CameraMods: Mamiya C3 TLR plus two Diana F+ equals FRANKENCAMERA

The twin lens reflex camera you see on the top left is a Mamiya C3 Professional which I bought at a garage sale in May. It was a good day overall.

The Diana F+ Instant cameras I picked with my wife on Thursday afternoon. It's my Father's Day present. So good times came early.

The goal is to turn the TLR into an instant camera. The Diana F kits have Instax Mini backs. They have been reported to have build and jamming problem. But I feel I can tinker to correct those flaws.

I do want to use the Diana lenses as a viewing and taking glass (I know they're plastic).

Fifty-five millimetre for a focal length is a bit of a challenge. I'll have to build a lensboard with a shutter mechanism that is quite thin if I want infinity focus.

Mamiya had 55mm lenses for the system and they projected into the body nearly as much as they projected forward, it seems to me.

The toy cameras, when set up for the instant film, require a "correction" lens that fits in the body before the aperture and shutter. It corrects, I believe, for a longer length. The instant back pushes the film plane further back.

So there's hope. The only other concern I have,  okay, it's one among many, that the correction lens will interfere with the mirror in the top taking lens section properly called the viewer box.

Because the instant back, just like in the Diana, will most like sit further back (who knows what will happen to infinity focus), there is a chance I could mount the viewing lens more forward than the taking lens.

Another hope I have that somehow the correction lens distance to the aperture/shutter plane will some alter the focal length of the lens overall and therefore, once adjusted, to have infinity focus with the instant back (Instax back...who are we kidding?).

Wish me luck. Happy shooting. Have a great day.
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Some more notes, it has occurred to me that I may want to try the camera as is.

Before I set out, I wanted to know the apertures. The lens has cloudy, partly cloudy, and such. But I needed to know.

This is what Lomography said:

If you’re a photo-whiz and are used to working with lens apertures instead of icons, we’ve translated the pictures on the bottom of your Diana F+ into photo-speak.
The cloudy aperture is f11, partly cloudy is f16 and sunny is f22. The pinhole is approximately f150.

 Elsewhere, I read the shutter speed runs at 1/60. So that's a start.