Tag: pack film

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

Nicolai Grossman Leave a comment

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

Nicolai Grossman Leave a comment

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.

No Polaroid B&W pack film from Ilford

Nicolai Grossman 4 Comments

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.)

Adventures with a Polaroid Automatic 100

Nicolai Grossman 6 Comments

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

Polaroid Automatic 100 battery conversion

Nicolai Grossman 1 Comment

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.

DIY Polaroid peel-apart film drying rack

Nicolai Grossman 4 Comments

Dealing with Polaroid peel-apart film in the field is a bit of a pain, because once you peel it, you need to think of something to do with the print, and protect it from dust, bugs, and dirt, whilst it dries. Some of them are pretty fast, but some, like 669, seem to take ages. This is why I seldom shoot pack film out and about, it’s just too cumbersome.

As you can see above, David D solved this problem elegantly and cheaply. Sweet, I can’t wait to try this!

Polaroid to discontinue 80-series peel-apart instant films

Nicolai Grossman Leave a comment

Fucking hell, Polaroid are killing yet another range of films! This time it’s the 80 series (84, 87, 88, and 89) 3.25 x 3.38-inch peel-apart pack film—the stuff you shoot in Holgaroids, supershooters, and squareshooters. Each product page bears the following message:

Please be advised that Polaroid will be discontinuing 8[x] film within the last 3 months of 2006 due to the phasing out of components used in the production of this film.

I guess it’s time to figure out how to hack a full-frame back as a Holgaroid replacement… hopefully the 3.25 x 4.25-inch 600 series pack film isn’t going anywhere for a while. Although, with Time-Zero and type 85 pos/neg discontinued, who the hell knows?