Instant camera producer MiNT Camera has announced a new Instax Square-format camera via Kickstarter.
MiNT says its InstantKon SF70 is intended as a modern replacement for the classic Polaroid SX70 instant camera, produced from 1972 to 1981.
“The Polaroid SX-70 was invented 47 years ago, but it is still recognized as the “King of Polaroid Cameras”,” MiNT says on the camera’s Kickstarter page. “MiNT has been restoring and upgrading SX-70s for a decade, and we are experts in these sensational cameras. With a decade of experience behind us, we asked ourselves one question: Combining current technology and our experience, is it possible to make an instant camera that is as good as the Polaroid SX-70?
“If we were to make such a camera, it would have to contain the best features of the SX-70. And it would have to be better than the SX-70 in some key areas, otherwise, it has no reason for being.
“After months of hard work, here’s what InstantKon SF70 looks like. Its closest kin is the Polaroid SX-70.”
The Kickstarter page includes a chart comparing their camera to the original SX70, which you can see below:
The cameras are being offered for around £600 each, and the Kickstarter campaign is aiming to reach HK$250,000 (£23,450). In just over 24 hours into the campaign – which ends on 17 January – the campaign raised more than 300% of its target.
The cameras specifications, according to the Kickstarter page, include:
- Customised shutter, aperture and lens
- Aperture control, equivalent to f/2.4 on 35mm at close distance
- Genuine bellow
- Exposure controls, with a fastest shutter speed of 1/500
- Shutter speed control
- Split-image rangefinder viewfinder
- Built-in flash
The camera weighs some 679g when loaded, MiNT says.
MiNT is offering a five-year warranty on the cameras, which are expected to ship in May 2021.
MiNT has already produced the InstantKon RF70 folding camera and the Instantflex TL70 camera, built to resemble a vintage medium format TLR camera.
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
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I consider this a very good initiative. However, The best thing of the SX70 was the fact that it was a reflex camera. The Mint, unfortunately, is not.