Fujifilm Fuji instax mini 40 instant camera . Functional, but flash NOT working .
LISTED REPAIR OR SPARES . NO RETURN .
THE CAMERA IS TESTED AND WILL,POWER UP AND TAKE A SHOT AND EJECT A SLIDE CORRECTLY. Please watch uploaded video .
HOWEVER THE CAMERAS FLASH IS NOT WORKING . This is the reason I have listed the cameras as repairs or spares.
Hopefully someone knows about these cameras and knows whether the flash unit just needs replacing or if it is an electronic fault that needs sorting out can fix it . Otherwise the parts will be useful to someone who repairs these .
No batteries or film is included .
The camera body is in very good cosmetic condition. There are only light surface marks in terms of signs of use . . Please see images as they are part of the description.
The red light to show the camera has powered up lites up when the button is pressed to extend the lens and turns the camera on .
When you close the lens down it locks securely into place .
The frame counter is working .
The film compartment is clean and the rear door shut correctly and securely.
Battery compartment is clean and the battery cover locked into place securely.
The camera is powered by to easily available AA batteries ( not included) .
EBay
The Instax mini 40
Now that’s what I call a great descriptive sales pitch. And that’s because the guy is a professional seller of photographic equipment. I’ve seen the video he posted and all the above is true, it really is just a problem around the flash. Maybe it’s an easy fix? I suspect not but either way it will be an interesting project.
Here’s a little info on this camera:
Hitting the market in April 2021, the Fujifilm Instax Mini 40 takes the updates the Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 introduced but wraps them up in a cooler, more retro-styled instant camera body. Instant film fans will probably love it and with its improved design, there’s a chance that those who aren’t instantly drawn to this form of photography may just want to have a play around with the Fujifilm Instax Mini 40, too. It does cost more than the Fujifilm Instax Mini 11, though, so you’ll have to decide if the cooler design is worth an extra £20.
+ Pros
It’s fun
Great party camera
Easy to use
Looks cool
– Cons
Film is expensive
Viewfinder could be better
Powered by AA-batteries
Ephotozine.com
I first of all went in with a cheeky bid of £15:00GBP that the seller originally turned down, so I then put in a high bid of £18:00 and as no one else was wanting it, it actually sold for £16:00, just £1:00 more than I’d originally offered. All in all the cost with the postage was £19:45GBP and I’m really pleased with this. Im surprised though that there are flash issues in a unit that is only just four years old. As you can see in the photo below recent sale prices have been strong and a great deal higher priced than what I have just paid. These are certainly popular little camera’s with the younger generation.
Recent sale prices have been strong
I guess we will just have to await its arrival to assess the flash issue. I’m very confident that I will be able to get this camera up and running again.
Assessment:
Out of all the Instax cameras I have dealt with lately, this has got to be one of the best ones I have had my hands on. This is a mid range instax camera that is more sober in colour aimed at those who enjoy their lomography or better quality instant photography. It certainly looks good, and to be honest I’d rather carry this one around rather than a bright pink one.
Looking nice and sober
As posted in the description above it is in near perfect condition and a quick Look at the flash head shows that the flash bar within the unit is broken.
Flash bar brokenConfirmed broken when removed
Let’s get on with replacing this damaged flash unit.
Repair:
Let’s get it opened up.
Dismantling
People laugh at me when i tell them that playing around inside these units could kill you. I can understand the contempt aimed at me for such a statement, when I’m carrying a bright pink camera that hardly looks dangerous. Just look at the voltage still in the flash capacitor though once I have opened it. Savage.
Residual voltage of 267v still in the flash capacitor
270v would quite easily send you across the room, if you had a heart condition it would probably be game over. I’ve learned my lesson in the past so I ensure I use a capacitor bleed probe before I go anywhere near one of these flash capacitors. The capacitor on this camera is rated at 320v, not to be messed with. Beware. What’s more impressive is that all this energy is supplied from two 1.5v AA batteries. Clever stuff.
