Today I visited Impossible's factory, where new Polaroids are made.

[bjornkeizers]

Hello gents,

Today is national monument day here in The Netherlands. Because of this special occasion, the good folks at the Impossible Project decided to give tours of their factory in Enschede, which is my home town.

I actually pass by the factory every day and even have an uncle who worked there. But, I've never been inside up until now!

So at 11.30 this morning, we set off for a two hour tour of the factory. The complex once housed 1.200 employees, these days it's pretty much a skeleton crew. They truly did the impossible in resurrecting these packs. Yes, they are expensive, yes, they're not there yet in terms of quality... but every pack sold helps them improve their end product.

So, here's a link to a Flickr set. I'm not going to post the pictures here since most have some added text.

I don't want any snarky comments regarding the quality of these. We're not shooting high art here, so expect to see a blurry pic or two in there.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjornkeizers/sets/72157635510027061/

 

[Particular]

Very cool! I love the bins with reject prints.

 

[alienmeatsack]

Neat stuff! Just think as they hone their product, they are also helping resurrect the instant cameras around the world that were sitting unused. Pretty cool to see the place they make it happen.

And to see how many they have to toss too - makes me not feel so bad when I have bad prints 😀

 

[35mmdelux]

nice reportage - thanks -

 

[Orbiter]

Thank you for posting this, a really fascinating look at the operation. When you think of all the different operations that must be done properly to end up with a well-functioning film pack it does seem like magic.

 

[bjornkeizers]

Yeah those reject bins... I saw at least two bins during the visit. Each could've filled a bathtub quite nicely. I don't know how long they take to fill one up with rejects, but it certainly drove home the point that they have a little way to go before it's a perfected process.

Each of those obviously also adds to the cost of each picture that makes it out to us as customers. Honestly, I feel far less bad about buying an 8 picture pack for 20 euros now...

 

[zauhar]

My kid is using instant film for a project in college - maybe their material? I have to ask.

Thanks for sharing the images, looks like a fascinating place.

That reject bin is cause for optimism not concern - means they care about what they are doing.

Randy

 

[Argenticien]

Yes thanks for the peek inside the Impossibuilding. I had a laugh at the fact that they covered the labels of the chemical containers so that the recipe could not be stolen. The notion of someone stealing that knowledge, then building a competing business and becoming wildly rich from it, is quite fanciful. More likely anyone who tried to get into this business would lose everything. Never mind the fact that one needs not only the recipe, but also the mind-boggling assortment of expensive purpose-built machinery that is probably one-of-a-kind in the world. (Maybe two-of-a-kind at most, with the other being deep in a Fuji factory.) This looks like an insanely complicated manufacturing process. Good on them for attempting its resurrection.

--Dave

 

[crawdiddy]

Must be a great tour. I love seeing how really technical stuff is made.

 

[rwintle]

And thanks from me too. That MASSIVE view camera is quite the thing! 🙂

 

[Rangefinderfreak]

A huge plant, by any measure... I just hope they would get the end products closer the original or Fuji instant stuff. Now it seems to remain, just as the name hints... "Impossible Project"

 

[bjornkeizers]

Some of those machines definitely are one-of-a-kind like the one that makes the little chemical pouches. The explanation as to why that machine works the way that it does is... mind boggling complicated.

He mentioned that one of the aspects of production is putting a 'red stripe' on the pouch material that (as I understand it) is part of a very precise sealing method that regulates the even spread of chemicals across the actual film plane. If they didn't put that part in, as well as a special 'trap' at the top, the developer would either spill over the edges, not reach the top, or not spread enough chemical to actually develop it. And the difference between an over-, under- and correctly exposed picture is measured in micrograms of material.

Imagine how incredibly difficult it must've been to work out that sequence of events in order to make that part work the way it does, without fault, in every pack that Polaroid used to produce.

It's a downright miracle that this was once a booming industry. By all accounts, this should never have worked in the first place. My hat's off to them.

 

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

I have a lot of time for these people. They're recycling a lot of technology that would otherwise get melted down or stuck in landfill. What's more, they're giving pleasure to many and reducing the number of otherwise "useless" Polaroid cameras that would also end up in landfill.

 

[farlymac]

I'll have to go back to finish the tour. Must be a lot of folks looking at it because it quite advancing just before the stack of rejects photo. Well done documentation of a very interesting place.

PF