Cerita

Veteran
Location
Canada
Here is one of first images from this camera, I used the wide colour pack as I wanted to finish it off, I am not a fan of the colour film as much as I am of the monochrome. No flash, the chapel was not well lit, the light was coming from a stain glass window above.

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The images look pretty good, metering is nice - how's sharpness? It's definitely not bad, but how good is it?

M.

Thanks, they are not bad for a first try. The metering is not bad at all, although I did have some misses, I will scan those and put them up. Given the lighting situation in this chapel and time of day, the sharpness is quite good, I have hopes that it will be even better in proper lighting situations. I will try and get outdoors one of these days and see how it works out. More experiments to come and then I can give some final thoughts on this camera.
 
This is the first monochrome test, no edits, straight from the scanner. Taken indoors and the flash fired. The overall sharpness is great compared with the colour film. This is pretty impressive, I really do like this new monochrome film, I think Fuji might have improved the formula. I would say the 500Af is a great camera for the monochrome film. I look forward to taking some outdoor images soon.

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This is the first monochrome test, no edits, straight from the scanner. Taken indoors and the flash fired. The overall sharpness is great compared with the colour film. This is pretty impressive, I really do like this new monochrome film, I think Fuji might have improved the formula. I would say the 500Af is a great camera for the monochrome film. I look forward to taking some outdoor images soon.

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Okay, now I *have* to check out the Monochrome film ... got two packs ready, but "only" the soft-ish Lomo'Instant wide to test them; we'll see.

M.
 
Another test shot taken today. I am concerned about something as I notice a pattern on the left and right sides of the image, lower corners are almost always underexposed. I am not sure if something is wrong with the camera metering or if this is just how this camera shoots. There also seems to be some distortion? Not sure. Details can be retrieved in LR (edited version included). I am not expert enough in photography to know if it's me or the camera, most likely me :(.

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I guess from the test shots that either the lens vignettes a bit or there's some slight issue with the rollers - but from what I see, there's no big problem. Exposure is clearly center-weighted - nothing out of the ordinary there; if the center is comparatively bright, you'll have trouble getting an even exposure. I have no idea if there's some sort of "half press" metering (there certainly isn't on more recent Fuji cameras - whereas the later Polaroid cameras did have that feature, including shutter AEL).

M.
 
I guess from the test shots that either the lens vignettes a bit or there's some slight issue with the rollers - but from what I see, there's no big problem. Exposure is clearly center-weighted - nothing out of the ordinary there; if the center is comparatively bright, you'll have trouble getting an even exposure. I have no idea if there's some sort of "half press" metering (there certainly isn't on more recent Fuji cameras - whereas the later Polaroid cameras did have that feature, including shutter AEL).

M.

Interesting thoughts on this and very helpful as I am stabbing in the dark here being a bit ignorant of the exposure process, and with no controls as such, it makes it even harder. It does actually have half shutter metering and focus re-compose. I just took another shot of my husband (can't share this one I am afraid), and this is one sharp instant camera!!! I am so impressed, details were beautifully picked up in the face etc. It is a great camera, I just have to learn how to control it better.
 
Hello Cerita, I just got a used Instax 500af, and it appears to be defective. Assuming yours is working properly, does the lens move and make a sound when you press the shutter, before the exposure? Mine doesn't, the green light comes on, but the lens doesn't move. It seems obvious that it should move like with any autofocus camera, but it would helpful to have it confirmed by someone else with the same camera.
 
Hello Cerita, I just got a used Instax 500af, and it appears to be defective. Assuming yours is working properly, does the lens move and make a sound when you press the shutter, before the exposure? Mine doesn't, the green light comes on, but the lens doesn't move. It seems obvious that it should move like with any autofocus camera, but it would helpful to have it confirmed by someone else with the same camera.

Yes, it makes a slight buzzy sound when you press the shutter to take the shot, but it only moves very, very minutely, and you won't actually see the lens move in and out. I suspect your camera is just fine, if the green light is on, it means you correctly exposed, if you are not, the light will go red. Have you tried taking any pictures as yet? Here is a link to a YT review, so you can get an idea as to how it's supposed to work correctly.

Actually, I just took a small video myself, will upload it soon. I also looked at it closely, and the buzzy sound is the shutter opening and closing.

Here is my video.
 
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Yes, it makes a slight buzzy sound when you press the shutter to take the shot, but it only moves very, very minutely, and you won't actually see the lens move in and out. I suspect your camera is just fine, if the green light is on, it means you correctly exposed, if you are not, the light will go red. Have you tried taking any pictures as yet? Here is a link to a YT review, so you can get an idea as to how it's supposed to work correctly.

Actually, I just took a small video myself, will upload it soon. I also looked at it closely, and the buzzy sound is the shutter opening and closing.

Here is my video.
"video is unavailable".... Thank you so much for the prompt reply! Sounds like yours is working the same as mine, the only sound is the shutter, very strange about the autofocus.... I've taken one pack of film and started the second, it's hard to judge if the focusing is normal photos are all fine, all relatively soft... Unfortunately it showed another problem with the prints not being fully ejected had to power off and on to make them come fully out....
 
"video is unavailable".... Thank you so much for the prompt reply! Sounds like yours is working the same as mine, the only sound is the shutter, very strange about the autofocus.... I've taken one pack of film and started the second, it's hard to judge if the focusing is normal photos are all fine, all relatively soft... Unfortunately it showed another problem with the prints not being fully ejected had to power off and on to make them come fully out....

Sorry about this, could you try the video again? I am sorry to hear about the photos sticking in your camera, it's too bad! As to sharpness, I get sharp images with this camera but then I only use the monochrome film. Here is an example of one I just took a few days ago, very light editing for shadows/highlights, but not much else as you can see it's fairly sharp, and this is after scanning it and blowing it up a bit. The actual instax image is very sharp.


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