First Impressions of Silver Shade SX-70 Polaroid Film - Impossible Project

Peter Schrager · Apr 12, 2010

I'm in agreement with PE....this stuff looks terrible! I have an entire collection of sx70's and they are beautiful to this day...Impossible needs to turn up the research a bit before they get my $$
Best, Peter

ann · Apr 12, 2010

i never got the "fade to black" anyway, as to what value?

wblynch · Apr 12, 2010

I wonder if anyone has experimented with making a dark cloth bag (black velvet?) and attach it to the camera where the film exits?

This would dump the film straight into the dark bag with no further light exposure until fully developed.

Just a curious thought....

coigach said:
I've taken a few pictures and will post a couple in the gallery when I get round to scanning.

First impressions?

- strewth, this is a tricky film to handle! I shot indoors in the shade of diffuse window light, put photos into a dark film bag straight away and left for 10 mins to develop...and still big variations between shots.

...............snipped...................

Cheers,
Gavin

Ektagraphic · Apr 12, 2010

Fade to black as I understand was never officially an ImPossible film but one that is still under Polaroid. If you look at the photos on the website under that black sleeve it comes in, it is in a Polaroid box!

Q.G. · Apr 12, 2010

Peter Schrager said:
I'm in agreement with PE....this stuff looks terrible!

And i.

Looks a lot like they didn't get there yet, but just had to show something to appease a money lender.
Not good enough to attract new/more money lenders.

Photo Engineer · Apr 12, 2010

Q.G. said:
And i.

Looks a lot like they didn't get there yet, but just had to show something to appease a money lender.
Not good enough to attract new/more money lenders.

They seem to be bringing in a lot of money through sales of this product!

As for the fade to black, it is probably a rejected Polaroid product that was there in a master roll. Or, it may have been packed or they tested the packaging equipment. In any case, it was most likely a reject!

PE

Q.G. · Apr 12, 2010

Photo Engineer said:
They seem to be bringing in a lot of money through sales of this product!

Or not, given that not everyone shares in the enthusiasm about what the film turned out to be.

railwayman3 · Apr 12, 2010

I confess that I hadn't followed the "Project" in any detail and I suppose I was just expecting that it was, effectively, the "old" polaroid films or equivalents being brought back into production.

I can see that this new film has real possibilities in the hands of enthusiastic analogue photographers, but, given the price, the apparently tricky or critical handling, and the finished results, it's surely not going to persuade the average snapshotter to dig out his old Polaroid camera from the attic?

Not being deliberately negative, but if I were an investor, I'd be worried that there would be sufficient ongoing sales volume from the more specialist "enthusiast" users for the project to be viable?

clayne · Apr 12, 2010

railwayman3 said:
I can see that this new film has real possibilities in the hands of enthusiastic analogue photographers, but, given the price, the apparently tricky or critical handling, and the finished results, it's surely not going to persuade the average snapshotter to dig out his old Polaroid camera from the attic?

Too late - they're already digging them out to dump on eBay.

railwayman3 · Apr 12, 2010

clayne said:
Too late - they're already digging them out to dump on eBay.

True enough...there's certainly an enthusiast/cult demand, but I was thinking of the tens of millions who just want quick-and-easy instant family snaps and have swapped to d****** of one sort or another, they're not going to come back to Polaroid.

gatewaycityca · Apr 12, 2010

I'm on the fence about this. I really want to try this new film and give it a chance, but I'm very disappointed with everything I've been seeing and reading about it. Some of the pictures I've seen look interesting, but most of them are just...yuck. Total crap. True, there is an interesting "dreamy" quality to them...but that novelty is going to wear off fast. Especially considering how expensive the film is and apparently how hard it is to use. Some people are saying you just have to be more patient and take more time with your shots...well, I already do that with medium format film. What's the point of putting all that work into composing your pictures but then you never know how they're going to turn out...especially when you only get 8 pictures per cartridge!

I probably will look around for an SX-70 and I will try at least one cartridge just out of curiosity. But I don't know...I'm really on the fence about this.

I also don't like how Impossible Project is trying to market themselves as if they're the ONLY ones left who are making any kind of instant film. Fuji makes very nice instant peel-apart film which works great with antique Polaroid Land cameras. The results are consistent, giving very nice pictures with beautiful colors...and their film is cheap. I especially like Fuji's black and white instant film, FP-3000. It captures absolutely beautiful pictures.

Impossible Project needs to remember that. They act as if they're the saviours of instant film and they're trying to cater too much to the lomography fad. I'm not into lomography. I'm into film photography.

But I will give it a chance. I've been following the Impossible Project for a while. Right now, I'm short on money and I'm also going through some rough times in my personal life. I'll look for an SX-70 and give it a try though. I just hope the Impossible Project improves the film and realizes that not everyone who likes instant film is into lomography.

skyrick · Apr 12, 2010

Glad I didn't buy any of this first batch. I've had better results w/3 yr old 600 from eBay.

Ektagraphic · Apr 12, 2010

Talk to the Impossible USA. The woman there is so awesome. She has explaned to me that there are much better things to come and to keep my hopes up especially for the 600 film.

Chazzy · Apr 12, 2010

I must say, some photographers have learned how to treat this film and are getting interesting results. Have a look at what our own Akki14 has done, or look at the work on Flickr.

