Father, Son, and Dippin' Dots ... Polaroid SX-70

I like the dreamy colors. I haven’t seen a dipping dots machine anywhere around here. There is a convenience store down the street that advertises “We have dipping dots”
 
Thanks to you both for the compliments!

charjohncarter said:
I like it, where did you get the film?
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I order film for the SX-70 type integral film cameras directly from Polaroid Originals USA: https://us.polaroidoriginals.com

I've learned not to buy in large quantities. Typically six to nine packs (either SX-70 or 600 type, in groups of three) nets the best prices through discounting and purchase points. Nine packs of film nets a total of 72 exposures (8 per pack): that lasts a while if you're careful about choosing your shots. I reorder when I'm down to one or two packs of a given emulsion. That keeps the stuff reasonably fresh and minimizes wastage through aging out.

I'm trying to keep it so that I get away with about six out of eight shots in a pack being usable. It takes discipline and forethought ... good practice in general! With SX-70 typ films, it costs a bloody fortune if you try to shoot with this stuff the way you do with digital capture or even 35mm film, so that's good motivation... :rolleyes:

G
 
I just pulled out two Polaroid cameras that I ended up with, and had no idea if they are operational or not. One is a Spectra SE Autofocus the other Impulse SE Autofocus. I bought two B&W film packs from Amazon. Just started testing today. The Spectra has issues. If I rap it a few times against a hard surface I can get a shot out. The Impulse seems to work fine. The Spectra is the better camera, but that's life! The film is from Polaroid originals ultimately, also. The Spectra uses Spectra film, and the Impulse uses Type 600.
 
Not sure what a dipping dot machine is ...but I like the photo, the light and the colors.
robert
PS: and the SX-70 is a superb machine !
 
markjwyatt said:
I just pulled out two Polaroid cameras that I ended up with, and had no idea if they are operational or not. One is a Spectra SE Autofocus the other Impulse SE Autofocus. I bought two B&W film packs from Amazon. Just started testing today. The Spectra has issues. If I rap it a few times against a hard surface I can get a shot out. The Impulse seems to work fine. The Spectra is the better camera, but that's life! The film is from Polaroid originals ultimately, also. The Spectra uses Spectra film, and the Impulse uses Type 600.
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The Spectras are very nice, there was a point where I had several of them and a whole accessory kit. But all of mine acted the same way: if I didn't use them all the time, the film advance motors would become sticky and need to be exercised a bazillion times by reloading cassettes with old shots and running them through the camera. If you have an old cassette or two and a stack of exposed prints, try that to resuscitate it.

At some point, I decided to focus my instant efforts on the SX-70 type cameras and sold or gave away all the Spectras and even SX-70 Sonar models. (I prefer manual focus.) My Polaroid kit now includes one original SX-70 and three MiNT SLR670 models (m, a, and x). Plus nearly all the SX-70 accessories. It's more than enough! :)
 
Oi, there's a new years' sale at PO store. Sadly, given that I'm between two locations of Europe, some cameras stay up north with me and others in the Mediterranean (SX70). Few more months of holiday for the SX70 now.

I was pressed to shoot the couple packs I had in the fridge during this holiday break, worried about age. A 9/17 PO Color and IP BW 2.0 from 01/2016. Both have been behaving fine! The PO is still rather good and the IP holds with some aging quirks.

Last year I shot with 1.5yr old packs expired on sale and probably unrefrigerated, just get some artsy results in there.



SX70 is a delight to shoot, still sometimes struggle with what to shoot on it; it's a format by itself and simple large subjects work best.
 
Godfrey said:
The Spectras are very nice, there was a point where I had several of them and a whole accessory kit. But all of mine acted the same way: if I didn't use them all the time, the film advance motors would become sticky and need to be exercised a bazillion times by reloading cassettes with old shots and running them through the camera. If you have an old cassette or two and a stack of exposed prints, try that to resuscitate it.

At some point, I decided to focus my instant efforts on the SX-70 type cameras and sold or gave away all the Spectras and even SX-70 Sonar models. (I prefer manual focus.) My Polaroid kit now includes one original SX-70 and three MiNT SLR670 models (m, a, and x). Plus nearly all the SX-70 accessories. It's more than enough! :)
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I do have the Impulse AF. I prefer the glass lens in the Spectra, but for now it is something to play with. I may probably keep an eye out for an SX-70, but no hurry on that. I may try running my shots through again to see if it helps. Any explanations out there to put the prints back in the cartridge?

