First Photos From My Leica Sofort....

The blown highlights and softness of the images are part of its charm. I have the Fuji model and use it for party shots, weddings, etc, and pin all photos in real time to a white board. People love the "instant gratification" and get a kick out of it. For for more serious stuff, you would need to go to a larger -- and way more expensive -- instant format ($2/shot vs $0.5/shot with the mini format).

I was reading an article the other day about a famous "war" photographer who takes the Fuji mini to all of his assignments. By making a quick picture of the subject and handing it to them as a gift, he is able to "sofort" win over the hearts and minds of his subjects, which helps his professional work tremendously.
 
giganova said:
I was reading an article the other day about a famous "war" photographer who takes the Fuji mini to all of his assignments. By making a quick picture of the subject and handing it to them as a gift, he is able to "sofort" win over the hearts and minds of his subjects, which helps his professional work tremendously.
Click to expand...

I bought a Fuji SP-1 printer a few years ago for that very purpose when I travel out West (mind you, I'm not a war photographer!), but I returned it to B&H Photo a month later for a full refund. I thought the image quality was so horrid that I considered it an embarrassment to give someone one of these little images. Instead I got a Canon CP910 dye-sub printer with a battery pack that makes a pretty decent 4"x6" print, and I can take the SD card out of my Monochrom 246 and make a print of exactly what I shot for my subject (I can also hook it up to my laptop via a USB connection). It's definitely a bigger thing to carry around than the SP-1, but it's much more versatile and the print quality is leaps and bounds beyond the Instax Mini film.

Not sure if I'm going end up holding onto this camera or not, but for the time being it's a nice diversion and challenge.
 
Nice shot. I had the mini 90 and now have a Sofort. Due to its landscape design it looks more like a camera. The mini Fuji's are all portrait designs.
 
Enjoy the Sofort! And don't try to think of it as just 'another camera like the others' ... Instant film is different and has a totally different aesthetic from regular 35mm or digital capture.

Every time I pick up one of my Polaroids and shoot a pack of film, I'm disappointed the first time out. Then my eye and my brain reconnoiter the different landscape and I start to see with it, and the same camera, same film, all of a sudden turns into something different. It takes time and certain amount of letting go of what you're familiar with, but there is great charm in it too.

I like the photos you've posted so far. Keep on going! In limitation there is creativity... :)

G


Polaroid SLR670a by MiNT
Impossible B&W 600 film
Scanned with PhotoScan on iPad
Processed with SnapSeed​
 
I got a Sofort a year ago as a birthday present. It’s a fun camera to have on hand at family gatherings. I used it a lot last Thanksgiving to photograph family and my young cousins enjoyed seeing it in operation and keeping the pictures I took of them. I have a similar reaction to Vince when it comes to bw photos, but I like the color images it produces. Vince’s color photos above look great.
 
Seems to be a recurring theme here, people got the camera for free and are trying to figure out how it can be of any use. I mean, plastic lens, fixed aperture, scale focus with 3 positions - good thing it has that iconic red dot, otherwise it would go straight to a landfill.
Maybe I’m being too harsh, Fujifilm sells exactly the same cameras and many photographers seem to enjoy them. And Leica is not the first company to turn goodwill into hard cash.
 
Vince, some instant photographers are using ND and polarizing filters over their lenses to gain some manual exposure control.
 
We often miss current threads, so there is no mark in bringing back to life some older threads with useful information.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top