Ken Nadvornick · Apr 12, 2010

Ektagraphic said:
Talk to the Impossible USA. The woman there is so awesome. She has explaned to me that there are much better things to come and to keep my hopes up especially for the 600 film.

Yes, patience is a virtue - albeit not one often in evidence.

I suspect things will improve dramatically over time. These guys had to show something. And given the enormity of their task - and their noteworthy willingness to take it on - what they showed seems to demonstrate promise. They just didn't have the luxury of working out all of the problems behind closed doors while waiting to unveil the perfect final results.

It is indeed a new world in analog Photography. And Impossible's efforts are part of that new world.

I agree with Chazzy. Take a look at Akki14's initial efforts. They're very good. At least I think so.

We have on APUG an entire group who regularly post tonally-soft, dreamy landscapes and portraits created using more traditional materials usually associated with razor-sharp, significant-contrast images. These efforts are consistently praised for their minimalist vision and beauty.

At the moment, the Impossible films fall into a similar rendition category. Let's be patient and see how they evolve down the road.

Ken

Q.G. · Apr 13, 2010

I don't think explaining the mixed reaction to what the IP produced as people being too impatient washes.

The IP set a date. They said we should see something worthwhile, now.
And they just haven't delivered.

Ken Nadvornick · Apr 13, 2010

Q.G. said:
I don't think explaining the mixed reaction to what the IP produced as people being too impatient washes.

The IP set a date. They said we should see something worthwhile, now.
And they just haven't delivered.

Ahh... but then that's the rub, isn't it?

"worthwhile..."

Given that the default option was total extinction, some of us - not all, I realize, but some - think that "demonstrated promise" in the form of this first commercial iteration is indeed a "worthwhile" alternative. And so I am prepared to exercise additional patience.

However, YMMV. And I can respect that.

Ken

coigach · Apr 13, 2010

I think that the new film appears (with my early tests) to be quite limited - although I'm looking forward to trying emulsion lifts. Hopefully I can find a workaround to some of the issues I mentioned earlier in this thread - lack of contast etc.

I do think the Impossible Project deserve credit for rolling their sleeves up and having a go. I expect future releases to be better and to address some of issues of the 'First Flush' (making the opaque layer more lightproof being the main priority I think).

I understand that other films are in the pipeline, colour film is expected later this year I think. I'd love to see a b+w film that is truly b+w rather than sepia in the future too.

PX-100 is an interesting start, and I reckon things will get better from here on...

I think Impossible Project deserve our support and encouragement.

Cheers,
Gavin

Ektagraphic · Apr 13, 2010

gatewaycityca said:
But I will give it a chance. I've been following the Impossible Project for a while. Right now, I'm short on money and I'm also going through some rough times in my personal life. I'll look for an SX-70 and give it a try though. I just hope the Impossible Project improves the film and realizes that not everyone who likes instant film is into lomography.

Chris- You don't have to get an SX-70 to start with. Some of the 600 cameras (even though they may be almost all plastic) are also fun to use. I may have one that I can send your way if you would like. A lot of people just give them away or throw them away...

gatewaycityca · Apr 13, 2010

Patrick, I have a bunch of Polaroid 600 cameras, but I thought I read that the new film won't work with 600 cameras. It will be underexposed. I thought this one that Impossible Project just started selling was only for the SX-70.

darkosaric · Apr 13, 2010

gatewaycityca said:
Patrick, I have a bunch of Polaroid 600 cameras, but I thought I read that the new film won't work with 600 cameras. It will be underexposed. I thought this one that Impossible Project just started selling was only for the SX-70.

Life would be much more easyer if polariod have made iso 100/600 switch in cameras.

Akki14 · Apr 13, 2010

gatewaycityca said:
Patrick, I have a bunch of Polaroid 600 cameras, but I thought I read that the new film won't work with 600 cameras. It will be underexposed. I thought this one that Impossible Project just started selling was only for the SX-70.

I'd quite like someone with a 600 camera to try it. Because, in my opinion, this film is *not* ISO100 (it seems much faster) and since it's allegedly in a "universal" cassette, it should fit in the 600 cameras fine.

Ektagraphic · Apr 13, 2010

gatewaycityca said:
Patrick, I have a bunch of Polaroid 600 cameras, but I thought I read that the new film won't work with 600 cameras. It will be underexposed. I thought this one that Impossible Project just started selling was only for the SX-70.

Any time now the 600 film will be released. It will be out by the end of April. Hang in there.

Ektagraphic · Apr 13, 2010

Q.G. said:
I don't think explaining the mixed reaction to what the IP produced as people being too impatient washes.

The IP set a date. They said we should see something worthwhile, now.
And they just haven't delivered.

They haven't delivered? They are still working on completing a near impossile task! Polaroid took quite a while to perfect a film starting from scratch and these guys are in the same boat except they already had some of an idea of what to do ....This is not an easy task they are working on. Have you even shot the film?

amuderick · Apr 13, 2010

The Impossible Project shows you the future of all film in the digital age. It is a small company trying to create a niche product with artists as its only customers. It may take a long time, but all other film products will come to this. So you either embrace it, and support it for what it is, or you move on.

Personally, I am a bit disappointed in the first offering. It doesn't suit my aesthetic and technically it is fairly limited. But, I support them and we move forward.

Without support, they'll never get it right. If no one buys the first run, how are they going to convince an investor to put in more money for an additional six or twelve months of R&D?

First Impressions of Silver Shade SX-70 Polaroid Film - Impossible Project

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency