Konica Film-In 17mm Disposable Panorama Camera

[nightwolf75]

as i've mentioned in the toy camera thread, found some of these on sale on yahoo auctions. so, since i was looking for a cheap way to shoot panos on film, decided to buy for the heck of it.

these cams are out of production. according to lomo's site, 400 has been manufactured b4 they were discontinued. i did a search, and both fuji & kodak came up with their versions of panoramic camera. likewise, both these cameras are discontinued. currently, only konica's wai wai 17mm (not panoramic camera) are still available in japan.

well... the good news is that my konica can take pretty decent pics, for a disposable camera loaded with long-expired ISO400 film. bad news? it's not exactly a true pano cam, like the XPan or kompakt/perfekt, where the pic is stretched over 3 frames. the konica has a mask - ie. its a cropped pic. oh well... back to the drawing board....

here's something i shot yesterday over at labradour ard sunset time. just got back the scanned negs in the evening. PSed to crop away the black mask frame and added a white border. from all my pics from yesterday, this cam needs good strong daylight. either dat, or i have to reload using higher ISO film.

[vortex]

hehe..the disposable cam i kept..is a waiwai

it doesnt give u pano images...more of a wide angle. also its 1600 film

[gangeslim]

Originally Posted by nightwolf75 as i've mentioned in the toy camera thread, found some of these on sale on yahoo auctions. so, since i was looking for a cheap way to shoot panos on film, decided to buy for the heck of it. these cams are out of production. according to lomo's site, 400 has been manufactured b4 they were discontinued. i did a search, and both fuji & kodak came up with their versions of panoramic camera. likewise, both these cameras are discontinued. currently, only konica's wai wai 17mm (not panoramic camera) are still available in japan. well... the good news is that my konica can take pretty decent pics, for a disposable camera loaded with long-expired ISO400 film. bad news? it's not exactly a true pano cam, like the XPan or kompakt/perfekt, where the pic is stretched over 3 frames. the konica has a mask - ie. its a cropped pic. oh well... back to the drawing board.... here's something i shot yesterday over at labradour ard sunset time. just got back the scanned negs in the evening. PSed to crop away the black mask frame and added a white border. from all my pics from yesterday, this cam needs good strong daylight. either dat, or i have to reload using higher ISO film.

not bad. i also saw the person selling the disposables when i was looking for lomo cams on yahoo auctions.

[nightwolf75]

Originally Posted by vortex hehe..the disposable cam i kept..is a waiwai it doesnt give u pano images...more of a wide angle. also its 1600 film

hehe... according to those camera hackers, once i remove the pano mask from my konica, it gives a full-frame 17mm pic. ie. ur wai wai.

btw, the reloading and modding of our konicas are the same. if u need the PDFed info, let me know? i PDFed a old website dat shows how it's done.

[khairi]

yup....i used to use such 'pano' disposable cam too. it's only masking for pano shots...just
like the old minolta dynax 5(?) cant remember. u can switch from normal to pano...but the idsposable u cant do any swithing lah.

[sumball]

Wolffy very productive. Unlike me...

[Expiredyoghurt]

hmm ... where can i get a USED piece of this? ... wanna rip out the 17mm lens and mod onto my funkycam ... then i'll get a decently wide angle funkycam .. haha ... quality may drop, but it's already low .. and i really want it wider =P

[nightwolf75]

Originally Posted by sumball Wolffy very productive. Unlike me...

haha... now got a bit of free time. dats why can experiment. still waiting for my fren to return my changing bag so dat i can reload the disposable camera.

expiredyogurt - eh... ebay, actually. look for konica wai wai. a shop call HKPro sells them. else, if u know anyone living or visiting japan soon, ask them to buy back a few for u. yes. a few. u'll need spare parts....

[filofari]

Originally Posted by nightwolf75 hehe... according to those camera hackers, once i remove the pano mask from my konica, it gives a full-frame 17mm pic. ie. ur wai wai. btw, the reloading and modding of our konicas are the same. if u need the PDFed info, let me know? i PDFed a old website dat shows how it's done.

Nightwolf, can you send me the PDF file too? Just ordered one to bring for holiday. How does a changing bag look like ar?

[nightwolf75]

Originally Posted by filofari Nightwolf, can you send me the PDF file too? Just ordered one to bring for holiday. How does a changing bag look like ar?

changing bag is just a light-proof bag. mainly used by BnW shooters when they wanna load their film into the developing canisters, bulk-rollers when they want to load film... or goofballs like me who occasionally get their film stuck mid-roll in their manual SLRs and need to extract the film.

u can get it at ruby or CP.

just PM me ur email. i'll send the PDF file over to u. or, u can actually google. i think some enterprising chap loaded up instructions for reloading the wai wai.

[sumball]

Originally Posted by nightwolf75 expiredyogurt - eh... ebay, actually. look for konica wai wai. a shop call HKPro sells them. else, if u know anyone living or visiting japan soon, ask them to buy back a few for u. yes. a few. u'll need spare parts....

How much to get in Japan? My company's headoffice at Japan.

[nightwolf75]

Originally Posted by sumball How much to get in Japan? My company's headoffice at Japan.

hmmm... good question. i need to check with our man in osaka...

[vortex]

from what i remember wai wai cost around $13++ / 14 after conversion..

[TrailsofLife]

Wah....I want one also leh.....

[nightwolf75]

Originally Posted by Max 2.8 Wah....I want one also leh.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Konica-Wai-Wai-1...QQcmdZViewItem

this might help... tho it's a little more expensive than my older version.

[TrailsofLife]

Just kidding lah....I find it troublesome to use leh, unless you can put the lens on a normal compact so reloading is easier....

I am trying to find a supersampler...at low price of course... any lobang or not, Super User? Like for $50?

[gangeslim]

check out yahoo auctions. there is someone selling a lomo action sampler for 50. can nego abit

[TrailsofLife]

Originally Posted by gangeslim check out yahoo auctions. there is someone selling a lomo action sampler for 50. can nego abit

I ordered a popcam & splitcam already.... he he...I thought the supersampler is quite cool...

[nightwolf75]

for those using the wai wai or thinking of ordering them... guess wat. some enterprising chap in japan actually modified the 17mm lens on the wai wai for a leica and bessa.

win already...

http://homepage2.nifty.com/vasolza/17mmLmount.htm
http://homepage2.nifty.com/vasolza/17mmLmount2.htm

but the instructions are in japanese. from the guiding pics, i suspect the process is quite similar to how max 2.8 mod his holga lens for the canon.

the reloading of the wai wai can be seen here in pictorial form.
http://www.fotop.net/vegatenor/waiwai_introduction

[filofari]

oooo thanks... how do you check which generation the waiwai belongs to?