Getting a polaroid...

Dinis Figueira · Jun 9, 2016

Hi guys,

Once again the "let's get more cameras virus" has atacked me.. and as the title say's, i'm getting a polaroid.. for the 5th camera on the collection

From what I found, both the Impulse and 600 (round ones) are cheap here on my country (15€)
Unfortunately, the 600 rounded ones are kinda bulky for me, so I was going for an Impulse. But then I've learned that exists both the normal one and the AF and that besides the sonar for the autofocus, they have differences on the lens.
Is the difference really big?
The autofocus one, goes for more, and for that money I would invest for a Spectra, but since for now I only want something to have fun, I don't want to spend to much on a crazy thing of mine.

Thanks

Theo Sulphate · Jun 9, 2016

Your biggest expense will be the film. Unfortunately, the only films available for those cameras today are from The Impossible Project. That film is expensive and is not yet at the quality of the old Polaroid film.

Since the Fuji pack film (for Polaroid pack cameras) is now being discontinued and is extremely expensive, the only choice left are Fuji Instax cameras and Instax film.

Dinis Figueira · Jun 12, 2016

I already have an instax. So I wanted to evolve to the "real thing".
What would you guys choose and why?

bvy · Jun 12, 2016

The Spectra System SE shouldn't break the bank. The AE and AF are usually pretty accurate, and it allows you some control over flash and exposure. I like the wider format too.

Theo Sulphate · Jun 13, 2016

Dinis Figueira said:
I already have an instax. So I wanted to evolve to the "real thing".
What would you guys choose and why?

The most satisfying and rewarding experience is, in my opinion, using a Polaroid "pack film" camera and Fuji FP-3000B or FP-100C.

The image quality, colors, tone, and stability of the film is excellent. The cameras are very inexpensive now, but unfortunately the film is very expensive and discontinued. All supplies may be gone five years from now.

Dinis Figueira · Jun 13, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
The most satisfying and rewarding experience is, in my opinion, using a Polaroid "pack film" camera and Fuji FP-3000B or FP-100C.

The image quality, colors, tone, and stability of the film is excellent. The cameras are very inexpensive now, but unfortunately the film is very expensive and discontinued. All supplies may be gone five years from now.

About packfilm, if all things go well, I might get a camera when they start go even cheaper. A folding one.
Because of this http://www.catlabs.info/we-will-make-packfilm

That's why I wanted to follow with the polaroids for now.

RattyMouse · Jun 16, 2016

Dinis Figueira said:
I already have an instax. So I wanted to evolve to the "real thing".
What would you guys choose and why?

I bought a Polaroid SX-70 and have been profoundly disappointed with the results. The Impossible Film is truly awful. My wife looks at the images I have made so far and calls them sheer crap. She's NEVER said anything like that about my photography in the 20 years we've been married.

I would not shoot Impossible Film at all, even if it cost $0.5/shot. It's just awful in every sense of the word. It is beyond obscene that I paid $3.30 a shot!

RattyMouse · Jun 16, 2016

Dinis Figueira said:
I already have an instax. So I wanted to evolve to the "real thing".
What would you guys choose and why?

I would stick with INSTAX film. Only there will you find quality. The fact that it's reasonably priced is a nice bonus too.

bvy · Jun 16, 2016

I shot Instax and found the results sterile and uninteresting. I'm sticking with Impossible.

Dinis Figueira · Jun 16, 2016

Could the sx-70 be damaged?
Or maybe you don't like the effects that impossible project still has?

I'm still battling on my ideas xD

I both like the instax and IP, the thing is €€. Cameras are great and cheap/film is expensive vs Cameras are expensive and cheap feeling/film is pretty cheap.
So instax will remain as my shoot everywhere thing (And I might even transform my point and shoot camera to take instax just for this, since it will stay less bulkier).

But to still remains, Impulses aren't the best idea right?

gone · Jun 16, 2016

Right. Wait a week and see what you think then. I have saved myself lots of suffering by simply waiting, and the craziness, obsession, etc will die down if you don't feed it. Few things in life can't wait a while, nothing really needs to happen right now, we just THINK it does. Best not to believe our thoughts, they often do not have our best interests in mind (pun intended).

RattyMouse · Jun 16, 2016

Dinis Figueira said:
Could the sx-70 be damaged?
Or maybe you don't like the effects that impossible project still has?

I'm still battling on my ideas xD

I both like the instax and IP, the thing is €€. Cameras are great and cheap/film is expensive vs Cameras are expensive and cheap feeling/film is pretty cheap.
So instax will remain as my shoot everywhere thing (And I might even transform my point and shoot camera to take instax just for this, since it will stay less bulkier).

But to still remains, Impulses aren't the best idea right?

I had my SX-70 checked out and it's OK. The Impossible Project film is simply nowhere near acceptable quality to me. It is not sharp, has horrible contrast, and just plain leaks all over the place when being ejected. At $3/shot it's a miserable experience.

Dinis Figueira · Jun 16, 2016

momus said:
Right. Wait a week and see what you think then. I have saved myself lots of suffering by simply waiting, and the craziness, obsession, etc will die down if you don't feed it. Few things in life can't wait a while, nothing really needs to happen right now, we just THINK it does. Best not to believe our thoughts, they often do not have our best interests in mind (pun intended).

What? xD

RattyMouse said:
I had my SX-70 checked out and it's OK. The Impossible Project film is simply nowhere near acceptable quality to me. It is not sharp, has horrible contrast, and just plain leaks all over the place when being ejected. At $3/shot it's a miserable experience.

They aren't the sharpest thing in the world, but they look awesome sice they are "quality variable".
How many packs you tried?

RattyMouse · Jun 16, 2016

Dinis Figueira said:
What? xD

They aren't the sharpest thing in the world, but they look awesome sice they are "quality variable".
How many packs you tried?

Even with severely lowered expectations I am profoundly unhappy with the results. I shot 3 packs and being extremely generous, I have 4 "keepers". Abysmal for almost $80 spent.

Kirks518 · Jun 16, 2016

I agree with Rattymouse about the IP film. His results from his IP film were atrocious, and mine weren't much better, also on an SX-70. I think Impossible Project needs to spend more on R&D, because eventually the 'Lomo' look will fade into the darkness, and then there won't be a quality film available for the Polaroids. The quality of the Instax cameras and film has not let me down so far, and I'm quite surprised with it overall.

The shame is the end of pack film. IMO, nothing better. You got a nice crisp print and a negative, all at a very reasonable price. I'm hoarding my last packs.

spacer · Jun 16, 2016

IP film, at least right now, seems to be a 'love or hate' proposition, depending on what you're after. If looking for technical excellence and absolute control, it'd suck. There is a large community of folks who like a little mystery in their photos, though, and they love the stuff.

For me, it depends on what I'm doing, and I'll fit either group based on that.

RattyMouse · Jun 16, 2016

Kirks518 said:
I agree with Rattymouse about the IP film. His results from his IP film were atrocious, and mine weren't much better, also on an SX-70. I think Impossible Project needs to spend more on R&D, because eventually the 'Lomo' look will fade into the darkness, and then there won't be a quality film available for the Polaroids. The quality of the Instax cameras and film has not let me down so far, and I'm quite surprised with it overall.

The shame is the end of pack film. IMO, nothing better. You got a nice crisp print and a negative, all at a very reasonable price. I'm hoarding my last packs.

Instanx is worlds better than Impossible. I just wish they offered it in square format as well as monochrome. Their cameras are a joke too. But the film itself is light years, absolutely light years ahead of Impossible.

RattyMouse · Jun 16, 2016

spacer said:
IP film, at least right now, seems to be a 'love or hate' proposition, depending on what you're after. If looking for technical excellence and absolute control, it'd suck. There is a large community of folks who like a little mystery in their photos, though, and they love the stuff.

For me, it depends on what I'm doing, and I'll fit either group based on that.

As I said above, I placed my standards waaaaay lower than "technical excellence" and still find the results from Impossible film to be simply impossible to accept. The cost of this film is simply too high for the abysmal results.

Dinis Figueira · Jun 16, 2016

While I agree the price of the film is too high (and the problem are not the batteries), I gotta give my congratulations for them for recreating the whole film so that the "Polaroid world" as we know wouldnt end.

Theo Sulphate · Jun 18, 2016

Ok, here's what I got with my original model Polaroid SX-70. I'm using Impossible film with a 1/15 date; it doesn't say 2.0.

My first attempt had the lighten/darken selector at the default center position (which is set every time you open the camera). It was a cloudy bright day. I held the shutter release in, but the photo ejected anyway. As soon as I saw that happen, I put the photo in my pocket. A few minutes later I put it in a dark drawer. One hour later I could see the photo was very overexposed, but I could see color and details.

On my second attempt, I tried ejecting the film into a black plastic bag we use for circuit boards. No fun: it was blowing around in the wind and the ejected photo jammed halfway into the bag.

Skipping the bag, I made two more photos, bright sun at my back and exposure selector set so that it was two steps darker (see photo). As soon as the photos came out I put them in my pocket and a few minutes later put them in the dark drawer. You can see the results below. They're similar to what I get with 600 film in my Polaroid SLR 690 in terms of color. Decent, I'd say. Only real Polaroid SX-70 film has the pastels I love. Even so, if these don't fade quickly I'm happy.

EDIT: The photos are sharper than shown here. The only odd thing is that the focus point is about a foot or so back from where I actually focused. Haven't seen that before.

Dinis Figueira · Jun 19, 2016

Don't they have signals that show that it may fade or change they color to some sort of yellowish?

Theo Sulphate · Apr 16, 2017

Okay, here we are 10 months later to see if there has been any fading (see my previous post above).

The multicolored flower photo looks faded. It has been stacked on the bottom of these photos, so essentially it's been dark. The photo on the left has been on the top for 9 months in a room exposed only to window light (no direct sunlight).

Sad to see this bit of fading so soon. However, this film is prior to Impossible 2.0.

John_A · Apr 16, 2017

Ive found that there has been quite a quaility variation between different production runs of the IP film. Earlier I used the black frame 600 film, but several of them darkened or got a color cast after some time.
Lately Ive been using the white frame 600, and they seems to be more consistent.
If this is due to failed qc control, sitting too long on the shelf at the retailer or something else, I dont know, but I think the key to using IP film is to embrace the fact that its not polaroid quality, and probably never will be. And then adjust your expectations after those facts.

Dinis Figueira · Apr 18, 2017

The new version of the color seems better! I will invest more in IP from now on. Instax is kinda weird now? Was hyped for the square format but the new camera... meh

Getting a polaroid...

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