Polaroid (Impossible) releases new camera

farmersteve · Sep 15, 2017

I'm sure this is not news to a lot of you but I didn't see a thread here. Polaroid (formerly Impossible) is releasing a new Onestep camera called the OneStep 2. The film for this camera will not have a battery in it instead getting power from a battery in the camera charged with a USB plug. Film will be released shortly in color and black and white and cameras come next month at a price of $99 which tells me they plan to sell a sh&t load of them going head to head with Fuji. Also, their new website will be selling refurbed 600s and SX-70s along with film for them. Enjoy!

https://www.dpreview.com/news/85677...eils-onestep-2-instant-camera-and-i-type-film

RattyMouse · Sep 15, 2017

farmersteve said:
I'm sure this is not news to a lot of you but I didn't see a thread here. Polaroid (formerly Impossible) is releasing a new Onestep camera called the OneStep 2. The film for this camera will not have a battery in it instead getting power from a battery in the camera charged with a USB plug. Film will be released shortly in color and black and white and cameras come next month at a price of $99 which tells me they plan to sell a sh&t load of them going head to head with Fuji. Also, their new website will be selling refurbed 600s and SX-70s along with film for them. Enjoy!

https://www.dpreview.com/news/85677...eils-onestep-2-instant-camera-and-i-type-film

Fujifilm wont even notice this camera exists. Last year Fuji sold 5.7 million INSTAX cameras, make them by far the largest instant film camera manufacturer.

OSFPhoto · Sep 15, 2017

A lot of things about this announcement are exciting to me, near the top is the lowered price of film, but most exciting is the much improved positioning and marketing. I was worried when the I-1 was introduced as, at least in my mind, it looked like Impossible was beginning a slow slide into nonexistence. I saw the I-1 as being too far a departure from being a 'Polaroid' camera, and at a price point that made it unreachable for most. The I-1 abandoned the thing that Impossible used to differentiate itself: being the only company that allowed you to shoot a Polaroid again. The I-1 just left me thinking "why not shoot Instax for a fraction of the cost?"

Now what I see though, is a company that is paying attention to the market, and positioning itself for growth. I know we all want cheaper film, 10 shots per pack, and the return of pack film and 4x5 instant, but none of these things will happen without a company like Impossible/Polaroid Originals around; some will probably not happen at all. Leaving aside the adoption of the Polaroid name, the recent announcement has done a few things absolutely right in my mind.

A return to the proven business model of 'sell the camera cheap, and make money on film sales'.
At $99, it's easier to justify spending a bit extra on film to be shooting 'Polaroid', rather than Instax. I even thought about picking one up, (and still might) but another Polaroid is truly the last thing I need. This business model would also signal that the production lines are capable of higher production that may help with bringing the price of film down in the future.
A camera that has roots back to classic Polaroid cameras.
This is what the target market wants, this is what UO shoppers want. All the conveniences of Instax with the hipster cred of Polaroid. There are people that want film for their SX-70s, 680s, and Spectras (me), but we're not a great market, because about the only way to find growth here is to lower the price, and then things just cancel out. This camera, unlike the I-1 has, at least a chance, of entering the Instax market.
Right before Christmas amiright? How many stockings are going to be stuffed with Polaroid film packs this year?

Welcome to the world Polaroid Originals. I, and I imagine others, are excited to see where things go!
What are your thoughts on the announcement? Where do you see things going?

bvy · Sep 15, 2017

RattyMouse said:
Fujifilm wont even notice this camera exists. Last year Fuji sold 5.7 million INSTAX cameras, make them by far the largest instant film camera manufacturer.

Who cares if Fuji notices or not? They're not the only game in town. It's good to have options.

Theo Sulphate · Sep 15, 2017

The description and link was useful, thanks, since my steam-powered phone is too old to view the Polaroid/Impossible website (backwards compatibility doesn't seem to exist on the webz).

The dpreview comments were interesting, especially regarding children enjoying analog technology. I thought there would've been more haters - so, pleasant surprise.

I've got a lot of Fuji pack film to use in my old Polaroids and about half a dozen Impossible film boxes as well.

Pack film (type 100) will probably never come back. Polaroid/Impossible need to improve their SX-70, 600, Spectra film, but my bet is that they'll invest no effort and concentrate instead on the i-film, trying to get market share away from Instax.

