Polaroid Film at Good Price?

[Larky]

Hello.

So, my mate bought me a Polaroid today, well old school and funky.

So I need film, but can't find any for less than the price of a lung. Is it really £30 for 20 shots? I could buy a slab of granite and pay an army of sculptors to chisel the scene for less.

Does anyone know where I can get Polaroid, even out of date but kind of working, film for a good price?

Take care.

Andrew.

 

[ishpop]

I also need to get some for my Hasselblad Polaplus back... Just been scanning Ebay...

 

[rogue_designer]

Depends on *which* polaroid you have. Some films are easier to track down than others.

 

[whickus]

if you keep your eyes open, you might find 600 film and some packfilms on clearance at various stores trying to get rid of their stock. other than that, polapremium.com is probably your best bet for "reasonable" prices. ebay auctions usually end way too high, unless you find an auction that no one knows about.

 

[Larky]

I have a funky rockin' (can you tell I've had wine?) Polaroid 636. It's about the size of a small car!

Just noticed this has been moved, thanks to the mod. I didn't see the Polaroid bit.

I have seen a shed load of 1997 film on eBay dirt cheap, how useless would this be do we think?

 

[charjohncarter]

That camera uses, I think, the same film that is used in the SX-70. It is no longer able to be sourced new. So the INTERNET (out of date film) is the only place, and the color will probably be 'funky rockin',' so you are in luck.

 

[DRabbit]

Don't think so... I think the 636 uses standard 600 film. You can get it on ebay if you buy in bulk (5 or more packs) for about $1.00-$2.00 per shot. It is going to get harder and harder to get though unless The-Impossible-Project(.com) succeeds 😉

I recently got into Polaroids myself and actually prefer the pack-film types... and the film is easier to get. Any pack-film style cam can use the widely available Fuji FP-100C, FP-100B or FP-3000B film, and it's cheaper.

Have fun with it... I've been enjoying mine...

 

[BTMarcais]

Yep, best bet is to go w/ one of the pack film cameras, since fuji makes film for those still. Polaroid isn't making anything, and the last production run for the 600 expires this fall. Prices are only going up on the polaroid films right now, since supplies are just plain running out...

(I use a 405 back and 550 back on my 4x5, which take the 2 different fuji packfilm sizes)

-Brian

 

[Larky]

Hello. Yeah, the 636 uses 600. I found some at a Boots store and it's great fun, makes everything look like it's come from the 70's. What is this pack film you speak of?

 

[Baldadash]

I use Fuji FP-100B BW pack film as a replacement for Polaroid 690 color in my homemade pinhole cameras made from old Has PolaPlus backs I picked up on the bay cheap. The Fuji BW is extremely sharp, but costs about $1usd a shot.

 

[Baldadash]

John, coincidently I just sold 2 packs of SX-70 Time Zero film on the bay for almost $80usd. It was something my wife had purchased about four years ago. It was dated 02/06. I believe they stopped making that film
03/06. I found it in a box in our bedroom closet. Maybe I should do spring cleaning more often.

 

[DRabbit]

Pack film (like Fuji FP-100C or 100B) is used in Polaroid Land Cameras, like this (model 350):

or in Polaroid backs (made specifically for certain types of camera):

The Land Cameras can be had real cheap on ebay (other than the 180 or 195 model). I got a 101 for like $10. I got the 350 for like $25. The 250/350/360/450 cams have glass lenses, and one-window viewfinder-rangefinder design (Zeiss). In other words, they are little nicer than the 100, 101, etc.

One of the best websites for info is here: http://polaroids.theskeltons.org/

It's fun! I'd love to get into backs, but since I know nothing about medium format, I decided to keep it simple and go with the Land Cams... for now 😉

 

[vdonovan]

I too am a big fan of the Fuji pack films (especially the B&W) and cheapie Land Cameras. Challenging and fun.

 

[charjohncarter]

Well, if we are talking packfilm now, I have two PF cameras; Polaroid Automatic 100, and the Polaroid Colorpack II. They have different lenses: one glass and one plastic. But alas, they seem to be the same. One very major plus; women love the way they look when photographed with these cameras. They like it so much that I bought one on Ebay and grafted the lenses to a lens cap for my 6x7. This is with the old '67 beater but the couple liked the photo:

 

[DRabbit]

I'm excited to see so many polaroid fans! I was beginning to feel a little lonely with my recent polaroid interest (yes, I'm a member of a flikr polaroid group, but they are veRRRRYYYY slow).

So who has the knowledge to teach me more about pack-film backs? 😉

BTW, nice photos Vince and CJC.

 

[vdonovan]

Thanks!

I bought a pack film back for my Bronica SQ-A on ebay for $12. It's not that useful, however, because the image on the print is only 6cm x 6cm! Duh! Why didn't I think of that? I only use it for portrait sessions to give the subject a quick souvenir.

As others have said above, the folding Polaroid Land cameras give a full size image, are practically free, and a lot of fun to use. I like using the "portrait attachment" that came with many cameras.

Here is another excellent website that will tell you which screwball Polaroid camera you just bought at a garage sale for $5 and what it can do and can't do:
http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landhome.htm

There are some gotchas to using these cameras. The batteries can be hard to find but you can hack them to use AAAs. Here is a polaroid hacking website:
http://option8.110mb.com/polaroid/index.html

There are better quality rangefinders that will give you a full image, namely the Polaroid 185, 600SE and the Mamiya Universal Press. (The 600SE and Mamiya Universal are *almost* the same camera). These cameras cost substantially more than $5, but are still a bargain for what you get.

 

[charjohncarter]

I'm excited to see so many polaroid fans! I was beginning to feel a little lonely with my recent polaroid interest (yes, I'm a member of a flikr polaroid group, but they are veRRRRYYYY slow).

So who has the knowledge to teach me more about pack-film backs? 😉

BTW, nice photos Vince and CJC.

Well, I'm no expert even though I've used Polaroid since 1964. But never shoot the main subject if it is in the shade and you have some/any bright sunlight in the view of the meter. I had to tweak one of my light meters by putting a neutral density piece of plastic over the meter to 'adjust' the light meter. And #3, clean your rollers after every pack of film. If you start to see that the horizontal edges are not filling with developer, rub the edges after taking the pack film from the camera at the vertical edges. Expect high contrast with Fuji pack film, but don't complain they are the only ones left. God bless them. Here are two from 1964:

 

[DRabbit]

Vince... I've got those two sites bookmarked already -- it's part of the reason I decided on the 350. I'd love a 180, but one recently sold for $828 (not kidding) on ebay, so the price is a little high right now. Sure make the $25 I spent on the 350 seem like a bargain! 😉

I know about the batteries, but luckily they last very long time and there are still some vendors on the net that sell them (Found mine through Amazon believe it or not). On the Option8 site I think there's also instructions for converting to more standard batteries.

Another great site is www.Polanoid.net

CJC, like the photos! Here's another one I shot recently...

There's just something really cool about these old polaroids... they sure do draw interest from others -- "what the hell is that??" LOL! I got a folding SX-70 too that's already been converted for 600 film, but I use that one much more sparingly since the $600 film is harder to get and pricier. It's a bizarre little camera though.

 

[vdonovan]

Thanks again. It's true the cameras are a crowd pleaser. Some photos from Jerome, AZ below. I couldn't go two steps without people stopping to talk about the camera.

I also have a Polaroid Big Shot that I take to parties. Unfortunately I have no scans from the Big Shot because people want to keep the pictures for themselves!

 

[DRabbit]

Never heard of the Big Shot... I just looked it up... what a wacky camera! I bet that one REALLY draws a crowd!

Really digging those AZ shots... I like the 3000B film (sneakers above were taken with it). Hey, I see in your signature you have a Fuji Instax... how do you like it? I was tossing around the idea of the Diana+ with Instax back, but I think it's a little pricey for what it is.