The camera will operate just like any other pack film camera. I'll go over the steps below, but if you are familiar with pack cameras, you know the drill.



1. Seat the film into the back of the camera and swing the back closed. It will look like paper is caught half in and half out of the camera - this is normal. Swing the metal wire and snap into place.



2. Pull the dark slide paper firmly. It will slide out and a small white tab with the exposure number will be revealed where the dark slide was.



3. Adjust the ISO switch to the ISO of the film you are using (either 75 or 3000).



4. If you feel it is too dark for your film, attach a flash cube (not a magic cube). Snap the cube in and wind the cube clockwise until it stops. The cube will rotate to a fresh bulb with every photo.



5. Ensure the shutter release is not locked (on the open padlock icon).



6. Compose and take your photo by gently squeezing the shutter release.



7. You can create a double exposure (or triple or quadruple) by simply repeating step 6. If you don't want to, continue to the next step.



8. Firmly pull the white, numbered tab all the way out. A new tab will take its place.



9. You will notice a wider tab appearing to the rear of the first. This is your actual photo.



10. Firmly pull the wide photo tab in one motion completely out of the camera.



11. Wait for the film/print sandwich to develop. There is a development time guide right on the photo pull tab.



12. After the wait, peel the print away from the negative and enjoy the warm feeling of creativity.



13. Once the print dries (a few minutes), you can put it away for future enjoyment.



14. Traditionally, the negative is tossed in the garbage, but you may decide to keep it for further processing. All sorts of fun stuff can be done with the negative (just use da'google).



Issues: Using this pack film in a camera for which it is not designed, you can expect some "issues." Here are the ones I have encountered:



a. A black (unexposed) bar on the right hand side of the photo. This is to be expected as the original format was square and we are using rectangular film. This will happen to every photo, so plan your composition accordingly.



b. Developing reagent (goo) spreading problems. Even with a nice firm pull, the goo does not seem to get to the corners of the photo. I've tried manual spreading with my fingers after the photo was pulled, but that left artifacts on the print. This is fresh film, so I can not blame it on dried up reagent. It happens more or less (less with a nice firm pull) with every print, so I plan my composition accordingly. Once I'm through with this pack, I'll examine in interior and see I I can spot the culprit.



Conclusion: Don't let your Electric Zip sit on its lazy butt in retirement -- put in a little work and have it start making Packtastic* images once again.