Cholentpot · Sep 15, 2017

Theo Sulphate said:
The description and link was useful, thanks, since my steam-powered phone is too old to view the Polaroid/Impossible website (backwards compatibility doesn't seem to exist on the webz).

The dpreview comments were interesting, especially regarding children enjoying analog technology. I thought there would've been more haters - so, pleasant surprise.

I've got a lot of Fuji pack film to use in my old Polaroids and about half a dozen Impossible film boxes as well.

Pack film (type 100) will probably never come back. Polaroid/Impossible need to improve their SX-70, 600, Spectra film, but my bet is that they'll invest no effort and concentrate instead on the i-film, trying to get market share away from Instax.

They got a long long long way to go to compete with Instax.

Meyer Trioplan · Sep 15, 2017

I think I type film and 600 film are one and the same, the only distinction being that I type packs lack a battery.

Theo Sulphate · Sep 15, 2017

Cholentpot said:
They got a long long long way to go to compete with Instax.

Ah, but Instax has a flaw. You can buy a very attractive camera like the Neo 90 (which actually has some controls) and live with business-card sized prints or, if you want larger prints, you have to use their big-ass camera - ugly and unwieldy.

The ifilm camera might be a good compromise. Film quality has to be there, though. We don't need any more of this keep-it-in-the-dark silliness: with the SX-70 Polaroid had a decent opacity layer in 1966!

bvy · Sep 15, 2017

Well, Instax isn't the gauge by which I rate instant films...

RattyMouse · Sep 16, 2017

bvy said:
Who cares if Fuji notices or not? They're not the only game in town. It's good to have options.

Nobody cares. It was simply a statement of fact. A company that sells nearly 6 million cameras a year is not going to notice one that sells a few thousand.

RattyMouse · Sep 16, 2017

OSFPhoto said:
What are your thoughts on the announcement? Where do you see things going?

I'm unimpressed, simply because I know how far behind Impossible is with their film. I'll revisit it once it has half the quality of Instax. Not until then.

RattyMouse · Sep 16, 2017

Theo Sulphate said:
Ah, but Instax has a flaw. You can buy a very attractive camera like the Neo 90 (which actually has some controls) and live with business-card sized prints or, if you want larger prints, you have to use their big-ass camera - ugly and unwieldy.

The ifilm camera might be a good compromise. Film quality has to be there, though. We don't need any more of this keep-it-in-the-dark silliness: with the SX-70 Polaroid had a decent opacity layer in 1966!

Exactly. An instant film that has to be kept in the dark is ridiculous.

Mackinaw · Sep 16, 2017

RattyMouse said:
I'm unimpressed, simply because I know how far behind Impossible is with their film. I'll revisit it once it has half the quality of Instax. Not until then.

I beta-tested the new Polaroid 600-series film (just introduced) earlier this spring. By far, their best stuff yet. Definitely approaching Instax quality.

As for Instax, the standard format is much too small and their cameras are terrible. Instax-wide is not bad, but Fuji hampers it with about the worst cameras imaginable. I am intrigued by the planned Lomo folding Instax camera. That I can see buying, once they build it.

Jim B.

RattyMouse · Sep 16, 2017

Mackinaw said:
I beta-tested the new Polaroid 600-series film (just introduced) earlier this spring. By far, their best stuff yet. Definitely approaching Instax quality.

As for Instax, the standard format is much too small and their cameras are terrible. Instax-wide is not bad, but Fuji hampers it with about the worst cameras imaginable. I am intrigued by the planned Lomo folding Instax camera. That I can see buying, once they build it.

Jim B.

Yeah, Fuji makes some god awful instant cameras. I just dont get that. How hard would it be to make a semi-amateur camera for their instant film???

The Lomo folder has a glass lens!! See Fuji? It can be done!

Theo Sulphate · Sep 16, 2017

RattyMouse said:
Yeah, Fuji makes some god awful instant cameras. I just dont get that. How hard would it be to make a semi-amateur camera for their instant film???
...

Oh, they can do it - they could even use their old GW690III as a prototype. The cameras they make are based on how they perceive their Instax customers: they probably think the typical user of their film is a pre-teen schoolgirl. Maybe they're right. Enthusiasts like us are a very small minority.

Cholentpot · Sep 16, 2017

Theo Sulphate said:
Oh, they can do it - they could even use their old GW690III as a prototype. The cameras they make are based on how they perceive their Instax customers: they probably think the typical user of their film is a pre-teen schoolgirl. Maybe they're right. Enthusiasts like us are a very small minority.

