Can you tell a glass lens from a plastic lens? I am not so sure!
Nov 3, 2024
David Prochnow
Our resident “how-to” project editor, David Prochnow, lives on the Gulf Coast of the United States in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He brings his expertise at making our photography projects accessible to everyone, from a lengthy stint acting as the Contributing How-To Editor with Popular Science magazine. While you don’t have to actually build each of his projects, reading about these adventures will contribute to your continued overall appreciation of do-it-yourself photography. A collection of David’s best Popular Science projects can be found in the book, “The Big Book of Hacks,” Edited by Doug Cantor.
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A recent claim made by Lomography regarding an upgrade to its Lomo’Instant Wide Camera known as the Lomo’Instant Wide Glass has raised more than a couple of photographers’ eyebrows. Hyperbolic boasts such as ‘lightest,’ ‘fastest,’ and ‘sharpest’ can be a surefire recipe for generating critical consumer critique. As such, some backlash might happen for the Lomography Lomo’Instant Wide Glass being dubbed: “…the sharpest instant camera on earth… .” (Let’s just say that sharpness is not the first thing that comes to mind with an instant camera. Even instant cameras with EF glass)
Is this a reasonable claim? What about other Instax cameras that feature a glass lens? Are the Leica Sofort 2 and Mint Camera TLR TL70 2.0 reduced to ‘also-rans’ with the release of the Lomography Lomo’Instant Wide Glass?
Dare to Compare: Plastic Lens vs. Glass Lens
Let’s find out about the ‘sharpness’ of Instax film by doing a comparison between plastic and glass lenses.
In an effort to test this ‘glass lens superiority’ concept, a Lomography Diana Instant Square Camera Classic Edition equipped with a 75mm plastic lens was compared against a similar Diana Instant Square Camera Classic Edition using a 75mm Diana+ Premium Glass Lens. The results are shown below; you be the judge.
Enjoy.
David Prochnow
Our resident “how-to” project editor, David Prochnow, lives on the Gulf Coast of the United States in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He brings his expertise at making our photography projects accessible to everyone, from a lengthy stint acting as the Contributing How-To Editor with Popular Science magazine. While you don’t have to actually build each of his projects, reading about these adventures will contribute to your continued overall appreciation of do-it-yourself photography. A collection of David’s best Popular Science projects can be found in the book, “The Big Book of Hacks,” Edited by Doug Cantor.
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