Tag: instant film

Spring ‘Roid Week 2010 starts this Monday, May 3!

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It’s almost that time again! Polaroid Week Spring 2010 will be May 3–7. Participating is easy: make some pictures on any instant film and post them to the ‘Roid Week 2010 group on Flickr (free accounts work).

Don’t be scared off now that Polaroid means horrendously expensive, you can play on the cheap: Fuji still makes really nice peel-apart instant film in both color and black and white that are cheaper than Polaroid was when it was in production. If you need a camera, you can grab a Holga-like, zone focus Polaroid Super Shooter or Super Shooter Plus on eBay for under 10 bucks, or a rangefinder-focused Automatic 100 [pic] or Automatic 250 [pic] for $25–30. Want integral film (the kind the spits out the front of the camera)? Check out Fuji Instax!

Fall ‘Roid Week 2009 dates announced – Nov 2-6!

Nicolai Grossman 1 Comment

It’s almost that time again! Polaroid Week Fall 2009 will be November 2–6. Participating is easy: make some pictures on any instant film and post them to the ‘Roid Week 2009 group on Flickr (free accounts work).

Don’t be scared off now that Polaroid means horrendously expensive, you can play on the cheap: Fuji still makes really nice peel-apart instant film in both color and black and white that are cheaper than Polaroid was when it was in production. If you need a camera, you can grab a Holga-like, zone focus Polaroid Super Shooter or Super Shooter Plus on eBay for under 10 bucks, or a rangefinder-focused Automatic 100 [pic] or Automatic 250 [pic] for $25–30.

Here are the ‘Roid Week guidelines:

About ‘Roid Week Fall 2009

Hello!

POLAROID WEEK is a bi-annual celebration of all things instant!

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.

* Members can post up to 3 photos a day.

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

* No Poladroids! You have your own group to play in. This is a film only group.

* Post photos you haven’t posted on Flickr before. Give us something new. We will unceremoniously delete all photos that do not meet this requirement.

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

Hope for Polaroid 8×10 instant films in 2010?

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The Impossible Project—the people behind NOS Polaroid film resellers Polapremium and Polaroid photo sharing site Polanoid—bought the equipment necessary to make Polaroid 8×10 instant film, and hopes to start production in 2010.

New successful prototypes of black and white integral film for SX-70 and 600 Polaroid cameras have also been completed. Awesome.

More details in this article at the British Journal of Photography.

Via traskblueribbon

Polaroid Week 2009 starts tomorrow!

Nicolai Grossman Leave a comment

‘Roid Week 2009 starts tomorrow! This is a five day posting event for photos made on any instant film. It’s in its third year, and is normally a lot of fun and showcases some really excellent work.

I’ll be shooting with a bunch of stuff, but I’m particularly excited to have gotten a hold of two boxes of Fuji FP-100C peel-apart film in the elusive 4×5 size. Its low resolution is a fantastic match for a Cooke PS945 portrait lens.

Click here to join the ‘Roid Week 2009 group on Flickr and add your instant photos to the pool. (You can participate with a free account.)

Hope to see you there!

New Polaroid Chocolate, Blue, and Sepia Polaroid pack films from PolaPremium

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PolaPremium just released three new, monochromatic, type 100 (3.25 × 4.25 inch / 8.5 × 10.8 cm) peel-apart/pack films. This thread on Flickr says:

These three films were produced by Polaroid employees in the factory in Mexico shortly before the factory was closed forever. Even the packaging was designed by Polaroid employees, making these brand new films 100% Polaroid products, through and through.

100 Chocolate, ISO 80, is apparently the same film as the renowned/smaller/extremely expensive type 80 film of the same name. Run of 30,000 packs that expires October 2009.

100 Blue is ISO 80 and appears to be a full color film, but with a heavy blue cast that looks a lot like expired 669. Run of 15,000 packs that expires April 2009.

100 Sepia is ISO 1500. To me, it’s the most interesting-looking of the films, but at such a weird ISO, it’s probably going to take some fiddling with the exposure compensation dial on most full-frame type 100 cameras, unless you’re lucky enough to have a 180, 190, or 195. Run of 30,000 packs that expires October 2009.

All three cost $16 USD per pack of 10 exposures and are available from the PolaPremium film shop.

Limited stocks of out-of-print Polaroid films from PolaPremium available NOW

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PolaPremium just launched their web store with a bunch of out-of-print Polaroid films. Of particular interest are 600 B&W, Artistic TZ, Type 80 Chocolate, and Type 55 Pos/Neg, as well as straight 600, Spectra, a number of peel-apart/pack films, books, vintage cameras, and accessories.

The 600 B&W seems particularly interesting… if you look at the sample shots, the tonal range is almost ambrotype-ish, where the brightest highlights are still quite dark. It’s going fast: the site listed 311 packs in stock when I looked a few hours ago (immediately after the store went live), and it’s already down to 224, so grab it NOW if you want some.

Yes, it’s expensive. And it ships from Europe, so those of us in the States get hit ($25 flat rate) on shipping for a change. But it’s the good stuff, and I’d be surprised if this didn’t do very well, despite the cost, once again casting favorable light on Polaroid’s unique products and horrible light on their business and marketing decisions.

PolaPremium: apparently big instant film news coming in 3.1 hours

Nicolai Grossman 2 Comments

Some big news in instant film is apparently happening in about 3.1 hours, according to the PolaPremium web site, which for now teases us with a countdown timer and the text, "The New Home of Instant Photography".

It appears that there will be new instant films from unsaleable.com, the folks who did SX-70 Blend, indicated both by the rumor mill, and the fact that their site is now just a link to PolaPremium, titled "Transfer in Progress…"

As someone who laments the loss of Polaroid integral films on a daily basis, I’m waiting with baited breath!

Check PolaPremium.com and the PolaPremium group on Flickr to see what happens.

Fuji brings Instax integral instant film to the US

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According to this press release, Fuji is finally bringing their integral instant film (sorta similar to Polaroid 600 and Spectra) to the US. Here’s the meat of it:

"In recent months, as availability of instant film has dwindled, we’ve received inquiries from customers in a range of markets here in the U.S. including health care, law enforcement, insurance, real estate, and others, who really need to continue using a traditional instant film solution" said Christian Fridholm, vice president of marketing, consumables, Imaging Division, FUJIFILM U.S.A. "We believe that people familiar with instant photography, but who are new to the Fujifilm Instax brand, will be impressed with the intuitive design of the Instax 200, and will be especially pleased with the vivid colors and bright whites delivered by our Instax Instant Color Film."

The Instax 200 and Instax Instant Color Film will begin shipping in late December and will be available for purchase through Fujifilm’s professional dealer network. MSRP for the Instax 200 is $69.99 and a 20-pack of Instax Instant Color Film is $28.99.

…

The Fujifilm Instax System offers an appealing alternative to previous users of Polaroid cameras utilizing Polaroid Type 600 Films…

$28.99 for 20 shots is on the high side, but I’ve seen it cheaper online from several Canadian resellers.

For more info, check out Fujifilm USA’s Instax web page and Instax system PDF data sheet.