EDIT: got it

EDIT2: Just reloaded 4 shots + dark slide- worked perfectly.
 
I have not used my SX 70 camera since the early 1990s.

The camera was a surprise find in the inside lining pocket of a used suitcase bought at Goodwill for 5 dollars in the late 1980s.
 
markjwyatt said:
I do have the Impulse AF. I prefer the glass lens in the Spectra, but for now it is something to play with. I may probably keep an eye out for an SX-70, but no hurry on that. I may try running my shots through again to see if it helps. Any explanations out there to put the prints back in the cartridge?

EDIT: got it

EDIT2: Just reloaded 4 shots + dark slide- worked perfectly.
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Good to hear it!

The exposed prints are a bit thinner than the unexposed ones since the pods have been broken already and the processing reagent distributed, but they put enough load on the drive system to exercise it and make it happy if you run them through a few times. Once you get the drive system working the way it ought, it will tend to stay that way unless the camera is left unused for a while again. Sometimes it does take a little coaxing to get the Spectra to run the processing transport ... I suspect the motors in them were just barely up to the task as Polaroid was trying to keep the costs as low as possible.

I enjoyed the Spectras a lot, the bigger print is nice sometimes, but I found I preferred the SX-70's square format ... and of course the versatility of an SLR and 7" to infinity focusing range with no attachments needed is hard to beat! It's simply an amazing camera considering when it was released and the incredible technology in it, both camera and film. It's truly a camera way ahead of its time.

G
 
Prest_400 said:
Oi, there's a new years' sale at PO store. Sadly, given that I'm between two locations of Europe, some cameras stay up north with me and others in the Mediterranean (SX70). Few more months of holiday for the SX70 now.

I was pressed to shoot the couple packs I had in the fridge during this holiday break, worried about age. A 9/17 PO Color and IP BW 2.0 from 01/2016. Both have been behaving fine! The PO is still rather good and the IP holds with some aging quirks.

Last year I shot with 1.5yr old packs expired on sale and probably unrefrigerated, just get some artsy results in there.

SX70 is a delight to shoot, still sometimes struggle with what to shoot on it; it's a format by itself and simple large subjects work best.
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I've had IP film last three-four years if I keep it refrigerated. However, due to work going on and changes in my condo over the past four years, all my refrigerated stock of IP film had been pulled out and left to sit in a box for all that time, forgotten. When I refound it and tested it, only one pack out of ten produced any results worth speaking of. A sad loss: I ended up tossing almost thirty packs of film, cost me a fortune at $23 apiece. That's why I now buy in smaller quantities and try to use it on a reasonably prompt basis.

I agree about the 'simple large subjects' ... it's certainly not the right camera for high detail work. The aesthetic of good photos made with the SX-70 is very much its own and nearly impossible to synthesize ... I've got a few apps which try and a couple do a decent job of making nice photos, but I can always tell that it isn't SX-70 film that made the exposure.

The SLR670x is new to me, very recent addition. It pulls everything together giving 600 speed calibration natively, auto for both 100 and 600 film, manual exposure, and flash synch as well. It makes stocking film easy since I don't have to worry about whether I've got 600 or 100 left when I want to use it.

And with that, I'm grabbing one of the cameras and heading out for a bicycle ride while it's still clear outside. I wonder if I'll see any photographs today? :D

G
 
ulrich.von.lich said:
I see some banding issues.
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Yes, there are often banding issues, particularly in low light levels. It's the nature of this film medium. At higher light levels, they are less likely to appear and/or are less apparent in the image. They're also more likely to appear with the color film than the B&W film.

There are always quirks to instant film captures. You either accept them as part of the aesthetic or you move on to other technologies. :D
 
I'm curious if anyone has what I'd call "sharp" as versus "artsy" photos from any of these cameras ? Peter
 
markjwyatt said:
I do kind of like the warm tone the B&W films have.
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Yes, they have a very pretty tone.

Current pack in the SLR670m is a pack of PO 600 B&W, so it's going to be all manual exposure or flash (ISO 100 camera for automatic, which means juggling the light/dark control all the way over to dark for 600 film, when I remember...)

I haven't decided what film to put in the SLR670x MING Edition just yet for my first tests with it. The black satin finish and metal body cladding, rather than leather, give it a different, more "serious" feel.

I so love these cameras and the photos they produce... :)

G
 
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