polaroid
No Longer Impossible…?
Deep Freeze (Photo by Paul Broome)
Very interesting article on the BJP website today, exciting news from the Netherlands!!
The Impossible Project and their UK-based partners Harman Technology (owners of the Ilford film brand) have announced that they’ve produced and tested the first run of a new black and white integral film – and while it doesn’t quite work as they’ve planned (has sepia tones apparently – which actually sounds quite cool!) it’s still a major step forward on their quest.
And as if all of that weren’t enough they’re also now planning to ressurect the 8×10 Polaroid format as well!!
And in related news, Impossible has also partnered up with clothes retailer Urban Outfitters – who are going to start stocking Polaroid Type 779 film and ONE600 Classic instant cameras in their UK and US stores. I think that counts as somewhat of a result!
It really seems as though their mission has captured the imagination of a new generation 
CameraFile: Fuji Instax 100/200
Fuji Instax 100
Camera Model: Instax 100 / 200
Manufacturer: Fujifilm
Format: Instax Wide instant film
Type: Instant film camera
Price: £20 or less on eBay, or £49 for a brand new 200 via Amazon marketplace
Reasons to Buy: You want an instant camera but don’t want to buy a secondhand Polaroid due to the inflated market for integral Polaroid film. At present Fuji Instax Wide film is still available for around £5 to £8 for a 10 exposure cartridge. The camera requires no fancy bespoke batteries – simply runs on 4 x AAs.
There are two different focus ranges which you can switch between – the first gives you the range 90cm to 3m, and the second from 3m to infinity. As with Polaroid cameras, you can also just to lighten or darken the exposure (but only by a single step each way).
Processing: It’s an instant camera!! All of the processing takes place whilst you wait patiently on your bum for a few minutes for the photo to develop. › Continue reading
A New Future for Instant Film??
As the sun sets on Polaroid... will it rise again?
Good news seems to be rising from the ashes of Polaroid’s abandonment of Instant film technologies. A new start-up – called Impossible b.v. – has signed a ten year lease on Polaroid’s old integral production facility in the Netherlands (Enschede), along with all of the old equipment, and aims to get it back up running and producing analog integral film for vintage Polaroid cameras from 2010!!
The new company (headed by the team behind the polapremium website) has taken their name and inspiration from a quote from Edwin Land, the creator of Instant film technology: “Don’t undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible”.
If these guys get the integral stuff back in production, and Fuji continue their production of pack film… then, boys and girls, our Polaroid future is assured 
Check out the website ( the-impossible-project.com/beta/ ) for more information, and sign up to send these mavericks a message of support!
Instant Film Heaven (Without Breaking The Bank)
standing on the bench
You may or may not have already read Paul’s earlier post about saving Polaroid (if you haven’t - what are you waiting for! durrh). In the post he gets all gooey-eyed and nostalgic about the pleasure of taking photos with instant film and I have to say I agree with him – there is nothing quite like it.
I can’t put my finger on what it is about instant film that is so appealing above and beyond digital photography which if anything is even more instant! Maybe that is part of the appeal. Instant film makes you wait and watch the picture be revealed where as digital appears on our lcd screens in the blink of an eye…..where’s the build up and dramatic pause? Traditional film goes too far in the other direction and makes us wait to get the film developed. That’s not good enough for some of us impatient photographers. We want to see the magic happen. That’s maybe where instant film fills a void. It’s got the instant gratification of an instant photo that you would get on a digital camera and all of the alchemy and magic appeal you get with film.
Sadly though with the impending death of Polaroid film, as Paul mentioned in his article, the price of Instant photography is sky-rocketing with packs of film selling for more than your grandma on eBay. There is I’m pleased to report one often overlooked alternative. Instax! › Continue reading
Save Polaroid!
Me and My Polaroid
If, like me, you’re a child of the 70s/80s then one of your first photographic experiences would probably have included a Polaroid camera. My second camera, passed on to me by my dad at the age of about 7 was a Polaroid 1000 Land Camera. Thinking of that magic multi-coloured striped plastic wedge box of dreams, and the loud ‘clunk-whirrrr’ that accompanied every press of the shutter, still makes me tingle with anticipative excitement. Transcending the arena of photography, Polaroid cameras and pictures have formed a part of our very cultural landscape for the last sixty years. Their influence has been captured in everything from art and fashion, to film and music (Japan’s 80s classic ‘Gentlemen Take Polaroids’ and more recently Outkast’s request to “sh-sh-shake it like a Polaroid picture” spring to mind). There are very few people over the age of 25 out there for whom Polaroid doesn’t mean something.
While you may not have seen many around on the street recently, Polaroid cameras are still extensively used by artists and professional photographers – and there really is still no substitute for what they do well (check out this excellent site for some incredibly creative Polaroid manipulations). Which made Polaroid’s announcement early in 2008 that it was ceasing production of its own film products all the more bitter. Strangely though, it seems as though the announcement has rekindled interest in Polaroid like no amount of advertising and PR has been able to do over the past 15 years.
Film stock (the latest of which will expire in less than a year) is rapidly being bought up on eBay, as are second hand cameras. The dedicated web sites SavePolaroid.com and PolaPremium.com have sprung up and offer great central points of call for information and links about all things Instant. There’s a Save The Polaroids group on Facebook, and petitions that you can sign here and here which are calling on either Polaroid to continue production or Fuji to take over the licensing and production of Polaroid film (at the moment the latter looks most likely – Polaroid’s recent decision to file for bankruptcy doesn’t bode well as to their own future).
I recently bought myself a second-hand 1988 Polaroid 600 Impulse AF camera so that I can enjoy the joys of Polaroid for the last time (if these are to be the dying throes of the format). I suggest you do the same while you still can, and – who knows? – if enough of us do then maybe the fresh demand for the film format will force somebody’s hand… Honestly, once you hear that ‘clunk-whirrrr’ and watch in wonder as the photo develops before your very eyes you won’t want that experience to be forever lost to the world.
Save Polaroid! Our children need it!