I have a donor flash bar in an old spare unit. I have carefully unsoldered its connections and gently removed the very thin glass tube from the donor unit and placed this in the one situated on the new camera.
The donor unitIn place and soldered onto the board of the repaired camera
Carefully, once inserted into the flash reflector, i have soldered it back onto the board. All looking good. However I need to test the flash so I temporarily put the case on, bung in two batteries and turn the camera on. Press the exposure button and the flash fires perfectly. Happy days. I now can confidently reassemble the camera back together, and I’m pleased that when this is done there are no screws left over. All small wins.
I have some film available so there is no better time than the present to give it a try.
Result:
Nice flash – working Working perfectly
I’ve loved doing this repair, this is a good quality, great condition, and now in perfect working order camera, brought back to life with many more years of use left in it.
But it could have been just chucked in the waste. I’m keeping this one for my collection as it’s a fantastic example acquired at a very good price. Thirty minutes of attention is all it took.
Yes another one. Anyone that reads what I post will realise that these little cameras have really become popular with the youngsters within our family. I recently posted about a family get together: The garden gathering and in this post I stated that a young member of the family liked these cameras so much, that she went out and purchased a damaged one and asked if I could fix it for her. How could I turn down such an offer?
Another Instax mini 8 and that Iris should be closed
And here it is. Needs a little clean and immediately I can see an issue, what I’ve noticed is that the little iris lens protectors that close when the lens is retracted are missing, or not operating and opening properly. Everything else seems to be doing what it should, motor, film transport system etc, however the initial issue reported with this camera was that it’s exposure was sometimes hit and miss, it most definitely all related to the lens issue. A good clean wouldn’t go amiss with some extra attention paid to the light sensor area.
Anyway, enough chat, let’s crack on.
Assessment:
A nice tidy camera, needs a little clean, flash fires, film transport mechanism inside is working and the motor runs. It gives the impression that it is working fine, however….
Here’s a reminder from the young family member who made the purchase, regarding its issues:
I’ve just remembered, I think the advert said something about the photos coming out dark no matter what setting it is on! x
I’d already noticed the little iris mechanism on the front of the lens didn’t open and close when the camera was turned on, so I was going to be looking in this area anyway. But when I looked a little closer and moved the aperture ring on the side of the lens, the relative apertures in the lens were only moving to roughly the half way point, off centre, hence there was no corresponding fully positioned aperture, and in relation to the lighting situation that was presented, they were stuck and blocking the incoming light. In a nutshell there was not a sufficient sized aperture “hole” for any light to get through, resulting in the exposure issue stated above. This needs adjusting. You can see what I mean in the photo below. The lens aperture leaf does not sit central in the lens.
Incorrect aperture settings and positioning in the lens
Apart from the highlighted problems above, i don’t believe there are any other underlying issues. So I’m going to concentrate on the front of the camera solely in the lens turret area.
Let’s get on with the repair.
Repair:
The iris issue is within the lens turret so this will need to be dismantled to access the iris.
Lens top cover removed exposing the iris mechanism below
It was a bit of a head scratcher this one, as I spent a lot of time just staring at the mechanism trying to figure out how it worked. When the iris lids were manually manipulated to the closed position when the turret was retracted all was fine. When the turret was opened up the iris lens did the same, but then if you again retracted the lens the iris remained open exposing the lens. I was thinking it must be missing a spring somewhere and I was about to be proved right.
I found a replacement iris turret in my spares box for instax cameras
I found a replacement iris mount that fits within the lens turret. I had this in a spare box and used this as a reference to compare to the old non operating one. Here is where it was confirmed that there was a spring missing and this is why the iris was not operating.
Spring missingSpring in place The old iris mechanism compared to the working one
I replaced the old mechanism with the new one and this was installed back in the camera, this now works fine. I have however found a suitable spring for the old iris so I do now have another spare ready should another be needed in the future.
