Polaroid Cameras

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arigram

arigram

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Thank you Pete. I just took a couple photos of my parents and you are right, it is indeed quite different. Oh, well, I hope I will be able to find both in the near future.
 
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Hello Aristotelis,

The prices in North America are about the same. Even with the peel apart films, the cost of most Polaroid films is around $US 1 to $US 1.60 each shot. It also seems that the Fuji choices are slightly more expensive.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio
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arigram

arigram

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Thank you too Gordon.

Ah, yes, can one do manipulations with this kind of film?
 
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I have not yet tried manipulations with the newest instant films. These will not do the TimeZero (SX-70) squishing colours around trick, but there is another method that might be of interest. A few people I sometimes exhibit with that also do Polaroid works have been discussing this newest find.

The idea is to cut apart the instant film within a short amount of time after it leaves the camera. So the image is processing, but the chemicals have not hardened yet. What is then done is to take an Xacto knife (small hobby/art razor thing) and cut along the edges of the images. Once you cut away the sides, the parts can be peeled and separated. Using warm water or just wood scraper, you can remove some of the whitish chemicals from the back of the image. This will partially scratch through in areas, leaving a distressed look. Without the backing behind the film, this then becomes more like a large transparency; and you can do what you would normally do to print from a film transparency. The downside of this method, other than the difficulty in scraping the material, is the chemicals are acidic. It is recommended to only handle the film while wearing gloves, to avoid chemical burns.

I am debating trying this method. The peel apart films are much easier to work with for manipulations. However, I might convert my SX-70 to take newer instant films, and try out the distressed transparency style. I still have a few packets of TimeZero film, and until they run out I probably won't attempt it yet. Remind me in a few months, and I will report if I or anyone I know have tried this by then.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio
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europanorama

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There are dwindling film choices for cameras like the 180 and 195. Make sure you can get the film you want for whatever camera you decide on. I bought a 180 last year to use use with 669 pos/neg, several months before they announced 669 would no longer be available...


Wayne

665 is b+w-pos/neg-669 is color only
 

europanorama

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Battery-Conversion

Yes, Ari, all the decently priced pack-film Polaroids are old cameras you'll need to get via eBay or similar. FWIW, these were expensive cameras when new; the 250 sold (in about 1964) for a sum that would fetch a fair to good used car (at least in the USA), and you'd be seriously challenged to find a used car that even runs for the $800 they're getting for the Konica Press Instant (and you'd better hurry on that one, as Konica recently dropped all film camera manufacturing, which likely includes that model).

I'd recommend the 250 and 350 models. They're likely to have non-functional shutters as received from a know-nothing eBay seller, but that's easily corrected, since it's practically always due to corrosion in the battery connecting wires and you'll probably want to convert it to use 2xAAA cells in place of the 532 that was original in these models (the 100 used a 531 that was 4.5 V and would require 3xAAA). I've made this battery conversion on my 350, also including connecting the development timer to the same battery as the shutter (original had *two* 532s), and it fits in the original battery compartment.

You should be able to buy the cameras for under US$20 plus shipping, convert/rewire the batteries for $5 or less in parts and do the work in half an hour to an hour, and have a fine working camera. The down side is that it's auto exposure only; that can be corrected by stripping off all the original shutter electronics (unfortunately also removing the original lens, which is quite good on the 100-250-350-360-450 models) and replacing it with a lens in conventional shutter mounted to the or extended from the original front plate. Suitably adjusted to give infinity focus at the camera's original infinity position, you can use a 120 mm from an old 116, or a 127 from a different Polaroid or a 4x5 press camera, and still have usable rangefinder accuracy (within DOF as long as you don't shoot wide open at a close focus setting - f/8 recommended inside about 6 meters, f/16 preferred up close). Depending on the lens, you might even be able to mount a 105 mm from a 6x9, which should barely cover the almost 3x4 Polaroid pack film.

And then, when you can't get Polaroid film any more, these are easily converted to 4x5 and make nice, lightweight 4x5 RF cameras (though they aren't so good for ground glass focus).

http://www.instantoptions.com/conversions/104/104.7.php
 
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