So, a little over a month ago, I went to America to cover NAB 2024. With NAB taking place in Vegas, I decided to visit New York 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 with a very strange choice, which I don't regret at all: our strangest INSTAX camera that was just waiting to be used again.
The equipment I used
If you follow our camera Comments, you may have already figured out which INSTAX camera I'm talking about. Although I love Fujifilm's INSTAX cameras, the one I chose was none other than the strange NONS SL660, an INSTAX Square camera with an optical viewfinder and an EF lens mount, among others. You can read more about it in the review we did of 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 opted for this solution instead of a more conventional solution. INSTAX camera.
I knew before arriving in New York that I would probably be buy one or two new vintage lenses while I'm there. Between major camera stores like B&H And Adorama and individual sellers across New York, there were plenty of places to get 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 home, right? Sure, I could have brought a mirrorless camera and used adapters, but shooting with an analog INSTAX is fun. To accommodate my desire to shoot both INSTAX and any vintage lens I might come across, I picked up the only INSTAX camera that can change lenses freely, the aforementioned SL660.
Throughout the trip, I ended up using the Nikon 35mm f/1.4 AIS and the Nikon 50-135 f/3.5 AIS. My only regret was not bringing my Nikon 300mm f/4.5 AIS with me, as I simply didn't have enough reach for some shots, even at 135mm. I also didn't bring speed lights with me, which was a small mistake. Shooting INSTAX means you're stuck at ISO800, so shooting in low light can sometimes be difficult. At least for sunny days I thought about taking an ND filter with me.
The only caveat was the extent of the INSTAX Square paper ($20 for 20 shots). I knew this would mean there wouldn't be as many photos from my trip as usual, but I had to figure out when it was worth turning the camera on and when it wasn't.
My strategy was simple: almost without exception, I should not take another photo. If I fail, I fail. There are too many things to see and photograph and not enough cartridges or time to go through everything. This meant there was no second chance, as I couldn't come back later and try the photo again. I either get the shot or I don't, which makes every successful shot even more exciting and every missed shot even sadder. When I get back to the hotel at night and look at the printed photos of where I went today, it's much more rewarding to look at than digital files on a camera.
Midtown and Downtown Manhattan
I spent most of my time in New York, roaming Midtown and Downtown Manhattan. There's plenty to see there and plenty to do, from huge bookstores to concerts to places like the Leica Gallery. The latter I only managed to access a few minutes after it closed for the day. Too bad. I still had a lot of fun taking photos along the way, so it didn't really depress me.
It was my first day of traveling so I was still relearning how to shoot properly with the SL660. Although it has an optical viewfinder, it exhibits substantial cropping. For this reason, I would find myself accusing photographing a little too far from an object or not, considering that a certain element would enter the frame. I was also overthinking my exposure settings, as the SL660's built-in optical multiplier meant I was losing light and had to calculate my exposure accordingly. Relying on the built-in light meter helped, but it wasn't very accurate. Eventually, I learned to stop overthinking and let my instincts set the exposure for me, which quickly adapted to the city's different lighting scenarios. It worked incredibly well.
Central Park
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 arrived there and spent half my day visiting all the attractions and taking quick photos along the way.
At this point in the trip I was pretty comfortable, composing and exposing the SL660, and was pretty happy with the photos I was taking. The only thing I couldn't capture properly were the interesting birds I encountered throughout the park, because, again, 135mm just isn't enough for some travel scenarios.
By chance, I met a fashion production in the middle of the park. They used a background for the model as well as artificial lights, so frankly I'm still not sure why they decided to do it outside instead of in the studio. Maybe studio rent is so expensive in New York? Let me know if you have an idea yourself.
Regardless, fashion production was far from the only point in the park that housed photographers. It wasn't surprising to find people heading to Central Park for photoshoots. Among them, I spotted a few with pretty interesting hardware choices. One of them was doing a photo shoot for a couple with a Contax G2, a pretty cool rangefinder camera, which I've noticed is gaining popularity in recent years.
The other used something a little stranger. I don't remember exactly what camera he used, but I believe it was a 1940s camera with a Polaroid back. In retrospect, it makes sense that a guy using such equipment managed to recognize my NONS camera. It's not as obvious as recognizing a Sony camera, because while I love NONS, they are admittedly a fairly small and unknown brand. I had a great time talking to him Instant filmand I continued.
Central place
I expected there to be a lot of people in Central Square at night, but I was still a little overwhelmed. The place was filled to the brim with locals and tourists. And where there are tourist gatherings, there are also photographers, many of whom were there offering to take photos, for a price of course.
Side note: the most common camera I saw there, and indeed in Manhattan in general, was, oddly enough, the Canon 5DIV. Not that I expected to see more Sony cameras that Cannonbut I was pretty convinced that most of the photographers had already moved Mirrorless By this point. Perhaps the 5DIV is simply the camera I've personally encountered the most; who knows?
I was worried about how to capture Central Square at night, so I focused everything on the brightness of the advertising screens. It turned out to be quite an interesting shoot, thanks in part to the black and white cartridge I had loaded 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 something vaguely technical. Hopefully this article has given you not only some knowledge about INSTAX, but also some insight into the overall experience, in case you want to try it yourself.