Iris mechanism installed and now working
The issue with the aperture positioning has been sorted by ensuring that the aperture ring is correctly positioned in relation to the cog mechanism in the lens turret area. It’s a bit like sorting out the timing belt in a car, it just has to be in the right position to achieve the correct aperture settings.
Springs and levers everywhere, and the “Timing” cog on the right that is in the turret area
This sorted, the last thing to do was to give the viewfinder a little clean. You have to be very careful here as the viewfinder is connected to the camera “ready to shoot” indicating light, and there are very fine wires all around this area. Be just a bit too clumsy here and you’d have a difficult soldering project to also add to the original problems. Anyway, no such issues today, the viewfinder was un clipped and prisms and glass cleaned and reassembled. All looking good.
Viewfinder and lots of little wires
I’m now happy that all the issues have been attended to and I’m just going to reassemble the camera ready for a quick clean. Luckily all the screws that came out went back in with none leftover. Result!
Result:
We now have a nice little unit, all aperture settings are working as they should and the lens iris is operating as it was always supposed to do. The viewfinder has also been cleaned and it’s now a nice clear unobstructed view. It just works.
All cleaned and now working, a lovely little camera
I’m guessing this camera will be coming away with the owner on a family holiday that we are all about to embark on shortly. I’m hoping to run some film through this soon but I am ultra confident it will work as all the issues have now been addressed.
I’ve just got some film and rattled off 4 quick shots, one of them indoors. Exposures are fine so I’m happy this is a perfectly good working camera.
4 quickly produced shots
I’m sure there will be one younger member of the family who will be very happy with her new camera. And may she have many years of capturing good times and fantastic memories. This is what these little cameras are made for after all.
Thanks for passing by, it’s always very much appreciated.
In a post I put up a few days ago I did mention that the wife had decided to invite some friends and family around for a gathering we usually have at the end of the football season, (Time goes so fast….) to either celebrate our success or to drown our sorrows. This year it was the latter as we were miserably incapable of putting on a decent show as a competitive team this season.
I stated that I had to put up the gazebo, due to the forecast saying there would be rain. I should have known better, as we are in a Bank holiday weekend it was bound to rain, I wasn’t wrong. Everyone had been invited around to help us celebrate/commiserate and to have a drink and something to eat, we also decided to incorporate a darts competition into the evening for a bit of fun.
Gazebo up and connected to the garden pub, bring on the rain!
The gazebo was suitably decorated with some football banners, food was in good supply in the house and a list of people who wanted to take part in the darts competition was drawn up.
The actual competition was a knockout format, and to add a little bit of extra fun I told everyone they had to have their photos taken in the pairs that they would be playing in, for this I had decided to use two of the “instant” Polaroid type cameras that I had recently repaired. My niece that I passed the first one I fixed on to, was more than happy to assist here.
The nights activity in miniature Polaroids
Pictures taken, lots of laughter and a lot of raised voices and joking about the competition began, 18 people took part and it was chaotic to say the least.
Games underway.
We eventually made it to the final with my nephew and cousin in the final, the younger talent shone through and young “J” won the competition.
Final pairing and the overall winner
I now have 38 fantastic little photos that really show the fun and spontaneity of the evening. We are going to get these into either an old style album or put them up on a board displayed somewhere around the house. Good old physical photos, on show just as they should be, not tucked away unseen on someone’s smartphone never to be seen by anyone else. At least people can look at these and say, “that group of people know how to enjoy themselves.”
I fallen in love again with this style of photo.
An interesting aside came from using these cameras. One other young family member loved these cameras so much she went onto a sale site and brought a broken one before approaching me and asking if i could fix it when it arrives. How could I turn that offer down so I had to agree. My brother in law who was there back in the day of the original Polaroid, wants me to get and fix an original one for him, it’s amazing just how young and old alike were totally impressed by this mode of photography, memories were rekindled, and memories were made….and I’ve got myself some work to do so I’m happy.
Another thing that made the wife and I extremely happy, is when one of the guests, our neighbours to be precise, brought us a gift for our pub which is totally Leicester city football club themed.
Our very generous gift from our neighbours
Last week i wrote of our captain and greatest player playing his last game for us : Jamie Vardy’s having his final party they brought us a shirt they had got signed by him and labelled up with the numbers he had achieved. I guess it helps that our neighbour actually works for the club, either way it was a superb gift that is very much appreciated.
So why are we looking at leaving this area, I don’t know 🤷♂️ our neighbours are just superb people. It’s going to be hard to match them anywhere else.
It’s been quiet in the vicinity today as I suspect there are a few sore heads as the last couple didn’t leave until about 3am this morning, we’ve spent most of the day cleaning up and had to get the gazebo and extra bits down and put away as they are coming to take the photos on Tuesday. I’m working late shifts so I’m not going to be around so I’ve got to do as much as I can to help prior to the full estate agent process kicking in.
Anyway, a great night was had by all, we have some super memories and meeting up with family and friends is always an enjoyable experience at gatherings such as this.
Fujifilm Instax Mini 7+ Instant Film Camera Not Working Spare/Parts. When batteries are inserted into the machine, lots of clicking noises can be heard from the battery compartment. The camera button functions do not work and therefore I am selling this as spares and repairs.
EBay
I enjoyed my last repair on one of these cameras so much that I just had to buy another. You can read about that repair and the issues I encountered here: Instax Mini 8
Nice example. And no battery contamination
Here’s a little about this camera:
With its LED-indicating exposure meter manual exposure controls and automatic flash adjustments the MINI 7+ produces well-lit pocket-sized photographs. Easily shoot in-focus snapshots using the 0.37x real image viewfinder with target spot controls and a 60mm lens with a selfie mirror for in-frame portraits. With a shooting range of 23.6 and beyond the MINI 7+ is ideal for close-up portraits and close environments.
T’internet
I believe this camera was released around 2020 so it’s not that old. This particular unit is also missing the battery cover which is a bit of a pain in the Ass, however cheap replacements are available but not matching the cameras colour. Am I bothered? Of course I’m not, as long as it works I’ll be happy. I could even paint it up, that might be interesting.
This unit has cost me the grand total of £8:69GBP my Mini 8 project cost me £11:45GBP so I’m very happy with this price. The value may rise slightly as I will have to purchase a new battery cover.
Anyway, let’s wait for its arrival.
Assessment:
The camera has arrived and it is in good overall cosmetic condition. A bit of dirt on the back near the film counter, but this should clean off ok. There is a gaping hole where the battery cover should be, a pain yes, but I can always source a new one from somewhere.
Generally clean
The good news is that there is no contamination on the battery contacts, they are absolutely fine. When batteries are inserted the transport runs, but it runs too long, and then a red light shows at the end of it’s movement, and no buttons work, in theory it’s dead at this point.
A little movement of the camera and you can tell that something is rattling around inside, so something has definitely come loose or broken from within.
Let’s get it open and have a look.
Repair:
I’ve sourced a replacement battery cover however it’s in China and I’m probably not going to see it any time soon, maybe not even until next month. I’m not going to order just yet until I know if this unit is repairable. But as soon as I get an inkling that it might be repairable I’ll order it.
The replacement cover. It’s white. My camera is purple. Time to get creative.
Next I’m going to open the camera up to see what the source of the ratting sound is.
These are the items that are rattling inside once I have opened up.
The rattling suspects
One of the items i recognise is the spring that comes from the operating button, the other part is broken off of something, i will have to look through the mechanism of a donor camera i have to see if i can find a part that matches. And I’ve found it. It appears to be a film transport mechanism buried deep in the workings that had broken and become jammed.
Top, the broken piece and below the replacement partTop the replacement part, and below the found broken part
The part is a right pain in the ass to replace, as it has to be in the absolute perfect position within all the cogs, and there is no reference to how the cogs sit. You have to reassemble most of the camera to test, then open it up again to make fine adjustments.
Capacitor sits underneath this battery housingThe replacement part sits under this cog housing on the top right.
So far I have done this about four times, and I still have to open it and do it again. Once again I’ve managed to twice make contact with the flash charging circuit giving myself a right quick electric wallop.
A nice impression of the two flash test probe points I seem to keep touching
I have learned my lesson though and am now employing capacitor discharge probes every time i remove the batteries, as I say in the website intro pages, don’t do as I do. I’m an idiot. These capacitors maintain about 300v to power the flash, believe me it’s a very quick jolt, but it’s a painful one. You certainly know it has happened, be safe, don’t be like me.
Capacitor discharge probes – use them!
I’m holding back on ordering the battery cover at this moment until I can confirm that the cogs and transport system are working in harmony with each other.
On my sixth attempt at lining up the cogs and transport system I believe I have it set correctly. I’ve compared the transport with another similar camera and it duplicates its workings perfectly. It operates well and there are no fault lights showing. The movement is free and unobstructed. I’m happy that the camera is now repaired so I will now go ahead and order the battery cover. The cover has cost a total of £3:12GBP including postage and that puts the total cost of this project up to £11:81GBP compared to my previous project cost for the Instax 8 of £11:45GBP, so I’m pleased with that, as costs are very similar. Oh, and I best get some more film to test it out as well. It isn’t classed as working in my eyes until I see some photographic proof.
Result:
This is my second repair of a camera in the Instax range and the most challenging to date. It’s been great to work on and as usual I have learned a lot about how these cameras work inside. I’m glad I had an old camera to call on for spares as that has proved invaluable in this case. In the past I think I just would have given up on a full repair and junked the camera as many people seem to do, however these cameras are very repairable, desired by the younger folk, and worth designating some time to as they can be saved. There are a lot of non working examples available out there at a fraction of the cost you’d pay for a new working unit. (Money to be made in my own personal point of view)
The unit has polished up very well and looks lovely.
And it works….
And it works just fine
Pictures as expected
I’m so pleased with this camera, it’s taken a lot of time and head scratching but we got there in the end, and it is as good as new. I’m still awaiting the battery cover, and we have guests coming around today so I’m going to use this for some random photos. Just got to make sure I don’t let the batteries fall out. Once again we’ve saved another unit from landfill and that is the big win here.
Three weeks later the battery cover has arrived from China. Perfect fit.
Camera complete
Many thanks to my lovely missus for allowing me to take photos. Rare because she hates having photos taken.
Thanks for passing by, as always it is very much appreciated.
Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Camera Teal Blue Spares & Repairs
Please see photos for condition this will be the item you will be receiving.
The camera will not turn on.
Thank you for looking!
EBay
It’s about time I started to get back to repairing some cameras, I have a mountain of them to get through but they can wait a little longer. These little Fuji units are really popular with the younger generation, and in my view anything that gets youngsters interested in, and involved with photography is a good move. We have some youngsters in our clan, and I have this earmarked for one of them if I can get it working. We had some conversations during our family gathering over Easter, and the subject of photography, and this particular member of our family came out. Seeing this auction today, I acted and purchased as this is a perfect little starter unit for her. My total outlay for this unit was £11:45GBP and considering the current costs are around £30-£40GBP for a working example, this is not too bad an initial outlay.
The Instax Mini 8
Here’s some history on these cameras:
Instax is a brand of instant still cameras and instant films marketed by Fujifilm.
The first camera and accompanying film, the Instax Mini 10 and Instax Mini film, were released on November 10, 1998. The “Wide” film and first accompanying camera were released the following year. The Instax Square film and accompanying camera were released in 2017.
The formats of Instax film give an image size of 46 mm × 62 mm (1.8 in × 2.4 in) for the Mini, 99 mm× 62 mm (3.9 in × 2.4 in) for the Wide and 62 mm× 62 mm (2.4 in × 2.4 in) for the Square. The Instax colour film is available in Mini, Wide, and Square formats and the black and white Instax Monochrome is available in Mini and Wide formats.
Wikipedia
For anyone that was around in the 70s, these cameras are an extension of and an advancement of the then Polaroid instant photography system. Nearly every household back then had access to Polaroid cameras. If you look back at any photo album or collection from that time, you will invariably find some Polaroid photos stored within that collection.
Here is a typically over enthusiastic review produced by a very pleasant chap when it came out about 8 years ago. Sums up in a few minutes just what it can do, and just how easy it is to use.
A very enthusiastic review
This unit looks to be in quite a nice condition but as always we will never truly know until it has arrived and can be assessed, never forget, this is EBay that we are purchasing from 😂
Battery compartment…suspicious!
Something looks suspicious in the battery compartment. There seems to be contacts missing, they might be fine I just don’t know. They just don’t look right to me. There may well be some minor signs of corrosion as well. Who knows, I’ll just have to wait until the unit arrives. So let’s just be patient until then.
Come on Mr.Postman!
Assessment:
I’ve downloaded the instructions and they consist of just half of one sheet of A4. To be honest they are about as basic as are needed I guess, but in technical quality they are about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike! And those contacts I mentioned above, look just as they were from the factory. What a strange design.
On arrival the camera appears to be in a really good cosmetic condition, there is even an old film cartridge still inside that I suspect is well fogged by now. However this will be of use if I can get it working, as it will prove if the film transport works.
The battery connectors are exactly as they were when the unit was assembled, so my earlier suspicions have come to nothing. However there are small indications of battery leakage on the outside that are always concerning, because they can always hide a greater issue occurring inside the camera. When batteries are put in place the unit is totally dead, just as advertised.
Cosmetically tidyBatteries – no powerContacts show evidence of light contaminationlight contamination in evidence
So no more to it, I have to open the unit up and see what I can find inside. Before doing that though I have connected a bench power supply to the contacts and there was still no draw on the power at all. It is definitely dead.
Repair:
On opening. Oh my word. What the heck is that? I have never seen contamination around a battery terminal like that before, the battery contacts have been totally consumed.
Under that crystallised mess is what is left of a battery terminal, and that thing that looks like a biscuit on the left is the main motor. Totally crusted up
I could hear some rattling around inside the case and thought something had worked itself loose. No. It was what looked like broken glass, but it wasn’t, it was crystals of contamination, this camera has more stalagmites than Wookey Hole! The motor was badly contaminated and every part of the working mechanism had signs of this contamination, it was everywhere.
Contamination crystalsMotor contamination
First things first, the issue with the power supply is purely at the point of that big mass of battery contamination on the battery terminal, there is no continuity here and this needs removing and attending to.
What was under that crust of contamination All cleaned and ground down ready for re soldering
Using a combination of alcohol to break down the contamination, and a grinding pen, the offending crust was eventually removed. It had eaten through the wire at the battery terminal and was being held in place by the mass of crust that has built up around it. I was able to cut back the wire and re solder the terminal to make it good. There was contamination everywhere and this all had to be removed, if left in place it would cause more problems in the future. It had to be eliminated completely.
Contamination everywhere, what a mess
I removed the motor, and used a contact cleaner to free up its motion, I constantly turned it back and forth for about 15 minutes and I could gradually feel it freeing up. A wire had broken off from the led light on the viewfinder, this was soldered back into place and we were now ready to test. I put the batteries in and flipped the switch. I could hear the flash capacitor charging and all lights came on, I switched the unit off and began preparing to re assemble the unit, not before accidentally touching the flash circuit and taking a quick 300v shock in the hand. It’s a big capacitor as all flash units usually are. I’m an idiot, it was a school boy error. And I had a capacitor discharge unit sitting right beside me. Fool!
Ok. I’ve stopped cursing myself and the reassembly continues, and I manage to complete this with no further issues.
It seems to be working.
