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Polaroid Week Fall 2008 starts tomorrow—Monday, 27 October, 2008! Shoot some Polaroids and upload them to the Polaroid Week 2008 group on Flickr—you can participate with a free account!

About ‘Roid Week Fall 2008

It’s that time again…..POLAROID WEEK! This one is a little bittersweet — as you all know, Polaroid has . It very well could be the last Polaroid Week we have…

But until that happens, it’s time to play! Post a Polaroid a day.

OCTOBER 27 – OCTOBER 31, 2008

Five days. Five polaroids. (or more if you’re so inspired, just not more than 3 a day)

Here are the simple rules:

* It’s five days. Monday thru Friday.

* Pool opens at 6:00 am on Monday, Eastern Standard Time.

* Pool closes at 12:00 am on Friday (technically, Saturday), Pacific Standard Time [GMT -8].

* Members can post up to 3 photos a day.

* Though we call it "Polaroid Week," any instant film is fine.

* Post photos you haven’t posted on Flickr before. Give us something new.

* And give us something good. This is our seasonal eye candy. Make it sweet.

Love,

Cate n’ Lori

PS: Check out last year’s Polaroid Week 2007 for inspiration!

This article in Amateur Photographer says:

Polaroid is in fresh talks over the survival of its professional instant sheet film following its failure to reach agreement with UK firm Ilford Photo.

Polaroid bosses have confirmed that they are in discussions with a ‘third party’ over the continued production of 20×24in large format professional b&w sheet film.

In a meeting with Amateur Photographer, Polaroid’s European vice-president Paul Telford also revealed that there is a ’strong possibility’ that production of 8×10in format sheet film will be taken up by an, as yet, unnamed manufacturer…

According to this post from Ilford/Harman on APUG, Ilford will not assume production of Polaroid’s discontinued black and white peel-apart/pack films:

Dear All,

I have been out for a few days and several of you have sent me PM’s re POLAROID : Please see below :

April 18th, 2008, Mobberley, Cheshire UK and Minnetonka, MN, USA — HARMAN technology Limited and its monochrome brand, ILFORD Photo and Polaroid Worldwide have been in discussions about ILFORD Photo taking on production of Polaroid’s black and white professional instant sheet film. Despite their best efforts, together the prospective partners have determined that they can not find a commercially viable way forward.

HARMAN’s Chairman and Managing Director, Phil Harris said. "The processes involved in the manufacture and assembly of professional instant sheet film products are very demanding and it would require substantial investment to re-establish them at HARMAN technology’s site in Cheshire, England. When compared with current and projected sales for the products, it was clear that such an investment could not be justified."

Phil Harris continues: "While we had hoped to work together on continuing the production of instant sheet film, it is cost prohibitive to meet the declining demand. As a company, we are saddened that such an inspirational form of expression will disappear, but we will always remain staunchly committed to the long term future of monochrome photography in all its facets and we will continue to do everything we can to support it".

Simon ILFORD Photo / HARMAN technology Limited

I’m not worried. Fuji’s FP-100B and FP-3000B are drop-in replacements for Polaroid’s ISO 100 and 3000 black and white pack films, and they’re cheaper! And personally, I like them better anyway. (Fuji also has an ISO 100 color pack film, FP-100C. Same goes: still available, cheaper, and IMO nicer. It’s the loss of Polaroid’s integral films, 600 and Spectra/779 that I’m crying over.)

Shoot some Polaroids, head on over to the ‘Roid Week 2008 group on Flickr (a free account will do), and jump on in!

This time I’ll be shooting expired 669 and Fuji FP-100C and FP-100B peel-apart/pack films and 600 & 779 with a Super Shooter, an Automatic 100, an SLR 680, a Spectra, and a Hasselblad with an NPC Polaroid back. (Yeah, I should narrow it down, but it’s a fun excuse to shoot everything!)

Here’s my Roid Week picture for today, the de Young museum on Fuji FP-100B film shot in an Automatic 100 (see this previous post about my experience with this camera):

Grab a camera and get shooting!

Polaroid Week 2008 is a month away! Shoot 5 Polaroids and upload them to the Polaroid Week 2008 group on Flickr—you can participate with a free account!

Get your cameras out, stock up on film, and get ready to shoot, Polaroid Week 2008 starts this Monday, 21 April, 2008!

About ‘Roid Week 2008

It’s that time again…..POLAROID WEEK! This one is a little bittersweet — as you all know, Polaroid has . It very well could be the last Polaroid Week we have…

But until that happens, it’s time to play! Post a Polaroid a day.

