Get More out of Your Diana Mini!

38

With this tipster you’ll get more than 50 square pictures on one single film!

One of the first questions I asked myself when I bought the Diana Mini was why there was only space for 36 square pictures on one film. One square negative is considerably shorter than a conventional negative and there is enough space for 36 conventional negatives on one film. Therefore, after developing the first film, I was a bit astonished to find that the distances between two negatives are quite big and thus account for a considerable part of the film. I think the Diana Mini was built this way to make it easier for the labs to scan the negatives. However, I develop and scan all my films myself and think this is quite a waste of film. As I believe that a big part of this community scans their negatives themselves, I wrote this tipster to help you save some film.

I made a chart with the number of clicks of the wheel for normal winding as well as the number of clicks you really need to get two separate square shots. For those who are too lazy to count the clicks, I added the approximate amount of turns (in minutes) but the number of clicks is more precise. When the Diana Mini thinks it is time for the next shot and it is not possible anymore to turn the winder while you are counting the clicks, just take a shot with the lens cover on and continue counting.

Photo No normal winding saving film
clicks rotation degree (’) clicks rotation degree (’)
1 36 50 27 40
2 36 50 27 40
3 34 50 25 40
4 34 50 25 40
5 34 50 25 40
6 34 50 25 40
7 32 45 24 35
8 32 45 24 35
9 32 45 24 35
10 30 45 22 35
11 30 45 22 35
12 30 45 22 35
13 30 45 22 35
14 30 45 22 35
15 28 40 21 30
16 28 40 21 30
17 27 40 20 30
18 27 40 20 30
19 27 40 20 30
20 27 40 20 30
21 27 40 20 30
22 26 40 19 30
23 26 40 19 30
24 26 40 19 30
25 26 40 19 30
26 26 40 19 30
27 25 40 19 30
28 25 40 19 30
29 24 35 18 25
30 24 35 18 25
31 24 35 18 25
32 24 35 18 25
33 24 35 18 25
34 24 35 18 25
35 23 35 17 25
36 23 35 17 25
37 23 35 17 25
38 23 35 17 25
39 23 35 17 25
40 23 35 17 25
41 DONE! 16 25
42 16 25
43 16 25
44 16 25
45 16 25
46 16 25
47 15 20
48 15 20
49 15 20
50 15 20
51 15 20
52 15 20
53 15 20
Your negative strips will not look like this anymore
but like that.

Now have fun saving film!

written by ululchen on 2011-02-17 #gear #tutorials #film #camera #square #tipster #diana-mini #quickie-tipster #clicks #winding #save-film #chart #diana-mini-top-tipster

38 Comments

  1. itsdebraanne
    itsdebraanne ·

    i thought diana mini's are 35mm film only?

  2. eukanooba
    eukanooba ·

    I think this tip will be more helpful if the table part is in english.

  3. leendabob
    leendabob ·

    aweeesome! but i can't really understand the chart

  4. leendabob
    leendabob ·

    aweeesome! but i can't really understand the chart

  5. ericeast
    ericeast ·

    God save the film!!

  6. ericeast
    ericeast ·

    Anzahl Klicks means counting the "Click" sounds

    Umdrehung(') means the rotation degrees!

  7. cinzinc
    cinzinc ·

    woa the chart has loads of numbers, headache for me

  8. gvelasco
    gvelasco ·

    @itsdebraanne: That is 35mm film. He just scanned all the way to the edges to show the spacing between the frames.
    @ululchen: Thanks for doing this! It was lots of work. I did a statistical analysis of the data and it looks like a quadratic function. I did a quadratic regression and got this:

    y = ax^2 + bx + c, a = .0031882041, b = -.3848706479, c = 26.60428584

    But, the curve is very flat, so I did a linear regression and got this:

    y = ax+b, a = -.2127076278, b = 25.02612482

    Let's just say a = -.2 (-1/5) and b = 25. That gives us a linear approximation of y = -x/5 + 25, where x is the number of the current frame and y (rounded to nearest integer) is the number of clicks. For current frame = 1, that's -1/5 + 25 = 25 (rounded). For current frame = 20, that's -20/5 + 25 = 21. For 50, that's -50/5 + 25 = 15. Pretty close. And, -x/5 + 25 is fairly easy to remember.

  9. gvelasco
    gvelasco ·

    The number in the first column is the current frame number. The number in the second column is the number of clicks it normally takes to advance to the next frame. The number in the third column is the number of "minutes" it normally takes to advance to the next frame. The number in the fourth column is the number of clicks he counted to get to the next square frame without wasting any space. The number in the fifth column is the number of "minutes" he counted to get to the next square frame without wasting any space.

    So, we are really interested in the first column (current frame) and the fourth column (number of clicks to get to the next square frame without wasting any space). If you're lazy, you can use the number in the first column (current frame) and the number in the fifth column (number of minutes).

    If there are too many numbers for you to memorize, you can use the formula I obtained through linear regression of the data: clicks = ( negative of current frame divided by five ) plus twenty-five.

    Clicks = ( - Current Frame / 5 ) + 25

  10. gvelasco
    gvelasco ·

    Another way you can use this tip is to print yourself a long skinny strip of paper with just the fourth column (or fifth column if you want to do minutes) and each time you take a picture, you advance the number of clicks (or minutes) at the top of the list then tear off the number. That way, you don't have to remember which frame you're on or do any math.

  11. ululchen
    ululchen ·

    @eukanooba: i actually submitted two translations of this tipster because i forgot to translate the table first and now it seems that they posted the wrong version. :-( @gvelasco: thanks for translating! and yeah, that's a good idea with the skinny strip!

  12. scorpie
    scorpie ·

    and the table's now in english, too :)

  13. vtayeh
    vtayeh ·

    Awesome!!! I love formulas :D

  14. natalieerachel
    natalieerachel ·

    Is the chart the same for a roll of 24 exposures??

  15. natalieerachel
    natalieerachel ·

    I'm assuming it is.....and @gvelasco thank you for all the explaining!!!

  16. leendabob
    leendabob ·

    HAHA! thanks guys

  17. ululchen
    ululchen ·

    @natalieerachel: yes, it's the same for 24 exposures, you'll just be done earlier.

  18. thelavishh
    thelavishh ·

    If I were to take it to a drugstore to get the roll of film developed, would there be any problems / do I need to inform them about it?

  19. ululchen
    ululchen ·

    @thelavishh: do you scan the negatives yourself? if so, i would tell the lab not to cut the negatives. otherwise i woul tell them that the photos have an unusual format and ask if they can pay attention not to cut into photos, though i'm not sure if the cutting process isn't automated...

  20. ik
    ik ·

    can you something like this with a diana f+

  21. ululchen
    ululchen ·

    @ik: why do you mean? the distances between two negatives are not excessively large when you use the diana f+.

  22. stouf
    stouf ·

    Super ! You could also do something like this (www.lomography.com/magazine/tipster/2009/03/29/applied-math…)

  23. lighttomysoul
    lighttomysoul ·

    @gvelasco - I don't understand the third column. minutes? it can't take 50 minutes to get to the next frame? not even 50 seconds.

  24. ululchen
    ululchen ·

    @lighttomysoul: if you look at the winder as if it were a watch, you'd have to turn it the same degree as it takes for a clock hand to turn in 50 minutes. As one hour has 60 minutes, 60'=360°=1 turn, so that 50'=300°.

  25. yawny
    yawny ·

    woah! looks like a greatest tipster I could find!! I just tried it too and now cant wait till i stop being ill to go develop this stuff)

  26. renenob
    renenob ·

    Brilliant!

  27. lighttomysoul
    lighttomysoul ·

    @ululchen ooooooh I see! ;) that makes sense then! cool! :) I actually have a mini coming my way right now so that's why I thought I should learn this tipster once and for all. thanks a lot :D will come back with results!

  28. jacobcat
    jacobcat ·

    I tried to follow the no. of the ''click'' sound stated in the table. I took the first pic and stopped winding forward after 27 'click' sounds, however, I couldn't wind forward 27 ''click'' after the 2nd pic. I could only wind forward around 9 'click'. Does anyone give me a solution please?

  29. ululchen
    ululchen ·

    @jacobcat: the answer is written in the tipster: "When the Diana Mini thinks it is time for the next shot and it is not possible anymore to turn the winder while you are counting the clicks, just take a shot with the lens cover on and continue counting."

  30. cutebun
    cutebun ·

    Hope I can get the winding right =)

  31. 12_12
    12_12 ·

    Great article! I'll definitely try that!!! YEAHHH!!!

  32. renenob
    renenob ·

    Additional tip: www.lomography.com/magazine/tipster/2011/09/05/click-guide-…

  33. twizzer88
    twizzer88 ·

    Fantastic! Now does anyone know the amount of clicks for half-frame mode?

  34. ululchen
    ululchen ·

    @twizzer88: When you use half-frame mode you don't encounter that problem.

  35. twizzer88
    twizzer88 ·

    It's just my winder has a mind of its own and I'd like to know how many clicks I should turn it :)

  36. ululchen
    ululchen ·

    hmm, as a half-frame picture is 3/4 of the size of a square picture, i guess you should go with 3/4 of the clicks written in the table above, for example instead of 24 clicks, you would turn it 18 clicks.

  37. iamtheju
    iamtheju ·

    What a great tipster, and simplified by the clearly genius @gvelasco !
    Clicks = ( - Current Frame / 5 ) + 25
    I may even sharpie this on the bottom of my Diana Mini!

  38. basilis
    basilis ·

    very useful tip even if i don't have a diana mini

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