Mercury Works is very excited to announce our new Instax Wide Motorized system. Each unit in this line accepts Fuji Instax Wide film and provides a professional platform to mount a lens of your choice, expose, and then eject/develop your film using a fully motorized system. We are building an initial batch of these for Mercury Camera users now. Contact us if you are interested in purchasing one when they become available.
Visit our Instax Wide page for details and to purchase.
36 thoughts on “Instax Wide is Back!”
Hey Zach,
I’d like an Instax back and will need a new body as well as I only have the 5×7. Can you put me down for one please? How much will it be?
Cheers,
Ben Reynolds
Hi Ben,
You bet, you’re number three on the list! Just email me at mercurycameraworks@gmail.com and let me know which option/s you want. The table in the post above lists the price of each version. If you want a camera body just for Instax, you’ll probably want to order the Integrated Body Standard version, as it is the most versatile in terms of lens selection.
Hi zach,
Very interested within one of the backs, I would be happy to pay pal this immediately.
After the pleasure and enjoyment I have reieved the Polaroid 600 version you engineered.
Regards
Peter
Petercawthorne6382@gmail.com
Hi Zach.
If I wanted to use the 23 Back, with a standard Mercury body, the Mamiya Press lens adapter with a Mamiya Press lens, would that work?
I don’t recall offhand what the Mamiya Press lens flange to film distance is, but if it is 56 mm (?), we subtract 30 for the RS — does that mean we need 26mm of spacer between the camera body and the Press lens mount? Is that how the math is done?
Thanks.
Tom
Unfortunately, the math has to go in the opposite direction: you’d have to subtract 30mm from the camera body. It can be done with the combination you propose, but only with a custom Mercury body (one that is 10mm thinner than the standard one and made to fit the M-Press adapter). A simpler and cheaper solution is to use the Integrated Camera Body version of our Instax Wide Motorized unit, which directly mounts our M-Press lens adapter. That’s an off-the-shelf solution for Mamiya Press lenses shooting on Instax Wide. Using an Instax Wide 23 setup works fine with most view lenses, but not with Mamiya Press lenses.
Thanks. In other words, the film plane of the 23 Instax back is 30mm behind the back-to-camera mating surface?
The standard camera body is another 20mm. Then you’ve got the distance from the front of the camera to the lens flange.
Tom
Tom, no, the Graflok back versions are 30mm farther back than the standard film plane, which puts them at 34.8mm from the camera mating surface. On a Mercury camera that is just figured as RS-30 and you configure you lens stack accordingly. On a non-Mercury bellows camera it means you need to set your front standard 30mm back, usually with an extra set of infinity stops. On non-Mercury rigid cameras, it won’t work, unless you have some other way to remove 30mm from the camera body. In those cases, you should go with the Integrated Body version here, which is a full camera to which you can mount most lenses (Mamiya Press, view lenses, RB-67 lenses, etc.).
Very cool Zach
This is really cool that Mercury camera has come this far. The integrated body would simplify things for me a little bit I think, but I’m not sure if I would get as many looks as I do cranking the belair back.
I’d say the looks are priceless–the cranking is probably worth it!
How much for the Graflok 45 Removable Back?
Tony, it is currently $530.
Already have older 4×5 instax wide back. Interested in the ground glass back for that to use on my 4×5 camera to enable correct focus, would like to order.
Thanks
Mike, we can still make you a ground glass back for our older style Instax Wide Back. Just email us using the Contact button on the lower right of any page on this site and we’d be happy to put that order together for you!
want to buy: Graflock 45 Removal Back and
Instax 45 Ground Glass.
Raul, just email us via the contact icon on this site and we can start to put together an order for you.
Hi Zach,
I could be interested in a 23 back. I have a couple of questions. The Instax Wide image size is 62mm × 99 mm. Is your back able to register the full image size? Secondly, There are Instax Wide to Instax Square adapters available for Fuji cameras. Can these be fitted to your 4×5 and 2×3 backs?
Regards
Mike
Hi Mike,
Yes, despite the fact that Instax Wide is slightly larger than the Graflok 23 standard, the back can record the full image size, as the film plane sits far enough back from the actual mounting plate.
