Sneak Peek: The InstantKon RF70 is a Rangefinder Camera for Instax Wide

The Hong Kong-based MiNT Camera made photographers drool a few years ago when it unveiled the InstantFlex TL70, a beautiful twin-lens reflex look-alike camera that shoots Instax Mini instant film. Now the company is at it again with the InstantKon RF70, a rangefinder camera that shoots Instax Wide.

Photographer Michel Jones of The Mijonju Show got his hands on a prototype of the RF70 from his friends at MiNT and made this 10.5-minute hands on preview introducing the camera and showing what it can do:

The team at MiNT has been building this camera for over two years now.

“I always thought a full manual large format instant camera was missing in the market,” MiNT founder Gary Ho writes in an update about progress. “And I always wondered why nobody bothered to make a proper instant camera. […] Then I found out the real reason why no other company was doing it.

“Because in order to make a proper large format instant camera (not just a toy camera with wide fisheye lenses), it takes a lot of time and effort and money to develop. Much more than toy cameras. It’s quadruple as much time and effort.”

And he goes on to share his vision for what the RF70 should be:

In my opinion, a camera like the RF70 had to be small (foldable). It had to have good quality lenses. It had to be a real portrait camera (please no wide fisheye, I know it’s easy to make). It had to have a fast reliable shutter, large aperture, manual speeds…. and it had to look elegant. Nobody wants to be carrying around a toy when they’re shooting serious, although it’s instant. I still believe that was the vision Dr Edwin Land had when he was developing the SX-70.

From what MiNT has revealed so far, the RF70 will have a durable metal advance lever, multiple exposures, a simple interface with a single button (the shutter), a self-timer (by double-tapping the shutter), the ability to fold flat with a filter attached, and compatibility with standard AA batteries.

Here are some more photos of the RF70 by Jones: