That’s a very good question my child!
A Big Stax is a hybrid instant camera made by combining two others: a vintage Polaroid BIG SHOT portrait camera and a FujiFilm Instax Wide 100 camera. Here are a few of photos of what the Big Stax cameras looks like —
The BIG STAX is a hybrid/hack/mod Texolux system created by joining a vintage Polaroid BIG SHOT Portrait Camera front-end with a FujiFilm INSTAX WIDE instant film camera back. This mod breathes new life into a marvelous, quirky, rigid-box camera, originally designed solely for portraits using pack-film, the last of which expired in 2018 and has been rising to insane levels of risk and cost for any leftovers you can find out there.
Luckily, Instax WIDE instant film is readily and widely (pun intended) available, stable, consistent, and neutral color-balanced. Instax WIDE doesn’t have any of the quirks or artifacts of old or current Polaroid films, so responsibility for image color and creativity are left a little more in the hands of the photographer (and their Instax camera). And when the Instax camera in their hands is a Big Stax, you get the quirky and magical qualities of the BIG SHOT on Instax WIDE film!
Here’s what Camera-Wiki.org has to say about the Polaroid Big Shot:
“The Big Shot was one of the most unusual cameras Polaroid ever introduced. It is a rigid-bodied model that dwarfs others in the series. Released in 1971 and produced until 1973, it is designed for portrait use only, and has a fixed focal distance of only about one meter. It has a 220mm f/29 plastic meniscus lens, a fixed-speed mechanical shutter, and a fixed-focus rangefinder to help the photographer keep the subject in focus. Because the camera itself is fixed-focus, the photographer has to move back and forth until the subject appears in focus. This technique has been called the ‘Big Shot Shuffle.’ “
Here are some sample photos taken on a BIG STAX camera:
Bookmark the BIG STAX page on this site and look for more news and sample photos in the coming days!
Email info@theBIGSTAX.com if you’re interested in buying a BIG STAX!
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