APRIL 21 - APRIL 25, 2008

Five days. Five polaroids. (or more if you’re so inspired, just not more than 3 a day)

Starting on Monday, April 21 2008. Stock up on film (!), dust off your SX70, Spectra, 600 or Polaroid weapon of choice this week and start shooting!

Or dig out old squares you’ve found, stolen, or have had laying around since high school and scan scan scan.

Here are our requests: please post photos you haven’t posted on Flickr before. Meaning, give us something new — don’t contribute a Polaroid to this group that you already posted last September. That’s just plain lazy. Also, please don’t post more than three photos to the pool a day.

C’mon. Play with us. You know you want to.

Love,

Cate n’ Lori

PS: Check out last year’s Polaroid Week 2007 for inspiration!

Polaroid Week 2008 is a month away! Shoot 5 Polaroids and upload them to the Polaroid Week 2008 group on Flickr—you can participate with a free account!

The quality of the work produced for this event has been extremely high in the past—a mid-week roundup from the last one is here. Don’t miss out on the awesomeness!

About ‘Roid Week 2008

It’s that time again…..POLAROID WEEK! This one is a little bittersweet — as you all know, Polaroid has . It very well could be the last Polaroid Week we have…

But until that happens, it’s time to play! Post a Polaroid a day.

APRIL 21 - APRIL 25, 2008

Five days. Five polaroids. (or more if you’re so inspired, just not more than 3 a day)

Starting on Monday, April 21 2008. Stock up on film (!), dust off your SX70, Spectra, 600 or Polaroid weapon of choice this week and start shooting!

Or dig out old squares you’ve found, stolen, or have had laying around since high school and scan scan scan.

Here are our requests: please post photos you haven’t posted on Flickr before. Meaning, give us something new — don’t contribute a Polaroid to this group that you already posted last September. That’s just plain lazy. Also, please don’t post more than three photos to the pool a day.

C’mon. Play with us. You know you want to.

Love,

Cate n’ Lori

PS: Check out last year’s Polaroid Week 2007 for inspiration!

As I posted, I recently converted a friend’s Polaroid Automatic 100 land camera to use normal AAA batteries. I got the chance to take it out for a spin in Golden Gate Park.

Having separate windows for rangefinder focusing and framing is a little weird, and more shows up on film than the framelines tell you, but I really liked shooting with it. You can carry the camera with the bellows collapsed and still use the viewfinder, only extending them to actually take a picture. This makes it nice and compact for walking around, fitting easily in your hand or on a strap under your arm. (I’d leave the cover at home, since it’s a big useless thing you have to carry, kind of like a bigger Holga lens cap).

Overall, I give the Polaroid Automatic 100 a "hell yeah". You can find them for around US $10 on eBay in working order (except the battery conversion, but you can also just use more expensive batteries if you’re not up for that), and despite the demise of Polaroid, Fuji still makes a very nice pack film that’s cheaper (and IMO nicer) than Polaroid was anyway. Fuji’s compatible films are FP-100C (ISO100 color), FP-100B (ISO100 black and white), and FP-3000B (ISO3000 black and white).

Here are some shots from the park… as you can see, the magnolias were in full bloom!

Expired Polaroid 669

Double exposure on expired Polaroid 669

Expired Polaroid 669

Fuji FP-100C

Here’s a table of projected availability of films from Polaroid. Given that people are stockpiling like crazy and that a lot of retailers won’t be re-stocking (e.g. Costco), I think this is probably very optimistic, but there it is. It also lists the latest expiration dates you’ll find for each type.

I just modified a friend’s Polaroid Automatic 100 Land camera to take normal AAA batteries. I followed the battery conversion instructions from option-8’s excellent Converting Vintage Polaroids, and it went really smoothly.

I did end up having to shave a few mm off of the two plastic supports that held up the original battery holder to get the battery compartment door to close, but a Dremel made quick work of that.

It’s shooting dark, but apparently that’s pretty common with these.

Normal (exposure dial set to middle)

+1 stop (exposure dial at plus 1 full notch toward Lighter)

+2 stops (exposure dial all the way toward Lighter)

It’s still a bit dark at maximum brightness, but that’s kind of where I like it.

Note: despite the mind-bendingly tragic demise of Polaroid, Fuji makes a nice pack film. I like the FP-100C better than Polaroid’s 690 (yuck) and 669, anyway.

CBS Sunday Morning segment

Video Killed The Polaroid Star: cute arty short