We're nobody's at this point.

I agree with the point that Instax cameras are not up to snuff. I just haven't found any instant that matched the peel apart look. That stuff really has a breathtaking look. Shame that it sounds like it's never coming back.

MattKing · Sep 16, 2017

Theo Sulphate said:
The cameras they make are based on how they perceive their Instax customers: they probably think the typical user of their film is a pre-teen schoolgirl.

I think they also believe their users take photos at parties where adults attend too.
The last one I saw being used was at a party that appeared to be a retirement or going away party for one of the people in a small to medium size firm. They were at a public restaurant, and I envisioned that at least some of the results would end up where people at the firm could see them. People seemed to be having fun both taking the pictures, and handing them around.

farmersteve · Sep 17, 2017

MattKing said:
I think they also believe their users take photos at parties where adults attend too.
The last one I saw being used was at a party that appeared to be a retirement or going away party for one of the people in a small to medium size firm. They were at a public restaurant, and I envisioned that at least some of the results would end up where people at the firm could see them. People seemed to be having fun both taking the pictures, and handing them around.

I have two teenage boys. They both got an Instax camera at Xmas last year. Both burned through the film in a few days and then put them on a shelf. It was fun, but they would rather use their iPhones. That is their main market. There is a never ending supply of teenagers (we make more every year!) They all get one and burn a couple of packs of film. Another use I have recently seen is at weddings. Instead of those cheap throw away cameras they used to put on everyone's table they now put Instax cameras and a couple of packs of film on each table.

If Instax or Impossible wants a vibrant, sustainable ecosystem they need to cater to serious photographers because we are the ones that will come back over and over...

RattyMouse · Sep 18, 2017

farmersteve said:
I have two teenage boys. They both got an Instax camera at Xmas last year. Both burned through the film in a few days and then put them on a shelf. It was fun, but they would rather use their iPhones. That is their main market. There is a never ending supply of teenagers (we make more every year!) They all get one and burn a couple of packs of film. Another use I have recently seen is at weddings. Instead of those cheap throw away cameras they used to put on everyone's table they now put Instax cameras and a couple of packs of film on each table.

If Instax or Impossible wants a vibrant, sustainable ecosystem they need to cater to serious photographers because we are the ones that will come back over and over...

Instax is phenomenally successful, far out earning by orders of magnitude what Fujifilm makes with their digital cameras. Last year alone 5.7 million Instax cameras were sold, with tens of millions of packs of film sold.

The growth rate has been phenomenal @ more than 10% year on year growth.

Cholentpot · Sep 18, 2017

RattyMouse said:
Instax is phenomenally successful, far out earning by orders of magnitude what Fujifilm makes with their digital cameras. Last year alone 5.7 million Instax cameras were sold, with tens of millions of packs of film sold.

The growth rate has been phenomenal @ more than 10% year on year growth.

I read it's the biggest selling camera besides for the ones that come in a phone.

Andrew O'Neill · Sep 18, 2017

My 16 year old daughter has an instax and stocked up on film when we were in Japan last March. She loves it, but her phone is used more often... pretty hard to compete with that.

RattyMouse · Sep 18, 2017

Cholentpot said:
I read it's the biggest selling camera besides for the ones that come in a phone.

Very likely true.

Cholentpot · Sep 18, 2017

RattyMouse said:
Very likely true.

Disposables still sell at a steady clip too.

foc · Sep 20, 2017

Instax have a great range of film and they are innovative. As has been said they sell well , both film and camera.

I must admit the Polaroid Onestep2 camera has that iconic Polaroid look but it's a pity the film is such a let down.

Even the Lomography Lomo'Instant Square camera (in kickstarter) has a great retro look and I am sure it will be a great seller. The fact Lomography picked Instax for their instant cameras speaks volumes.

In terms of sales Instax is the only show in town, like it or not. The mass market is not really interested in the likes of me and what I think. Fuji have been successful with their instant product and unfortunately (IMO) Polaroid despite its iconic name, is too late. They may have a niche market but it reminds me a bit like Betamax / VHS.

Mackinaw · Sep 20, 2017

foc said:
......I must admit the Polaroid Onestep2 camera has that iconic Polaroid look but it's a pity the film is such a let down.......

Have you tried the new Polaroid Original's color film yet? You may be pleasantly surprised.

Jim B.

Polaroid (Impossible) releases new camera

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