I’ve loaded in that old cartridge it came with and can confirm that it was all fogged film. However it has proved that the film transport system and flash are working as you can see in the video above. I’m now going to have to source some fresh film for a true test. Before that I’m going to open up the unit again and give it a good blast with compressed air and a final check to make sure I’ve got all of that contamination. It’s just the OCD coming out in me.
That said, the flash has now ceased working even though I can hear the capacitor charging up. I suspect the flash bulb has failed, so I need to get back inside anyway. Oh well, here we go again!
Like the idiot I am, I realise I have not been using sufficiently powerful batteries and the flash capacitor and flash unit are both in fine working order. I’m just going to make a small adjustment on the shutter opening switch though, and also the power contacts connected to the lens internal focus ring.
I’ve removed an unnecessary small spring from the aperture ring on the left, and I found some more of the crystal type of contamination on the circuit board near to the flash capacitor.
I’ve removed an unnecessary spring that was on the aperture ring, it was causing the aperture ring to sit in an opposing position to the light indicator on the side. The two of them have to match to ensure the correct exposure. The spring was pulling down on the ring, and moving it to a lower position on the indicator. Thus causing an exposure issue. I’ve removed it, it is not needed and is now working better. I have also cleaned the circuit board as I found another small patch of crystallised contamination. It’s now cleaner than when it departed the factory.
The lens aperture ring, and indicator
And here we have a picture where I’ve captured the flash unit working.
Flash captured working
Now all back fully assembled I’m confident that the camera unit is in as good a condition as it could be. Fully serviced, clean and operational just as it should be. The next real test will be when I get some film inside of it to carry out some realtime tests. I’m hoping I’ll have the film within the next day or two.
Result:
I dont know why but I really love this little camera. I’ve enjoyed the challenge, the issues thrown up by it, and have gained immense satisfaction in getting it back into a working order. I don’t know if it’s the size or just the pure simplicity of having a picture to hand that is fully developed in about 15mins. The excitement of watching a picture form in front of your very eyes and even the fun factor is incredible. It’s what is needed in photography today, a step back to the 70s world of Polaroid, it’s true that back then they really knew they were on to something big, but I bet they didn’t think that it would now be having such a resurgence with the younger generation 50 years later. Instant memories preserved right in front of your eyes. The Japanese photographic industry, are so up there with modern photographic trends and demands. If only some of the now defunct big players such as Kodak who I used to work for, had gleaned such future insight, things may have been very different.
This unit as was stated earlier, is promised to a younger member of the family and that is where it will be going. I think I’m probably going to buy another damaged one to fix for myself, because I just love these little packages of fun and instant memories.
My film arrives within the next 24hrs and I’m really looking forward to getting some pictures taken.
Now all polished and cleaned and looking splendid.
Sparkling, clean and pristine (Inside and Out)
The film is here and I’ve put in new batteries and tested the unit prior to putting the film in. Anyway, film installed let’s take the first picture that will remove the cover off the film cartridge within.
Cartridge inFilm cover out
Now to find some subjects without wasting too much film. Picture one was of another Instax camera i am working on, bit close to be honest but there is at least an image, the camera is working. Second one is in the corner of the kitchen this comes out well. Third one is of the feral cat “Tabs” who owns our garden. She wasn’t too happy that I’d disturbed her sleep but that said it was a good photo.
First three trial photos
Overall I’m exceptionally pleased with the results. Closer examinations shows some repeating white spots up the right side of the photos, no big deal but this probably points to some contamination on the film roller. I can’t clean this now without fogging the remaining film, so I’m happy to leave this until this cartridge has been used. I’m happy that this is the only minor issue after all the other problems this camera had.
Working perfectly and looking great
Been a great little project that I have thoroughly enjoyed working on. These little units are great fun and the little lady that is going to get this camera is going to have a great time with it.
Another one of mass manufacturings victims, revived, and repaired and now facing a much longer and rosier future. Another one successfully kept from landfill. A winner in every sense of the word.
Many thanks for passing by, as always it is very much appreciated.
Foxes Den 
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