Mountains, lakes, cheese and chocolate. Fondue, trains, croissants and Swiss Army pocket knives. In August we spent an amazing five days and four nights in Switzerland. But what’s the link between Switzerland and cheap Instax Wide film?
Episode summary
Arrivng in Switzerland
My previous trips to Switerland in 1995 and 2007
Journey to Wengen in the Jungfrau region
Trip to see the snow at the Jungfraujoch
Day trip to Grindewald First to experience the First Glider, mountain karting, and trotti bikes!
Golden Pass line from Interlaken to Montreux
Beautiful Montreux on Lake Geneva
Chateau de Chillon
Day trip to Gruyeres
Shopping in Geneva
Images talked about in this episode
Wengen, Fujifilm X-T3. (Please forgive a rare digital image on Matt Loves Cameras!)
View from the gondola. Fujifilm Klasse S on Kodak Portra 400.
Grindewald First. Mint InstantKon RF70 on Instax Wide.
A promotional photo for the First Glider showing the activity in good weather!
Tissot Cliff Walk, Fujifilm X-T3
Kids on the cliff walk! Fujifilm X-T3
Alpine cows, Grindewald. Mint InstantKon RF70 on Instax Wide.
Mountain bike! Disderi Robot with Kodak Gold 200
Mountain chalet. Olympus LT-1 on Kodak Gold 200.
Flowers on Lake Geneva, Fujifilm Klasse S with Kodak Portra 400.
Flowers, Lake Geneva. Olympus XA on Kodak Gold 200.
Flowers on Lake Geneva, Olympus LT-1 on Kodak Gold 200.
Flowers, Lake Geneva. Mint InstantKon RF70 on Instax Wide.
Feeding the birds, Olympus LT-1 on Kodak Gold 200.
Swans, Lake Geneva, Olympus LT-1 on Kodak Gold 200.
Boarding the paddle steamer, Montreux. Olympus LT-1 with Kodak Gold 200.
Chateau de Chillon, Disderi Robot with Kodak Gold 200.
Chateau de Chillon, Olympus LT-1 on Kodak Gold 200.
On the Belle Epoque paddle boat, Lake Geneva. Disderi Robot with Kodak Gold 200.
Kids enjoying the boat ride! Disderi Robot with Kodak Gold 200.
Swan, Lake Geneva. Disderi Robot with Kodak Gold 200.
On Lake Geneva, Fujifilm Klasse S with Kodak Portra 400.
La Gruyere train, Disderi Robot with Kodak Gold 200.
View from the station, Montreux. Mint InstantKon RF70 on Instax Wide.
Four days, three nights in steamy Hong Kong with a Mint InstantKon RF70 and a fistful of point and shoots. Markets, tram rides, protests, and too many rollercoasters… but how many cameras did I take on my overseas holiday? That is the big question.
Episode summary
Our trip – one month overseas in Hong Kong, Switzerland and the UK
Cameras and film I took with me with – carry on
Cameras I took with me – checked baggage
Hong Kong arrival
Hong Kong
Markets
Star Ferry
Champagne Court camera stores
Mint Camera store
Hong Kong trams
Lots of drama the night we left Hong Kong
Holga Week – did you shoot your Holga?
Find out more about the 2019 Emulsive Secret Santa – if you sign up, put on the form that you found out about it from Matt Loves Cameras and maybe Em will *finally* add us to his list of film photography podcasts!
Episode 18 encouraged Sergio from Fresno, CA to buy a Mint InstantKon RF70!
Hong Kong markets
Bird Market, Hong Kong. Fujifilm Klasse S, Kodak Portra 400.
Market Produce, Hong Kong. Fujfilm Klasse S, Kodak Portra 400. The Klasse S and XA shots are almost identical!
Market produce, Hong Kong. Olympus XA on Kodak Gold 200.
Love the colours! Hong Kong. Fujfilm Klasse S, Kodak Portra 400.
Flower Market, Hong Kong. Fujfilm Klasse S, Kodak Portra 400.
Beautiful blooms at the Flower Market. Mint Instantkon RF70 on Instax Wide.
Hong Kong street scene, Disderi Robot on Kodak Gold 200.
Protests
Terrible photo, but the only one I got of the protests. Mint Instantkon RF70 on Instax Wide.
Star Ferry
Bus station at Kowloon. Mint Instantkon RF70 on Instax Wide.
Star Ferry. Mint Instantkon RF70 on Instax Wide.
Hong Kong Harbour. Fujfilm Klasse S, Kodak Portra 400.
Lens fog on the Star Ferry. Fujfilm Klasse S, Kodak Portra 400.
Hong Kong Harbour. Fujfilm Klasse S, Kodak Portra 400.
Hong Kong Island. Fujfilm Klasse S, Kodak Portra 400.
Need a rickshaw? Call Mr Hung! Fujfilm Klasse S, Kodak Portra 400.
Dusk over the harbour. Mint Instantkon RF70 on Instax Wide.
Champagne Court
Olympus XA and Lomo LC-A
Leica lenses – as a rough guide, divide by 8 for USD, by 10 for GBP and 5 for AUD
Olympus Pen cameras
Nikon lenses at Champagne Court
Hong Kong trams
Taking a selfie on a Hong Kong tram. Mint Instantkon RF70 on Instax Wide.
Trams on Hong Kong island. Fujfilm Klasse S, Kodak Portra 400.
View from the back of a tram, Hong Kong. Mint Instantkon RF70 on Instax Wide.