I just looked up the Wide to Square adapter you reference. That kit looks iffy for any camera but the AF500 that they actually show it working on, and even then only functions by taking an off-center exposure. At any rate, that kit won’t work on our Instax Wide units. However, I like the idea of such an adaptation, and in fact we could create a second rear door (ours pops on and off, locking when on) modified for Instax Square, which you would use whenever you insert an Instax Square pack of film. Best of all, it would expose the Instax Square centered in the frame! In other words, such a modification is easier on our system than on Fuji’s. The only problem is that it would require lots of extra parts (springs and other elements) for us to do that, so it would cost a bit more than the option you reference. I think we could do it for $89 extra. Again, you would get two doors, and which one you would use would depend on which size film you’re loading. And no off-center framing…
hi Zach
I would like to buy an Instax wide back for my Graflex XL camera, can I use the 23 format?
Chris
Hi Chris, it’s a bit complicated. Yes, the Graflok 23 version of the Mercury Instax Wide back will mount fine on the Graflex XL. However, it requires you to remove 30mm from your camera. With a Mercury camera or a bellows camera, that is easy. On an XL, it will only work if you are making use of a 30mm spacer to begin with. Another thing to consider, though, is that a Mercury camera solves this problem, is much lighter than a Graflex XL, and can mount all of the lenses released for the XL. So you might want to consider that as an alternative, if you aren’t using the XL spacer.
Cheers,
Zach
Hi,
I’ve been recommended to talk to you guys.
I Shoot Large Format on 4×5 Graflex Speed Graphic’s but more importantly 3×4 and 5×5 SLR Graflex Super D with Graflok backs.
I was shooting Fuji FP100C but now that’s no longer available I’m left with Instax Wide or Polaroid 600.
Do you make a back that will simply fit a Graflok back and I can use the existing focusing hood with no mods to the film plane. ?
Kind regards,
Dave
Hi Dave, thanks for contacting us. We make motorized Instax Wide backs for the Graflok 23 and Graflok 45 systems. Both models, however, do modify the film plane by 30mm. This is a problem with any non-modular and non-bellows camera. So it would work flawlessly on your Speed Graphic, but the others would require some modification. I hope this helps.
-Zach
Hi,
I was wondering if you just made universal press instax back i could just put on my mamiya universal, without using the mercury camera
Unfortunately, that isn’t possible with components available today, given the short flange distance on MUP cameras. We’d happily make that if it were physically possible! To shoot Mamiya Press lenses with Instax wide, our best solution is a Mercury camera setup to do so.
Hi-
I’m really interested in your Graflok 23 Instax wide back. Are they available or made to order? Does Mercury offer a warranty?
Looking forward to ordering!
Thanks,
Chris
A bit of both: our Instax Wide backs are mostly constructed and ready to go, but we usually assemble the specific mount to order, so there’s a bit of assembly and testing time after any given order (generally one week). There’s a 3 month warranty on all products, but we generally support everything forever, in terms of at-cost repairs, etc.
Hi – are these being made yet? Would love one
Yes, they are! They can be purchased on this page, in the table near the bottom.
Hello, do you deliver to Germany? I would absolutely love an Instax back to fit with Graflok 4×5
Yes, we do ship to Germany! You can order our 4×5 Instax Wide back from this page. Look for the table near the bottom of the page, where you will find Paypal purchase links. I highly recommend ordering our Instax Wide ground glass back, which matches the film plane distance and framing, for a greatly simplified experience. You’ll see that in the same table.
HI,
I’d like to find out the cost for this unit, and possibly purchasing one.
Regards,
James
Hi James, all of the prices (and purchase links) are listed in the table near the bottom of this page. Let us know if we can help further!
Hi,
I have a Graflex Century Graphic; Could I use your Graflok 23 Removable Back directly? Is the focusing screen that you sell as an accessory advisable or necessary, considering that the camera focusing screen itself is useless considering the 20mm retraction of the focal plane in the Graflok 23 Removable Back?
thanks
Hi Luis,
Yes, our Graflok 23 Instax Wide back works really well on the Century Graphic.
It actually moves the image plane back 30mm. Technically, if you want to use the Century’s built-in ground glass, you can set two sets of infinity stops for a given lens (30mm apart) and rack your front standard back and forth between the ground glass when focusing and the Instax back when capturing. However, most people prefer to use the matching ground glass back, as it removes all of the common sources of error, and also shows the full Instax Wide frame (which is approximately 7×10 rather than 6×9). But technically it is not necessary, just highly recommended.
instax wide for Horseman 985
Hello will the graflex 23 instax wide work on a horseman 985? Thanks! and what’s the price shipped to Netherlands?
Hi Juan, yes, it works beautifully on all Horseman 6×9 cameras! Paypal calculates the actual price on checkout, but I think it is about 40 USD to the Netherlands.