An Introduction
Once upon a time, Polaroid film was plentiful. Yea, the Instant Gods had smiled upon the world and said, “Instant film isn’t just for instant cameras: it should be made available to all who need it.” And thus the instant adapters were born, carefully constructed bits of plastic and metal that would attach to the back of a Hasselblad or a Mamiya or even a large format camera capable of shooting 4×5 negatives. Professional photographers tasked with lighting their subjects in a studio suddenly had a new way of testing their setups, for theirs was the most difficult task of all: determining the quality and merit of a given lighting situation during a film shoot when even the fastest color film development would take at least an hour. The ubiquity of Polaroid film and the ease with which it could be deployed in a studio setting made these photographers’ lives much simpler—and lo, there was much rejoicing.
With the arrival of digital photography, instant film fell by the wayside. For a time, instant film was nothing more than a party favor for kids and teenagers, and all of those Polaroid adapters and holders and gadgets that once saved photographers time and money were discarded, repurposed as scrap, or simply forgotten.
Then the gift of Instax Wide was bestowed upon us.
Almost immediately, photographers around the world tried to come up with unique ways of using Instax Wide film. They stuck it in all sorts of cameras, and in the town hall now known as Reddit, they discussed the methods of their madness, trading tips and tricks with each other but never really reaching their heavenly goal, that lofty perch where the Instax could be reliably, and easily, exposed in a camera which it was not made for.
This was before the time of the Full Conversions, when instant experts began to set up laboratories where the parts of one camera—often an instant Instax Wide—might be joined to the parts of another. Out of this era, many legends were born, and among those that coalesced in the ether of the Internet was the tale of the Polaroid Land Camera, which, by an unlikely coincidence, was bequeathed with a film compartment nearly equal in size to a sheet of Instax Wide film. But that is a story for another time and place. We shall focus, here, on the fiendishly clever antics of the Full Converters, who in their pursuit of that which is not natural did make a brilliant discovery: that there were many ways to make Instax Wide film backs that would work with different makes and models of medium format film cameras.
Thus there was a way to use Instax film, which is both cheaper and more reliable than the reincarnation of Polaroid that has been visited upon us, in a medium format camera in much the same way that instant film was once used by professional studio photographers. But these constructions, these instant film backs that were made not in factories but in the dark basements of mechanical geniuses, could not be obtained without great expense, nor were they plentiful.
But in the year 2026, this is no longer true, because the POLAROID INSTANT FILM BACK HAS BEEN REBORN.
What You Need to Get Started
You no longer need a Lomograflok or an Instax converted film back to use Instax Wide in a large format camera or medium format camera. With the Polastax Instax Wide film holder, all you need is the appropriate Polastax converted Polaroid film back, our Polaroid 405 Alternate Safety Cap, and an Instax developer (either a rewired Instax 210 or equivalent, a fully functioning Instax camera, or a Polaroid 545i film holder).
If you’d like to use Instax Wide in a large format camera, your camera needs to have a Graflok back. You’ll use a Polaroid 405 holder converted to Polastax (see below).
If you’d like to use Instax Wide in a Mamiya or Hasselblad medium format camera, you’ll use the instant film back Polaroid made for your camera, converted to Polastax (see below).
The Process
The process is simple. You load your Polastax Instax Wide film holder in a darkroom or changing bag. Instead of using the safety cap that comes with the holder, you’ll need to use our Polaroid 405 Alternate Safety Cap (sold separately). With your film loaded, attach the Polastax converted Polaroid film back to your camera and insert the Polastax Instax Wide film holder into the back. Because the Polastax film holder has its own dark slide, you won’t need to use the Polaroid back’s dark slide, but shooting follows the same steps—you pull the slide, take your picture, and close the slide. After you’ve removed the Polastax Instax Wide film holder from the converted back, your Instax film is ready to be unloaded in a darkroom or changing bag and developed.
The Polastax Conversion
No expertise of any kind is required to perform the Polastax conversion. If you have access to a 3d printer, that’s helpful, but it’s not necessary. It’s not a bad idea to have some lightproof tape on hand but again, it’s not a requirement.
Open the Polaroid film back. See the metal and plastic bits shaped like a stirrup? Pull that out and pull the dark slide. If you have a 3d printer, download our STL from Thingiverse and print out the block and the shim. If you don’t have a 3d printer, you can cut a block of wood or metal to these dimensions: 104mm long; 16mm high; 7mm deep. (In some cases, you may need to cut a 4mm notch along the length of the block to make it fit.) The shim should be between 0.5mm and 1mm thick and is 87mm long and 25mm deep.
Wedge the block inside the back, against the slot where the film is supposed to exit after it’s pulled through the (now removed) rollers. It’s not a bad idea to tape the block to down make sure it won’t come out.
Wedge the shim in the slot where the back’s dark slide fit. To be on the safe side, you should tape this down as well, and this is where the lightproof tape comes in handy.
That’s it! Your Polastax converted Polaroid back is ready to use with our Polastax Instax Wide film holders. Just remember to pair your Polastax film holders with our Polaroid 405 Alternate Safety Cap (unfortunately, the safety caps designed for pack film cameras will not work in these adapters).
[Note that we also sell Polastax converted Polaroid 405 film backs; we don’t sell medium format film backs at this time.]
Well, what are you waiting for? Begin your quest, and may the favor of the Instant Gods shine upon you!