Polaroid film is coming back!!

Polaroid is a more affordable way of instant pictures on a budget - China, Africa etc. Whilst a digicam can be £20, you need an expensive computer, generally, to see them.
 
KayJay said:
The great thing about Polaroids are that you could develop photographs with little or no equipment. Polaroids provided great benefit to scientists, biologists, aids workers etc etc where they need cameras but without processing equipment / computers etc. I hope it stays around.
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Perhaps this will kill off the ol' Polaroid: http://products.polaroid.com/products/category/1848.0.61264.61265.0.0.0

It's a digital camera with it's own little built in colour printer . . . and funnily enough it's produced by non other than . . . Polaroid itself!
I have read reviews of it and it is reckoned that the camera and printer quality are awful . . . but so was the film photos from the original version!
But give it a year or two and perhaps the new digital version will be improved on. Both does the same thing and at least the digital version looks a lot less bulky.
 
I have a Polaroid PoGo and it's not quite the same, the photo it produces is tiny.
 
Aaah things have gone full circle and film is making a return. I reckon they will do ok as long as they get there pricing right.
 
clicktor said:
Why should it remain dead? Sorry I don't have time to list all the reasons! ;)
Show me a market for it....there is none.
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If you're not going to be bothered to even slightly justify you're opinion why don't you just stay away from the thread. I smell a troll.
 
hellogoodbye said:
Yes, you can refrigerate it but not freeze it as wrecks the pods.
I did fancy doing a Project 365 using integral Polaroid film but it'd be too expensive :'( They will feature heavily in my new photoblog though, probably alternating between that, Instax Mini and Medium Format.
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well thats commendable and project wise sound
keeping the same format and image should show any differences in handling the polaroid material can cope with...lighting etc

next a 110 gallery or minox?

best of luck with that
cheers
geof
 
lawrie29 said:
Polaroid is a more affordable way of instant pictures on a budget - China, Africa etc. Whilst a digicam can be £20, you need an expensive computer, generally, to see them.
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can they be reproduced or transmitted electronically back to base

advantages i can see but for sheer photo power and quantity they may have some disadvantages

i used to think in the old days they were a bit gimmicky and not affordable in the upper models...i am talking the camera not the image material..which is a necessity

cheers
 
Kev M said:
If you're not going to be bothered to even slightly justify you're opinion why don't you just stay away from the thread. I smell a troll.
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[youtube]9KCct4RwLNM[/youtube]

:razz:
 
As much as I'd love to have a go with polaroid, I can't help think their biggest audience would be 80's wannabe students who think these sunglasses are all the rage:

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My kids love the polaroid shots. Actually seeing a physical photo instead of looking at them on a screen is such a novelty.
 
base_media


sell you iphone and get this...it does what it says on the ...discarded box
 
Guys, something I've always wondered about Polaroid film.. I've only ever seen shots made on plasticky Polaroid bodies with what look like a single, possibly plastic lens. The results are of course very soft.

So, what kind of results do you get using a Polaroid back on a quality camera? And comparing it with 'normal' film, how would you rate the sharpness and grain?

thanks!

Deasy
 
Deasy said:
Guys, something I've always wondered about Polaroid film.. I've only ever seen shots made on plasticky Polaroid bodies with what look like a single, possibly plastic lens. The results are of course very soft.

So, what kind of results do you get using a Polaroid back on a quality camera? And comparing it with 'normal' film, how would you rate the sharpness and grain?

thanks!

Deasy
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most roll film cameras do a pola back...that includes hasselblad
 
Deasy said:
So, what kind of results do you get using a Polaroid back on a quality camera? And comparing it with 'normal' film, how would you rate the sharpness and grain?

thanks!