Hong Kong trams. Why were they all lined up at 4pm? Listen to the episode and find out! Mint Instantkon RF70 on Instax Wide.
Our departure
Holiday Inn had almost closed up by the time we wanted to leave for the airport.
My wife is a little alarmed by the crowds gathering
Three months in… here’s my Mint InstantKon RF70 review! The RF70 is the first fully manual Instax Wide camera, straight outta Hong Kong! I have used this camera mainly for travel and landscape photography. It’s good… but is it $1000 USD good? Have a listen and find out!
Boats at Victoria Point 1/250 second at F16 using ND4
Boats at Victoria Point 1/125second at F16 using ND4 This one is maybe a little overexposed, but I like it!
Boats at Victoria Point 1/500 second at F16 using ND4. A little too dark!
Dawn at Victoria Point, handheld ND grad filter over lens
Dusk at Victoria Point. This image has the most amount of likes on my @mattlovesinstant Instagram profile – this is where I post all my RF70 and other instant photogrpahy.
I LOVE the moodiness of this image! This was taken out of a gondola as we were heading up the Grindewald First in Switzerland.
Correct exposure settings used with ND8 using 1/500 second shutter speed… kinda dark and vignetted!
My little bulb exposure experiment! I put the RF70 on a post in the middle of the street and pressed down the shutter for 2-3 seconds. I got traffic trails and some cool multicoloured lights.
I loved riding the trams in Hong Kong! This shot was taken moving slowly along Central, with my camera hanging out the back window!
Shallow focus flowers on the edge of Lake Lucerne. I’m not sure I quite nailed the focus of the flowers given the shallow depth of field (they were swaying in the wind!) but I still love this shot.
Super hot day in Hong Kong – a quick pic of the fam at the Flower Market!
I love the colour of these hydrangeas! This scene was outside the barn we stayed at in our first week in England. I shot this at f6.7 from memory, I love the way the RF70 has rendered the scene.
Handsome Rogue Junior at the Coochiemudlo Jetty!
In Shrewsbury I loaded up a new pack of Instax Wide, but after four or five attempts at trying to eject the dark slide through the RF70, nothing was happening. I jiggled the dark slide a little, but obviously too much… pack ruined!
Edwin Land – early years with polarizing light experiments
How Polaroid Corporation was formed
The World War 2 years
How a question from a little girl in 1943 changed photography forever
The first instant camera debuts in 1948
The arrival of pack film cameras and colour instant film in 1963
Work begins on the Aladdin project
How Edwin Land had the vision to make the SX-70 camera and integral film project successful
Parallels between Edwin Land and Steve Jobs
Description and specifications of the camera
How I got my cameras
Description of the images (see images below)
One thing I forgot to mention in the show… keep listening out for future Polaroid episodes! I am planning on doing an episode using items from the SX-70 accessories kit, including the shutter release for long exposure images and the close up adapter.
Southern Queensland sunrise. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film.
Underwater… Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film
Sunflowers in Southern Queensland. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film. The blue streaks you see are opacification failure, quite common to the current emulsion of Polaroid Originals film. They say you should use a frog tongue to stop this, but I’ve heard reports from people that they still get them anyway.
Farm scene. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film. Beautiful results with Polaroid Originals film is possible with good light and in cooler conditions.
Flowers in my back garden. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film. Does this look like it was taken with an F8 lens? No way! Beautiful depth of field.
Sunflowers… see the vertical stripe on the left of this image? This happens sometimes, it was only one of two images in this pack to do this. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film.
Sydney Opera House. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film. The following images have a pinkish colour cast, the shooting conditions were very warm. I still love them though!
Sydney Harbour Bridge. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film.
Circular Quay, Sydney. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film.
Circular Quay. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film.
Sydney Opera House. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film.
Sydney Opera House sails. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film.
Sydney Harbour Bridge with palm trees. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film.
Big boat, little boat. Polaroid SX-70 with Polaroid Originals SX-70 film.
My daughter in the pool. Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film, flash fired.
Kids having fun! Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film, flash fired
One of the places we stayed at in Ubud, love this pool! Polaroid SLR 680 with Polaroid Originals Color 600 film.
Early morning at Campuhan Ridge, Ubud. Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film.
Titra Empul: a Hindu Balinese water #temple just north of Ubud. The water here is considered the holiest in Bali and many people collect water in containers to take home. Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film.
The wonderful fruits of Indonesia! Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film.
Statue of Buddha, Borobudur, Java, Indonesia. Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film.
Statue of Buddha, Borobudur, Java, Indonesia. Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film.
Phoenix Hotel, Yogyakarta. Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film, SX-70 remote release on tripod.
Phoenix Hotel, Yogyakarta. Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film, SX-70 remote release on tripod. Taken a few minutes later with the exposure wheel on lighten.
Yogyakarta traffic. Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film, SX-70 remote release on tripod. Exposure wheel was in the middle for this shot.
Yogyakarta traffic. Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film, SX-70 remote release on tripod. I turned the exposure wheel to lighten for this shot.
Prambanan, Java, Indonesia. Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film.
Palm trees, Bali. Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film.
Pool fun, Bali. Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid Originals 600 Color film.
It’s been called the greatest instant camera ever made, the apex of the Polaroid folding line of cameras, and even the evil twin of the original SX-70 camera!
Do you know the major difference between Polaroid and Instax images and how they develop? Find out as I review the SQ6, the first fully analogue Instax Square camera from Fujifilm.
