New (to me) Polaroid Land Camera

[ped]

Just picked this up in Reading (UK) whilst getting an A2 print from a negative in the printers.

Cleaned it up a bit and look forward to trying it out....

Cheers
ped

 

[chrishayton]

Batteries are pretty hard to find but the is some out there. Film is just pack film which fuji still make. Cool cameras though!

 

[ped]

I have the film, 10 rounds of colour. I don;t know if this needs batteries as there is no flash and the manual doesn't mention them, though I am a little confused about shutter speeds (there is one, fixed) and I believe the camera senses the speed through the front eye, which you would assume is battery powered?

ped

 

[ped]

Scrub that - found the battery compartment, there's a 3V battery in there. No idea if it works though - will have to try it with a multimeter...

 

[vdonovan]

If the battery is no good, there are lots of ways to hack it. You can clip out the battery holder and get two 1.5 volt hearing aid batteries and tape them together, which works fine. With a little more effort you can put in a AAA battery holder.

Don't forget to give the rollers inside a good cleaning.

Yes, the exposure is automatic. Just set the film speed with the switch at the top. Other models have an aperture setting as well. If you use Fuji's 3000b film, you can shoot almost anywhere.

Much more info here:
http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landhome.htm

Good luck and have fun!

 

[charjohncarter]

Inside with the film speed at 80 release the shutter keeping your finger down, do not release. And listen for two clicks. This one takes a difficult battery. So many, including me, have modified ours using this method, it looks hard but it isn't:

http://www.instantoptions.com/conversions/100/100.6.php

Enjoy yours, I've also converted mine to use an electronic flash:

 

[ped]

Great, thanks for the info. The 3V battery in mine was dead so I'll take a look at that link, thanks

 

[charjohncarter]

You say 3 volts, I think mine was a 4.5 volt so your conversion might even be easier.

 

[ped]

Yes it's 3V in mine so I can actually buy a battery here in the UK for £10... might just do that to be honest

 

[Sonnar Brian]

That's a lot of money for a 3v battery! It's not hard to wire in two AAA batteries, or a Lithium cell. I need to convert my Model 250- but the Model 180 does not use batteries, and I was lucky to find one at a good price.

The Model 103 has a 3-element glass lens, but lacks the two-position aperture for each ASA setting of the Model 100 and 250. The latter allows use of ~F8 with the 3000 speed film in low-light conditions. You might look around for the 100 or 250 before spending too much money on a battery. The 100 and 250 use the 4.5v battery. With as expensive as Fuji Instant Print film runs, the cameras are cheap.

 

[charjohncarter]

You know more about Polaroids than I do, Brian, even though I have five. But it isn't that hard to convert to two AAAs so it could be an option. For the people in the USA here is a site for Polaroid auctions:

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/search/...0&sellerID=all&srchdesc=&showthumbs=on&page=1

What really surprises me is that one of my Polaroid has a 3 element plastic lenses. I would be interested (scientifically) in what you have to say about that.

 

[ped]

Possibly, but for the sake of a tenner it's not too bad, if I buy a different camera it will cost half that to post it. I will try sorting the AAA method too though. Will post some pics here when I have taken some.

 

[charjohncarter]

Possibly, but for the sake of a tenner it's not too bad, if I buy a different camera it will cost half that to post it. I will try sorting the AAA method too though. Will post some pics here when I have taken some.

Great; do that, I find the 100, and probably the 103, to be excellent cameras. Polaroid film just isn't sharp. But you can do pretty well if you have the same lens as my 100:

 

[charjohncarter]

One other tip, I clean the film transport after every roll. It isn't hard, just water an paper towels. Another thing is Fuji film which is all me have now is excellent but the latitude is like digital so just like digital you have to pick low contrast situations to bring it to its best. On the above I used fill electronic flash to not have the left side blacked out.

 

[K14]

Battery

Battery

I know this doesn't apply to the 103 but I got my 4.5 battery for my 100 at Freestlye. The battery lasts for years as it only operates the shutter.

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/19531-Exell-PX19-531-Battery-4.5V-Alkaline?cat_id=201

4.5 volt alkaline battery replacement for older Polaroid camera models 100, 101, 102, 220, 225, 230, 240, 250, and 340.

Cheers!
Gary

 

[charjohncarter]

I know this doesn't apply to the 103 but I got my 4.5 battery for my 100 at Freestlye. The battery lasts for years as it only operates the shutter.

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/19531-Exell-PX19-531-Battery-4.5V-Alkaline?cat_id=201

4.5 volt alkaline battery replacement for older Polaroid camera models 100, 101, 102, 220, 225, 230, 240, 250, and 340.

Cheers!
Gary

You are correct they do last for years (I still have one that works). And I am glad that they are still available. But when the supply runs out, as with everything, it is nice to know about options. Thanks for the site link, I don't really care about price so when mine goes out I might get a couple.

 

[ped]

Superb pictures (John?)

I can't wait to get shooting with the 103!

 

[Sonnar Brian]

The 100 and 103 have the same lens, as does the 101. I have boxes of Polaroids.

The 100 series and 200 series work best with Fuji Film. I have read (not verified 1st hand) that the back of the pack on the Fuji film can buckle from the development timers built into the 300 and 400 series cameras. I read somewhere that the electronic timers on the higher end 350, 360, and 450 are problems- not sure about the built in mechanical timers.

 

[ludoo]

Enjoy yours, I've also converted mine to use an electronic flash:

How did you do that? Can you share some info and pics?

 

[charjohncarter]

Thanks Ped, and ludoo, I have two conversions depending on what type of light. As the f stop on these cameras is not very variable; just inside-outside, I use a Minolta 320x on auto and the f 5.6 setting (with Fuji color). This f stop is f 8.8 so it is close for fill flash. With this I just use a PC cord into the PC female on the camera. Indoors (with Fuji color) I made an adapter from the Flash gun for the camera. So it has a PC male and a tab to change the shutter speed. I then set it up for auto on f 8 or manual using the Guide Number for F 8. Some times I use my flash meter to check and adjust. I have it all set up with flash triggers so I can use the flash meter easily.

Just try fill flash to start, and see if you like it.

Fill:

Fill:

Indoor Flash:

I like flash and I really like it with Polaroid, so maybe I'm a little overboard.