The I DON'T LIKE POLAROID PRINTS appreciation thread

It seems no more interest in Polaroid ! What a pity!

Anyway here is my last submisison for the RoidWeek spring 2022, diptych taken with the B&W i-Type Film and OneStep2 camera.

med_U3692.1651141233.0.jpg
 
CameraQuest said:
For a long time I was in the never bother with POLAROID PRINTS camp.

[…]

I finally saw the beauty and importance of POLAROID PRINTS.

Their beauty is

1) a unique moment in time, often the only view of that moment
- the photog was busy with their Polaroid

[…]

...
Click to expand...
The quote above is from the first post of this thread. I, too, initially did not grasp the subtle significance of a Polaroid print. Only after I bought a Polaroid camera on a whim and started using it did I see the importance, as mentioned in item 1 above. In the nearly 20 years of using Polaroid, I’ve probably annoyed many readers of photo forums by belaboring this point, but I’ll do it again. :)

As Ken Nadvornick on another forum used to say, the significance of such an image is a matter of provenance. How so? Consider this image from the National Archives; it was made on a glass plate by Mathew Brady at Gettysburg and shows Abraham Lincoln before he gave his famous speech:

https://i0.wp.com/prologue.blogs.arc...n-smallrgb.jpg

Here’s another photo, made by Neil Armstrong with a special stock of Ektachrome 70mm film. It shows Buzz Aldrin saluting the flag on the Moon:

https://archive.org/download/GPN-200...001-000012.jpg

Now consider what we know about each these images:

* If you were to hold the glass plate or Ektachrome transparency in your hand, you’re holding a tangible artifact that was present at the very event being photographed.

* The light from that event directly created the very image you’re holding.

* The image is genuine; it hasn’t been modified to add or remove details.

* The image is unique.

What is true here can also be said of images of more mundane events, such as a family picnic, made with a Polaroid or other instant-film camera. Such images have that same provenance and uniqueness. Actually, the same can be said of any image formed on a negative or transparency (but cannot be said of a print - which is obviously a copy).

To some people this has meaning. Others will say, “so what?”
 
It’s a matter of “soul”, :), or as some would say, there is mojo in the genuine object such as a negative or glass plate. :):):)

A masterpiece painting hanging in a museum has the same attraction I think, it is a direct creation of the painter.
 
Just ran across this thread. Hmm. I love instant film, shoot way too much of it...


Palm
Polaroid SLR670x by MiNT + Orange filter, B&W 600 film


Empty
Polaroid SLR670a by MiNT, Color 600 Round Frame​

I just this evening received the latest MiNT Camera product: an InstantFlex TL70 Plus. Just registered it, downloaded the instruction manual, and loaded it. I didn't really need the manual, most everything on the camera is very easy to figure out. I'll create a new thread for it after I shoot a little with it tomorrow.

Only negative side to this is that I'll have to buy a few double-packs of Instax SQ film now. ;)

G
 
Godfrey said:
….

Only negative side to this is that I'll have to buy a few double-packs of Instax SQ film now. ;)

G
Click to expand...
Instax has put the “film” back into “Fujifilm”. It’s heartening to know that the Instax film is so popular that it will be around for a long time.

I get anxiety when my Instax or Polaroid supplies drop low. They have us figured out…
 
I posted this in another thread, but felt it should be here too...

Making steady progress learning/understanding the Instaflex TL70 Plus. One pack of color came with the camera, I had another pack of color and a pack of B&W.

First pack of film I made one or two decent photos, snaps of my friends at breakfast last Thursday morning.


Jack with Coffee - Mountain View 2023​

Second I was in experimentation mode on a walk ... again, a couple came out nice.


House on Walk - Santa Clara 2023
ND8 filter used​

I sacrificed the B&W pack to exposure experiments, learning the film response on manual exposure and then the camera's Auto modes.

It's quite a nice camera. Feels a bit like one of my early '50s Rolleiflex TLRs, albeit all light plastic rather than metal and leather. The lens seems quite good, the metering/exposure system is good, the viewfinder is good. The amusing thing is that when you press the exposure eject button, the eject motor whines and whirrs and the print pops up into the WL finder hood.

A box with 6 packs of color and 4 packs of B&W arrived today, and I now feel like I understand the film and the camera well enough. Time to go shooting! :D

G

(btw: these photos were made with the iPhone 11 Pro hand held, not my usual instant film copy setup, so I apologize for the rather poor quality.)
 
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