Polaroid Isn't Dead, It's Just Hibernating

01.03.08 - My roommate and I have been browsing thrift shops for almost 2 years now, and I've developed a mild obsession with Polaroid Land cameras. I don't buy them all, I'm just trying to figure out a way to convert them to support 120 or medium format film, which is a pretty backwards thing to want to do.

In any case, I hit up a church mission store in a town near here, and the owner, a nice older gentleman, showed me two cameras. One was a really great Kodak 110 kit, complete with flash and winder and bulbs, but not very appealing in my case.

The other was a nice Polaroid, with bellows and a rangefinder, and in excellent shape with an owner's manual. I told the man about my project, and he reduced the price for me from $6.99 to $5.00 without hesitation. I took it home and began to surf the web, finding out how the film worked and what the process was like.

As it turns out, it uses Packfilm, which is still available today. Since I work at a camera shop, I bought the only pack we had, and threw it in, and followed the directions. After having played with an SX-70 and other 600 cameras, the decision had been made: there was no turning back. The pictures were clearer, crisper, better saturated, and well exposed.

WHY THE LOVE
The 350 did a few things the other models did not. The viewfinder is a Zeiss Ikon rangefinder that connects directly to the bellows, so your focus is spot-on. The camera comes with an auto-exposure system, so it will determine for you the best times for your framing. They built the shutter and exposure section thinking forward: ISO speeds might not be accurate anymore, but it supports 75, 150, 300 and 3000. Also included on this model and seldom found on other Polaroids natively: a tripod mount!

I don't know what the biggest draw to the camera is, really. It's just a gorgeous model, and the shooting process is terrific. Everything is numbered for you, so you can't forget the process:

1) Set your focus using both hands and the viewfinder

2) Snap your photo

3) Reset your shutter (it's like a trigger)

4) Pull out the exposure and wait.

There's a timer on the back that helps you know when your photo is ready, based on suggested development times. Like the common "shake-it" 600 instant Polaroids, this image develops while you wait, but you have to pull two pieces of the paper apart to see your image. If you peel early, you underdevelop, too late and you overdevelop. The other terrific part is that you will probably get development goop on your fingers, so keep a napkin or towel handy, and definitely wash your hands when you're done.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
Polaroid Packfilm can also be manipulated physically, by doing exposure transfers before the print is fully developed, or emulsion lifts, where you boil the print and pull off the emulsion, placing it onto whatever your heart desires. Other artists use pressure to manipulate the images, and other options abound.

All else I can say is that having this camera has been a treat, and I expect to keep it in the collection so long as they produce film for it (and they do so far!). Average cost for a 10 exposure pack is between $9 and $15, depending on the film type, and the cameras can be found online starting at $12. One tip, if you're inclined: these cameras used specially shaped batteries that seem to be uncommon. The 340 model uses one, and the 350 used two, for the exposure section and the timer. I didn't want to spend the money on new batteries, so I stripped some wires and taped everything together to one set of tiered AA alkalines. So far so good, and the timer is pretty darn accurate. *NOTE: I ended up replacing one or two of the tiered AAs with a CR2 style battery, which fits better into the space the holder was. More details on this at a later time.

This camera is a blast to use, beautiful, unique, and enthralling. Just like darkroom printing, it's exciting to see what's going to develop, to see how your picture rounds out. If you're into the uncommon, pursue packfilm models that are in clean condition with little or no battery corrosion, and you'll have something so many young people like me never knew existed and makes you great art to boot. Happy peeling!

WHY IT'S BETTER THAN A 600 CAMERA
The long and short is that packfilm is still being produced, if not by Polaroid, then by Fuji, thank god. The Fuji film, if researched, would be a bit more realistic and consistent in color quality than the Polaroid options. You can check online at B&H or Adorama for Polaroid 669 film or Fuji FP-100C 10-packs. The Fuji stuff runs less than $10 a pack, but Polaroid is over $11 at the time of writing. Is one better than the other? If you dig around a little more on the interwebs, you may see differences. For example, I'm not sure if the Fuji product allows for transfers or emulsion lifts like the Pola does. But then, that's not my bag, so either works fine.

The other reason I see major advantages over 600-type Polaroid is that packfilm still has higher demand than 600, but also the availability to keep it at a fair price. Since 600 is definitely no longer produced, the cost has gone up everywhere for it, in excess of $15 per pack.

Any questions about Polaroiding? I don't have all the answers, but I could fake it. Hit me on the CONTACT page, I'll see if I can steer you into instant classy bossness.

*The above shots were all taken with Polaroid 669 packfilm in the Polaroid Land 350.

BONUS BONUS BONUS!!!
Packfilm comes in a little cartridge to keep it all dark and in one neat little package: Polaroid in a metal and plastic shell, Fuji in a wholly plastic shell. DON'T THROW THESE AWAY! They make OUTSTANDING FRAMES to keep around the house! Here's how you can make them handy!

If you have a Pola shell, you can bend the grip out on the metal part just a tiny bit and the whole shell will disassemble -- just remember what order the parts went in. You can wedge one of your developed prints into this space and reassemble. Use clean hands to position the print just-so in the frame and it will look as though it was born for such a use. On the back of these shells, the metal tabs can be pried outwards a bit and at a SLIGHT angle so the frame stands up tall, or sideways, like the example here.

The Fuji cartridges are all plastic, so they don't bend easily nor stay in place. BUT, they do have foam strips at the opening, likely to assist the print as it exits the shell. Stick a thumb-tack into the inside of the tab, poking out, and you can hang the puppy up on the wall in any (vertical) fashion you please.