65mm, 75mm Shift, 90mm, 110mm, 150mm, 180mm, 210mm APO, 250mm and the 360mm lenses + 1.4x converter. And the beastly 100-200mm zoom. The Mamiya lens lineup has grown considerably through the decades. Originally, I started with 1 lens in 1987, and continued with 3 lenses up until the 2010s

I believe that in real life however, I will likely do a lot of handheld, simplistic Instax photography, together with the bright Mamiya Sekor Z 110mm f 2.8 lens. As shown in the main photo above (from Matthew Fortner) which shows that 110mm lens.

Lightmeter set on ISO 800

And yes, one needs a lightmeter, set to ISO 800. The barebone Mamiya RZ67 has no light meter (and i believe you can't add the AE prism on top, when the Zinstax back is mounted. Well, that would be utmost bulky anyway, given how huge AE Prism finder is. Therefore; manual light metering is the key.