Polaroid Thread

raid said:
These are very beautiful images, and I am getting very interested in trying out some Polaroid shooting. I have a Hasselblad SWC, and having the Polaroid back for it may be an option. Another option is to get a clean Land Camera 250 Model with modified battery pack. What to you guys recommend works better?
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I'd definitely rather use one of the land cameras.

The instant film is much larger than a 6x6, which is the only size a Hassy can shoot.


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Robert,
Which Polaroid film are you using these days?
Both images look like they were painted.

Raid



robert blu said:
Hi Raid, go for it but be careful: Polaroid and other Instant Cameras can give, no I should say for sure will give addition!

I have and use my father's 340 As painter he liked to use this camera as a block note for the places he liked to paint later in his watercolors.

Here we are with a couple of pictures, once Simo, once myself, a few years ago! Both photo taken with a Polaroid camera, of course!

polaroid-42.jpg


polaroid-5.jpg
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This was an interesting find cleaning out cabinets at work. It was used to take Polaroid pictures of oscilloscope screens in the lab. I think I'll put some fresh batteries and a pack of Fuji in and give it a go!

Funny thing is, the manual that comes with it states you should have someone skilled in first aid and 'resuscitation' standing by before attempting to service it..I've never had such a dangerous camera before! 🙂


IMG_1546 by David, on Flickr
 
raid said:
These are very beautiful images, and I am getting very interested in trying out some Polaroid shooting. I have a Hasselblad SWC, and having the Polaroid back for it may be an option. Another option is to get a clean Land Camera 250 Model with modified battery pack. What to you guys recommend works better?
Click to expand...

Raid, be aware that film choices are limited for Polaroid peel-apart films. Fuji has discontinued FP-3000B, their B&W film (though you can still buy it on eBay) but still makes FP-100C their color film (which is quite good). A lot of folks still use older Polaroid film with good results (or for special effects).

Your other choices are Impossible Project films for SX-70-type cameras or the Fuji Instax line of instant-film cameras.

Jim B.
 

Minolta Instant Pro (aka Polaroid Spectra Pro)
Impossible Project Spectra B&W​

Last Wednesday was my birthday. Such a crazy, busy week—this was the only photograph I made all week. Plopped the camera on the kitchen counter with the self timer on, flash, done. It gives me a chuckle...

Yeah, I'm the guy on the right. 🙂

enjoy, G
 
I'm not convinced that the FP-3000B that is still in circulation is that consistent or controllable. I have some of the last batch (6/2015), and it has been hit or miss, even with a manual camera.

Dante
 
Dante_Stella said:
I'm not convinced that the FP-3000B that is still in circulation is that consistent or controllable. I have some of the last batch (6/2015), and it has been hit or miss, even with a manual camera.

Dante
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I bought 25 packs of FP-3000b the day Fuji announced it was discontinued. I've shot five of them with a Polaroid 350 Land Camera; most recently about two months ago. Seems fine.

I've been meaning to create a chlorine rinse gizmo to retrieve the negatives, but haven't managed to find time to do it yet.

G
 
Godfrey said:
.......I've been meaning to create a chlorine rinse gizmo to retrieve the negatives, but haven't managed to find time to do it yet....
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I tried this for the first time on some FP-100C I shot earlier in the month. The process is not hard to do, but it is a bit messy. My results are OK, but not spectacular. The negs were kind of muddy, though I got some acceptable images once I ran them through PS. I'll try it again in a few days.

Jim B.
 
Godfrey said:
I bought 25 packs of FP-3000b the day Fuji announced it was discontinued. I've shot five of them with a Polaroid 350 Land Camera; most recently about two months ago. Seems fine.

I've been meaning to create a chlorine rinse gizmo to retrieve the negatives, but haven't managed to find time to do it yet.