Deasy
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Generally a Polaroid isn't as sharp as a film frame shot with the same camera and lens, it fuzzes up a bit during the development, grain isn't really a factor.
The type of instant film you use makes a difference, Fuji FP-100B is pretty damn sharp, you have to look deep to see any softening.
They say the Polaroid colours weren't too sharp but they did some B/W that was, I dunno, I've never bought Polaroid film in my life.
You have to consider a size factor too, your average Polaroid is quite small and as such doesn't need to be tack sharp, if it were a film frame and you were trying to make a wet print with an enlarger, you wouldn't go too far before softness became an issue.
On the other hand, there is a giant Polaroid camera, it produces 24x20 instant prints, the ones I've seen that are meant to be sharp are just that.
Its all relative, Polaroids aren't meant to be enlarged like film is, the print is the end product.
 
dougiem said:
The polaroid will never die! as far as i know there still isnt a digital camera that automatically prints the picture
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Ian D J says there is, but its still missing the point, a Polaroid is a chemical reaction, a digital print is squirty ink blobs.
It neither looks nor feels the same, these threads always make an assumption that once you inkjet your digital 1's and 0's, that's it you've replaced an analogue print.
Instant inkjets aren't Polaroids, the only thing they have in common is the wood that was pulped to make the paper.
:)
 
joxby said:
Generally a Polaroid isn't as sharp as a film frame shot with the same camera and lens, it fuzzes up a bit during the development, grain isn't really a factor.
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That's true. Grain is not really a factor because there is no enlargement involved and the picture can never be fully sharp because the image diffuses from the front layer to the rear layer of the film/paper assembly through a thin coating of the developer so there is always a bit of spread.


Steve.
 
Image quailty is really important to me, hence why I bought a D700 and pro glass... however... I would absolutely love to own a polaroid and a lomo camera. Why? because a) film is cool b) there is something satisfying and tactile about film c) refer back to a ;)

I love the different quality you can get from film cameras/polaroid/lomo/holga etc etc... that just cannot be replicated 100% by digital.

That said, would I swap to film to do the majority of my work, not in a month of sundays! The D700 is just too damn nice!
 
Steve Smith said:
It's o.k. I suppose. But it's not as good as the real thing!


Steve.
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You are absolutely right, the best film camera I had back in the day was my canon T70 (not so sure how good it was compared to others but worked well for me).

I love using film cameras, but since the advent of good digital cameras its so easy when shooting professionaly to be able to see your results there and then... Now I have had the luxury, I dont think I could take the leap of faith to process the shots to find out that I missed on focus or exposure etc... Having the preview screen gives that extra layer of safety.

Having said that, for personal use and my own fun, I would love a holga and a lomo :)
 
I would have thought that Polaroid instant film would have been one technology killed stone dead by digital, like the typewriter.. but never underestimate the power of nostalgia!

There's a great website for lovers of 8 track cartridges - now there's an extinct technology with no redeeming features at all, but that still has a following :D

A.
 
Anorakus said:
I would have thought that Polaroid instant film would have been one technology killed stone dead by digital
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Digital is o.k. if you don't mind the wait but Polaroid (and Fuji) is instant (nearly!).

Steve.
 
I think it would useful to find out who is going to be distributing it in the UK, what exactely the range will be , etc, etc.

It is still fairly early days for this operation, I think it would be unwise to get too excited this early on. However I do wish them all the luck.
 
grey.squirrel said:
So ... it's the Rick Astley of photography, jump straight back on the bandwagon while they can before going straight back out of production. In my eyes, nothing to get excited about.
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The market for instant film be it polaroid, fuji, whatever, is in the professional arena, always has been, not nostalgia trips through plastic lenses and Christmas snaps.
If you shoot M/F film in studio, you are highly likely to be using instant film, which produces a photograph....art in its own right.
If you prefer digital, that's fine, but don't knock anything, till you've tried it..:)
 
I read an article about this in a magazine , it really is a niche market, no one should think this is going to be the big return.

There is a cult following for Polaroid cameras, just like there was for cine cameras, just like there is for vinyl records.

I would see it as a eclectic art lead movement , and I guess if there is enough of a worldwide following then it will probably work.
 
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