lens filtering advice and help needed

[twaugh636]

I just bought my wife the party flash instant camera and also found out they dont make the intended PR 144 film for it anymore. after a couple of hours of research i found out u can use "Fuji ISO 800 Instant Films" in the camera but i have to either filter the lens or the film cartridge. I am not a photographer so i dont have much knowledge on cameras so if anyone can help me out i need a barney style explanation.

[jcuknz]

I would hope that the filmpacket/cassette will give you an indication as to if it is designed to be used in daylight or artifcial[ tungsten] light. If it is daylight film you should not need any filtration as electronic flash is the same "color temperature" as daylight. If you are fussy about color you could notice some off color and obviously the camera is not what you want I'm afraid.

If you gave us the URL for where you found out about needing filter we could check it out, meanwhile I never heard of the camera till now I searched but what I found was not illuminating.

Color Temp ranges from redish in household tungsten lighting to blue on overcast days, measured in degrees Kelvin from around 2500K up to 20,000K Daylight is usually taken as 5500K Hope that is Barney simple enough though more than you wanted

[Manfred M]

My initial reaction is that you throw away the camera as it is quite ancient. So far as I can tell, it is one of the old Kodak instant film cameras that were pulled off the market when Polaroid won a lawsuit for patent infringement against Kodak. These cameras were manufactured in the 1970's and the ones I saw had a fixed element lens that did (could) not take any filters. My mother used to work at Kodak so I remember these units fairly well.

I understand that the Fuji film cartridge design is similar to the old Kodak one, but does need some minor modifications to fit into the camera.

My understanding is that the ISO rating of the Fuji film (ISO 800) is much higher than the Kodak film (ISO 160), so a normal image will look quite washed out. The filter that you are referring to is something called a neutral density filter. It cuts down on the amount of light entering the lens and lets the camera produce acceptable images with the faster film.

All you can do is go to your local camera store and see if they can find a ND filter that will work with your camera / film combination, if you really want to go that route. I would be surprised if they can, because the lenses were tiny and I don't remember seeing any filter threads. You could carefully glue one over the lens, I suppose.

Putting a filter on the film pack? I have trouble seeing how this can be done; the cartridges fit into the camera quite snuggly and you would likely scratch the filter loading and unloading the camera, if you can get it in at all. You'd have to get an appropriate gelatin or acetate filter and cut it to size.

Of course, this all assumes that the camera still works at all...

[rpcrowe]

I suggest that you keep the camera as a hostorical reminder of how technology has progressed and purchase an inexpensive point and shoot digital camera for your wife. P&S cameras can be had very inexpensively new and can be found on the used market for next to nothing in cost. The money you will save by not needing film will soon cover any cost of the camera and the images will be far better. I would bet that you could pick up a used P&S for the price of the filter that you need for the party flash camera.
Since you are posting on this forum, you have a computer. There are free editing programs such as GIMP which will allow you to end up with far better imagery than the instant camera will produce...

[twaugh636]

thnx for everyones help. Depending on how easyily i can get ahold of the lens, ill try out glueing it over. if not though its just a cool camera i got my wife. preciate everyones help though and ill have some more brainbusters for u at another time

[jcuknz]

If you have difficulty in getting a suitable ND filter in your area there is a source in the UK www.SRB-Griturn.com where you can get sheets of ND material as well as mounted filters. They specialise. I buy from them from time to time. Their website will charge you a courier charge which is ridiculous if for just a filter costing a quarter of it ... so contact them and tell them to send by ordinary mail at your risk ... assuming you are willing to gamble on the Post Office :-)

I would avoid 'getting hold of the lens' but rather just tape a larger piece of ND gel over the area. Did this with my first rather primative digital camera though in my case it was a close-up lens to help it focus closer for close shots. May have to do this with my latest cellphone which doesn't seem to focus close.