The Polaroid Picture, 1972-2008
Posted by Ross Rosenberg
December 2008 marked the passing of an era in photography as Polaroid Corporation ceased manufacturing instant film, meaning that soon the only way you’ll be able to admire their otherworldly ability to rob reality of spacial relationships will be at garage sales and on Flickr. lens culture posted this fantastic infomercial for the SX-70, the quintessential instant camera. Watching this ad, with its detailed animation of the internal voodoo taking place inside the camera’s body and the chemical process of the self-developing film I’m struck by the ingenuity of “vintage” technology. There’s something about these kinds of devices that I find infinitely more interesting than current gadgets.
I think it has mostly to do with the fact that this kind of gadget is much more about miniaturization than anything. While current technology has a preoccupation — one could say obsession — with combining as many disparate facets of modern existence into a single carapace, something like the SX-70 was meant solely to shrink an otherwise bulky endeavor; in this case the entirety of a photo-lab physically crammed into an object that could fit inside a coat pocket. As astounding as the abilities of a Blackberry may be, it pales in comparison to the idea of, say, a tiny, collapsible printing press.
Polaroid SX-70 Ad [YouTube] : lens culture
Categories: Photographs, R.I.P, 70s, Technology, Film, Gadgets, Photography
Posted at 11:12 am on January 6, 2009
8 Comments -
It’s not a completely lost art as Fujifilm will continue to make pack film that’s similar in process to the old 669. The ISOs are different, sure, but it all fits in the same 4×5 back.
http://www.fujifilm.com/products/instant_photo/films/fp_100b/index.html
http://www.fujifilm.com/products/instant_photo/films/fp_100c/index.html
Comment by scott — January 6, 2009 @ 11:28 am
Great post, Ross. However, it should be noted that there’s a large quantity of Polaroid film still for sale on eBay. It’s getting expensive and it will run out, but it’s there.
Also, Fuji has licensed some technology from Polaroid and continues to manufacture Type 100 film, as well as 4×5 Polaroid film (I think they make a 4×5 film camera back as well). The Type 100 film fits the commonly available Polaroid Land Cameras that you see at garage sales everywhere. It can be tricky getting a battery for these older cameras, but there’s usually a way.
I really miss the days of affordable SX-70 film, but Savepolaroid.com seems to be optimistic about the future. I hope they’re right.
Comment by Asa — January 6, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
Thought I’d post a link to Fuji’s page for their instant film:
http://www.fujifilmusa.com/products/professional_photography/film/fujifilm_instant_films/index.html
And this site was very helpful to me in finding which cameras would work with the available film:
http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Polaroid
Comment by Asa — January 6, 2009 @ 12:50 pm
What gets me is getting the flashbars which seemed to cease existing two years ago. That aside the cameras were extremely durable. I had a Polaroid SX-70 slip from my hands just before a bungie jump. Fished it off the air bag and worked great for years later. Take a Nikon or Canon early automated or even the tw year old hp digital camera and have it fall off a chair or a counter and they were Kaput.
Comment by David T.G. Riches — January 6, 2009 @ 4:04 pm
*Sniff* Beautiful.
Comment by Aelix E. — January 6, 2009 @ 10:33 pm
Last winter, I found a vintage SX-70, unused, in its original box, complete with manuals and styrofoam on the bargain table of my local toy store of all places. Sadly, I can not afford at the moment to get film that will work in it. But I love it anyway. It’s so unlike the Polaroids that came later… its like an origami camera, it folds down into a little paper-back sized block, and the, presto, its a camera. Marvelous.
Comment by Brian Schlosser — January 7, 2009 @ 1:52 am
I just saw a new ink less Polaroid printer that prints out pictures from your digital camera portably, at Office Depot. It uses prepackaged paper just like the old cameras. Just keeping up with the times.
Comment by R Turnage — January 9, 2009 @ 9:56 pm
I’d been working w/ a variety of Polaroid film formats for over two decades, have been unable to afford any for well over a year & while there are rumours of Fuji having gotten the rights to produce some of the films, it’s not likely to bring back TimeZero, let alone 691. Which is a pity.
As for the new Polaroid camera, I’ve heard its image quality is as low as a worm’s belly, regardless of the progress digital photography’s made.
People used to chide me about not jumping on the digital photography bandwagon –a decade ago, but digital photography will never in a million years give me the ever unpredictable/ sublime results that an exposure on one of any previously used Polaroid film formats ever did –& I’ve proof a plenty.
Comment by muse_x — January 11, 2009 @ 11:16 pm