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So, a little more than a month ago, I traveled to America to cover NAB 2024. While NAB takes place in Vegas, I decided to visit NYC before the event. I wondered for a while what camera I should bring for this part of the trip, as I didn’t want to use the Sony FX3 or A7III we have in the office. Instead, I ended up going for a very strange choice, one which I don’t regret one bit: our strangest INSTAX camera that was just waiting to be used again.
The gear I used
If you follow our camera reviews, you may have already picked up on what INSTAX camera I meant. While I do like Fujifilm’s own INSTAX cameras, the one I chose was none other but the strange NONS SL660, an INSTAX Square camera with an optical viewfinder and an EF-lens mount, of all things. You can read more about it in the review we did on it a few months ago, so I won’t talk much about what this camera is. Instead, I’ll just give you the reason why I went for it instead of a more conventional INSTAX camera.
I knew ahead of getting to NYC that I’d probably be picking up a new vintage lens or two while I’m there. Between large camera shops like B&H and Adorama and individual sellers across NYC, there were plenty of places for me to pick up a new lens. But if all I had with me was a standard INSTAX camera, I wouldn’t be able to use these new lenses until I got back home, right? Sure, I could’ve brought a mirrorless camera and used adapters, but shooting analog INSTAX is fun. To accommodate my desire to shoot both INSTAX and any vintage lens I may come across, I took the only INSTAX camera around that can swap lenses freely, the aforementioned SL660.
Throughout the trip, I ended up using the Nikon 35mm f/1.4 AIS and Nikon 50-135 f/3.5 AIS. My only regret was not bringing with me my Nikon 300mm f/4.5 AIS, as I just didn’t have enough reach for some shots, even at 135mm. I also didn’t bring any speed lights with me, which was a small mistake. Shooting INSTAX means you are stuck on ISO800, so low-light shooting can be hard at times. At least for the bright days, I did remember to pack an ND filter with me.
The Nikon 300mm f/4.5 AIS is the only 300 mm lens that’s sharp, relatively fast, fully manual and small. This makes it the best manual super-telephoto lens for traveling photographers.
The Nikon 35mm f/1.4 AIS is the fastest 35mm of its time. It’s super versatile FOV and great low light capabilities made it one of my most used manual lenses.
I picked up the Nikon 50-135 f/3.5 AIS for cheap in NYC, as I wanted a mid-range fully-manual zoom lens. Not a lot of people like this lens, but it held up pretty well throughout the trip.
The only caveat was the expanse of the INSTAX Square paper ($20 for 20 shots). I knew this would mean there wouldn’t be as many shots of my trip as usual, but I had to figure out when it was worth it to fire the camera and when it wasn’t.
My strategy was simple: with almost no exception, I mustn’t retake a photo. If I fail, I fail. There is too much to see and photograph and not enough cartridges or time to go through it all. That meant that there were no second chances, as I couldn’t just return later and retry the photo. I either get the shot or I don’t, which made every successful shot that much more exciting and each failed shot that much sadder. When I get back to the hotel at night and look at the printed photos of where I’ve been today, it’s much more fulfilling to look at than digital files on camera.
Midtown and Downtown Manhattan
At the top of the photo, you can see a small issue I constantly had while shooting. The light coming into the camera didn’t completely cover the film, causing the top and bottom parts of the frame to be black. It’s not something I encountered while reviewing the SL660, so I’m not sure why this issue is happening. That said, I still like the overall look of the image.
I spent most of my time in NYC, roaming Midtown and Downtown Manhattan. There’s much to see there and much to do, from massive bookstores to concerts to places like the Leica Gallery. The latter I only managed to get to a few minutes after it closed for the day. Oh well. I still had plenty of fun taking pictures on the way there, so I wasn’t really bummed down by it.
This was my first day during the trip, and so I was still re-learning how to properly shoot with the SL660. While it has an optical viewfinder, it does have a substantial crop. Because of this, I would accusingly find myself shooting a bit too far from an object or not, considering that a certain element would enter into the frame. I was also overthinking my exposure settings, as the optical multiplier built into the SL660 meant I was losing light and had to calculate my exposure accordingly. Relying on the built-in light meter helped, but it wasn’t too accurate. Eventually, I learned to stop overthinking and let my instinct set the exposure for me, which was quickly adapting to the various lighting scenarios in the city. It worked shockingly well.
One of the first photos I shot there. I still wish I had exposed it a stop darker
Central Park
While this photo was still developing, you couldn’t even see the buildings behind the fog. I was convinced for a minute that they would simply not be seen in the finale frame.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Central Park. I had always heard about it, but beyond occasionally seeing an image of the place on social media or in movies, I had no idea what it actually looked like. I got there and spent half my day there checking out all the attractions, grabbing quick pics along the way.
By that point in the trip, I was getting pretty comfy, compositing and exposing the SL660, and I was pretty happy with the photos I was taking. The only thing I couldn’t capture properly was the interesting birds that I encountered throughout the park, as, again, 135mm just isn’t enough for some travel scenarios.
By chance, I encountered a fashion production in the middle of the park. They were using a background for the model alongside artificial lights, so frankly, I’m still not sure why they decided to do it outside instead of in a studio. Maybe studio rent is just that expensive in NYC? Let me know if you have a guess yourself.
Either way, the fashion production was far from the only point in the park to harbor photographers. It wasn’t surprising to find people going to Central Park for photoshoots. Among them I did spot a few with pretty interesting gear choices. One was doing a photo shoot for a couple with a Contax G2, a pretty cool rangefinder film camera, which I noticed has been gaining popularity in recent years.
The other was using something a bit stranger. I don’t exactly remember which camera he was using, but I believe it was a camera from the 40s equipped with a Polaroid back. In retrospect, it makes sense that a guy who uses such gear managed to recognize my NONS camera. It’s not as given as recognizing a Sony camera, as while I love NONS, they are admittedly a pretty small and unheard-of brand. I had a nice time talking to him about Instant Film, and I moved on.
Central Square
I did expect there to be a lot of people in Central Square at night, but I was still overwhelmed a bit. The place was packed to the brim with locals and tourists alike. And where there are tourist gatherings, there are photographers, too, many of whom were there offering to take photos, for a price, of course.
Side note: the most common camera I saw there, and actually in Manhattan in general, was, strangely enough, the Canon 5DIV. It’s not that I was expecting to see more Sony cameras than Canon, but I was pretty convinced most photographers had already moved to Mirrorless by this point. Maybe the 5DIV is just the camera I personally happened to come across the most; who knows?
I was worried about how I would capture Central Square at night, so I just bet it all on the brightness of the advertisement screens. It ended up being a pretty interesting shoot, especially thanks to the black-and-white cartridge I had loaded in at the time.
Conclusion
This was quite different from my usual post, wasn’t it? Talking about traveling with INSTAX feels a lot more like talking about an experience than anything remotely technical. Hopefully, this post gave you not just knowledge on INSTAX but insight into how the overall experience feels, in case you want to try it out yourself.
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