G
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I wouldn't wait forever to shoot the rest. FP-3000B has always been finicky; it gets more so with age. And my observation using batches that expired both late last year and early this year is that when this stuff goes, it goes. And with the cost averaging about $2 a shot, it's better to shoot this before it starts to require too much experimentation to get the right picture.

D
 
Hi Raid, the photos I posted have been shot on a matt Polaroid (original) film on which you could draw. The effect was interesting but the film was discontinued soon after I discover it!

Now for the SX70 I use Impossible films, the new B&W.2 is contrasty but not bad (by the way I should order a few!) but I still have about ten of the various older Impossible which give "strange" results, sometimes not bad. Not very oft.

For the Land camera I still have a few Fuji FP-3000B which as Dante suggest I should use so long they still work well the only alternative now are the Fuji 100 iso colors which I didn't like so much but seeing the photo Lynn just posted are worthwhile to try.

So, now you too have the Pola virus, it seems 😀 great!

robert
 
raid said:
These are very beautiful images, and I am getting very interested in trying out some Polaroid shooting. I have a Hasselblad SWC, and having the Polaroid back for it may be an option. Another option is to get a clean Land Camera 250 Model with modified battery pack. What to you guys recommend works better?
Click to expand...

I've quietly admired your work for a while raid, love your stuff! I have to say I think you'll only be happy with a fully manual model (180, 185, 190, 195 or a franken-camera). They cost a bit more... $300-700 vs. maybe $50-150 for pretty much anything else. For me shooting instant film feels more like shooting E6 than a nice forgiving B&W film like TMAX 400 -- you really need to nail the exposure. I guess that's why I never got along with a "lighter/darker" knob being my main control over exposure. The other benefit of stepping up to the fully manual models is they come with beautiful glass that is comparably (for nearly-4x5) fast. Given its capable rangefinder (use the Zeiss finder) I shoot my Polaroid 195 practically the same as I would my Plaubel 67 and my Leica.

Good luck if you go that route, I've plenty more tips to share!
 
Harry Caul said:
I've quietly admired your work for a while raid, love your stuff! I have to say I think you'll only be happy with a fully manual model (180, 185, 190, 195 or a franken-camera). They cost a bit more... $300-700 vs. maybe $50-150 for pretty much anything else. For me shooting instant film feels more like shooting E6 than a nice forgiving B&W film like TMAX 400 -- you really need to nail the exposure. I guess that's why I never got along with a "lighter/darker" knob being my main control over exposure. The other benefit of stepping up to the fully manual models is they come with beautiful glass that is comparably (for nearly-4x5) fast. Given its capable rangefinder (use the Zeiss finder) I shoot my Polaroid 195 practically the same as I would my Plaubel 67 and my Leica.

Good luck if you go that route, I've plenty more tips to share!
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Does it make any sense to spend $300 -$700 on a camera that may not have film available for it in the near future ? Just asking. If you are going to spend that much money than you would probably want to buy the black and white film at BHphoto before they run out. They are a bit less than $20.00 each. That is another $200.00 for 10
 
lawnpotter said:
Does it make any sense to spend $300 -$700 on a camera that may not have film available for it in the near future ? Just asking
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Fair enough. I'm not as worried as I have a case and a half of FP3000b in the fridge and, if it comes down to it, will do the same with FP100c. I send my 120 off for developing and scanning... so I was surprised to find that it's more economical to shoot the FP100c. The cost of my camera has long since been sunk!
 
Harry Caul said:
Fair enough. I'm not as worried as I have a case and a half of FP3000b in the fridge and, if it comes down to it, will do the same with FP100c. I send my 120 off for developing and scanning... so I was surprised to find that it's more economical to shoot the FP100c. The cost of my camera has long since been sunk!
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You are fortunate to own the 195. I own the 100 and I like it. I wish I owned one like yours. I see them on Craigs list sometimes. If I had a lot of money than I would buy the camera and maybe spend another $1000.00 on film and put it in the fridge. I guess the film will still be available on ebay for years at a cost
 
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