Polaroid 360 Focus Problems?

[rubyfalls]

Hey y'all. Just got a nice 360 land camera. I've got it all cleaned up, fresh batteries, and have taken some test shots. The focus appears to be off? Infinity setting is fine and produces sharp photos, but anything closer is blurry even when properly focused. I've read that the focus might need adjusting? Is this a thing? Or could it simply be shake? FTR, I have pretty steady hands. I shoot a lot of film but this is my first foray into instant. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[xya]

yes, you can adjust the focus, but it's quite tricky. for a first attempt try tape measuring. the closest focus is about 4 feet, there is a mark for it. there are two more marks on the scale, one is a bit more the 6 feet and the last about 25 feet, not far from infinity.

check the scissors, if everything is well fixed. broken or bent scissors could be a reason for blurry photos. good luck.

 

[1L6E6VHF]

I'm just curious as to whether your 360 has the original-equipment electronic flash unit. I would not recommend the 360 as the first choice in a Folding Color Pack camera because the 360's flash that depends on hardwired nickel-cadmium batteries that are not easily replaced and had a shelf life nowhere near the 40-45 years it has been since the cameras were manufactured.

While the 360 was unequivocally the top of the line in the automatic color packs, the lens and aperture options are identical to those on the more common 440 and 450 models (whereas the 100, 230, 240, 250, 340 and 350 has the same lens and the same number of aperture options, only with some of the apertures different).