“The Nons SL660 delivers a rewarding analog photography experience and beautiful images with retro charm.”
Avg
-
Interchangeable lenses
-
Excellent build quality
-
An affordable way to get into film photography
-
Fun to use
-
It gives unique and beautiful pictures
Against
-
The film is expensive
-
It is difficult to get the correct focus and exposure
The product of a successful Kickstarter campaign, the Nons SL660 is now a reality. This unique camera offers the fun of an instax camera combined with superior build quality and the flexibility of an interchangeable lens system.
As someone who grew up as a digital photographer, I’ve always envied the physicality of film and regretted that so many of my images were trapped on hard drives and memory cards. Printing at home is a headache and ordering prints is expensive. However, if you are shooting rolls of film, you must either develop it yourself or send it to print. That’s where instant film comes in, offering an alternative that combines the immediacy of digital with the physical nature of film, while bypassing the difficulties associated with actually printing your work.
Non-SL660 design and operation
The adventure of instant film photography with the Nons SL660
The SL660 is a chunky beast of a camera, but while it may be the size of a DSLR, it’s nowhere near as heavy to carry. That’s because a film camera doesn’t need a bunch of electronics crammed into your average digital camera, nor does it require a shiny big lithium-ion battery (although it does have a small one built in). That’s not to say it’s cheaply built, and in fact, it’s one of the more solidly built cameras I’ve used. The metal body is reassuringly robust, a welcome change from the plastic exteriors of many modern cameras.
The controls may seem a bit unfamiliar to those used to digital cameras, but they are actually very simple. The back cover opens to insert film cartridges, while on the left side of the lens is a lever that engages the mirror and activates the camera to take a photo. You’ll want to wait to press this until you’ve identified the scene you’re going to shoot – otherwise you might accidentally activate the shutter. The shutter button is located to the right of the lens and works like the shutter button on any camera.
Andy Zahn / Digital trends
On the top of the camera there is a cool mount for various accessories, a wheel for choosing the shutter speed and a small LCD screen. This screen shows the number of shots remaining in the film cartridge, the remaining battery capacity, and your light meter. The light meter reads the light levels in the direction you’re pointing the camera and tells you what F-stop you need to set your lens to for the correct exposure. This camera is best used with fully manual lenses with mechanical apertures controlled via a dial on the lens itself.
However, it can also be used with electronic aperture lenses by setting the aperture with the lens mounted on the digital camera before detaching and mounting the lens on the SL660. An electronic lens will retain a preset aperture after it is positioned using a digital camera. While this is an effective workaround, it is certainly a hassle.
Andy Zahn / Digital trends
The rear of the SL660 houses a USB-C charging port, a power switch, and a film eject button. Once you’ve taken your photo, simply hold down the film eject button and the SL660 will eject your photo to the side, where it will take a few minutes to develop. Due to the exposed USB-C port and various other unsealed openings on the camera, I would not use this camera even in very light rain.
I tested the SL660 with the Nons 35mm f/2.4 lens. A 50mm f/1.8 lens is also available, as are adapters for various lens mounts, including the Nikon F, Pentax K, M42 and Contax-Yashica.
No SL660 image quality and performance
Judging the SL660 based on image quality based on typical sharpness metrics and other factors that define the image perfection demanded by modern digital cameras would be neither fair nor productive. First off, the SL660’s imaging performance is dictated by the Fujifilm Instax Square film it needs. This film is not high definition, has very poor dynamic range and a fairly high ISO of 800. In addition, the camera uses integrated optics to enlarge the 35mm format lens onto the larger square format film. The shutter speed is also maxed out at 1/250, which is very slow indeed.
The bottom line is that the SL660 is best used in low-contrast situations, and if you want to use wide-open aperture settings for glorious swirling bokeh, you’ll either need to shoot in low light or use neutral density filters to darken the scene. Also, due to the nature of film and the camera’s integrated lens system, don’t expect sharp images from the SL660.
Once you and the camera are in sync, its apparent challenges turn into the ingredients of artistic style.
All of this needs to be said and understood at the outset because the SL660 is a camera that requires you to become intimately familiar with its faults and foibles. Once you and the camera are in sync, its apparent challenges turn into the ingredients of artistic style.
Photos taken with the SL660 tend to have a dreamy, aged quality that evokes a strange sense of nostalgia in me. There’s also something really magical about seeing an image appear on paper the moment you’ve taken it. I also find that taking a digital photo of an Instax print with the location of the shot in the background out of focus makes for a very compelling subject to share on social media.
Versions other than SL660
Andy Zahn / Digital trends
Mechanically, I’ve never had any reason to complain about the SL660. Its various controls are very tactile and easy to operate, and I find the sounds produced by the photo-taking process extremely satisfying. A minor issue for me is that the built-in light meter seems a little unreliable, though this is most likely due to my inexperience with light meters. I find that the best strategy is to aim the camera at different points in the scene I intend to capture, which helps me determine which settings will produce optimal results. I also had trouble getting accurate focus due to the somewhat small size of the viewfinder.
Regarding battery life, I received the camera partially charged and did not charge it before shooting. As of writing this I’ve taken about 30 pictures and accidentally left the camera on a few times. Fortunately, it automatically shuts off after 10 minutes, and the battery didn’t wear down noticeably. Depending on how much you shoot, your experience may vary, but based on how I use the camera, I’d be surprised if I needed to charge it once every three months.
Price and availability without SL660
Andy Zahn / Digital trends
Starting at $600, the SL660 doesn’t come cheap. If you want a lens, the 50mm f/1.8 costs $50, while the 35mm f/2.4 will set you back $110. For a similar price, you can choose an extremely capable modern digital camera and capture more detailed images. Alternatively, you can get a Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo camera for just $200, which can take digital photos and act as a wireless Instax printer in addition to taking Instax film images. However, the SL660 provides an experience that digital can’t replicate, and it’s a much higher-quality option with more versatility than budget Instax cameras.
Alternatively, Instax backs are available to adapt professional medium format cameras to shoot with instant film. This will provide better quality images and a better shooting experience than the SL660, but you’ll be spending hundreds of dollars on the back, body and lens, potentially running you well over $1,000. The SL660’s biggest downside is that the Instax Square film it needs costs $20 for a two-pack of 10-shot cartridges. This means that every time you press the shutter, you spend $1, which is especially painful when you’re learning to use a camera and making a lot of mistakes.
The Nons SL660 offers the ultimate instant movie experience
Andy Zahn / Digital trends
Testing the Nons SL660 was an amazing experience. It opened my eyes to the joys of shooting with film and to owning physical copies of the images I shoot. When I take pictures with one of my digital cameras, there is little motivation to think before I shoot, and once I download the images to my computer, I may never look at them again. The SL660 slows me down and forces me to carefully compose each shot. With the final images printed, I often flip through them and enjoy them immensely.
This is a camera for creating art and capturing lasting memories outside the prison of your computer hard drive. Even for a photographer like me, who normally shoots with a Nikon Z9 and other high-end camera gear, the SL660 deserves a special place in my gear for the moments I really want to enjoy. He’s by no means perfect, but those flaws count more as character than flaws. The only really unfortunate aspect of this camera is that the film it takes is so expensive, but that’s out of Nons’ control.
If you love photography and are looking for an exciting new experience that will inspire you and help you hone your skills, then the Nons SL660 is what you’re looking for.
Editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn