Well it's too late for last month's #ShittyCameraChallenge but here's a picture from my Polaroid.
Add: this may be the final picture from that poor excuse for a camera. To be clear, this picture is okay. But the camera - or maybe the film - has been misfunctioning to the point where only 1 picture in an 8-pack ends up usable. I have 1 shot left in the current pack, then I'm done.
[#]Polaroid #photography
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Explaining my Polaroid problem further...
Of the 7 photos taken with this 8-pack, 5 had dark, un-developed or under-developed stripes covering the left side the photo. Some but not all of the photos had places where the emulsion turned brown.
Unrelated to the above, one of the 7 was so badly overexposed it was impossible to tell what I had photographed. It was a white mess.
On the other hand, yesterday's photo of the two chairs was in the middle of the pack... and it turned out okay. So I am not sure I can blame the age of the film for the problem.
The film pack was stored in the fridge for 4 months prior to use. The bad photos were taken over the course of the 3 weeks the film was in the camera, at room temperature, post refrigeration.
Bad film? Bad shutter? Dirty rollers (they were recently cleaned). Dunno. But considering all the other problems I've had with the camera (mostly severe over or under-exposure), I'm ready to give up.
Edit: a possible answer from Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Polaroid/comments/pkepi9/what_did_i_do_wrong/
[#]Polaroid
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@BobHorowitz Oh, this accident result seems very useful to me.🤩
I've never had problems like this before. Unless I didn't store the film in the fridge. Even at normal outside temperatures.
On the other hand, it's very clammy outside, my shots often go in blue or green tint.
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@heikor This is a good shot. I don't mind the cast... In fact I rather like the jewel tones.
Later on, when I have time, I will post the problem shots. It looks like the shutter didn't fully open and large areas of the pictures were under-developed or not exposed at all.
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@BobHorowitz Just add two ferns. :)
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@MadBrad You're dating yourself, old man :) Fern bars were a 1970s and 80s thing that died out with the preppies.
Which reminds me...remember the Alta Plaza? An entire bar filled with men wearing sweaters and Lacostes, drinking apple martinis.
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@BobHorowitz Isn't that all Polaroids looked back in the day?
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@mfennvt
If you mean blurry, with odd colors, sure.
But dark, unexposed portions of the photo? Nah. It shouldn't be doing that.
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@BobHorowitz Gotcha. My friends had bad cameras then. 😀
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@BobHorowitz what camera body is this shot on?
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@genex A one-year-old Polaroid Now+ Gen 2.
I've run about six packs of film through it in the past year. The black and white pack was a total disaster, severely overexposed on every shot, like a whiteout snowstorm. The color packs have been okay, although with terrible resolution and every other shot either under or overexposed.
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@BobHorowitz Gotcha, I have used almost all of those and I actually like the older versions more than the Now models. I got the I-2 and am very happy with that but it's way more $. Of those box style new Polaroids, my favorite was the older Polaroid OneStep+ - I had bought all the different ones up to the Now + and settled on the I2 as being worth the cost to create what I wanted to and the filter thread is really fun to take advantage of
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@genex Thanks, Gene.
Let me ask you something: how do you deal with keeping the exposed film covered after you've taken a shot? I need a practical solution for transferring the film from the front of the camera to, say, a dark satchel once the film spits out of the camera. Keeping the entire camera in a dark bag for 15 minutes while the film develops is impractical.
Also... eventually I might look at the relatively new Lomo’Instant Wide Camera. I like the vignetting lomo effect. The color results are not as retro, jewel-toned, and bent as I would like though.
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@BobHorowitz so I can't recall if the model of camera you have has the "frog tongue" - if it does, what I do is usually hold a dark slide on top of the frog tongue and then flip up the curled part of the frog tongue so it'll retract into the camera and then the dark slide is covering the image. Then i put the shot in my pocket. (will try and record a video of this process) I actually was thinking to write a review of the new Lomo'Instant Wide Glass which I've been playing with. I do like it and the wide film format but like you I kinda like how Polaroid film ages and can have imperfections while the Fuji film is like always too perfect.
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@genex Yes, mine has a frog tongue... And I've been doing something similar to what you just described. I cover the film in a black slipcover and do my best to release it from the tongue while keeping light out of the slipcover. It's not perfect... some light slips in for a second or two. And it is awkward as hell to hold the slipcover in place with one hand, hold the camera with another hand, and release the frog tongue with your third hand, lol.
Also yes, Fuji film does render things too realistically. And the glass camera, with a slightly higher cost, is even more accurate than the version with a plastic lens. Part of me wants to get something less accurate, not more... with vintage / badly tinted colors.
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@BobHorowitz Yeah it's a dexterity thing for sure! it's nice you have a third hand too! If you wanna compare the Lomo'Instant Wides I have both if you wanna test them and/or if you want the plastic lens one I may be down to sell that one since I like the Glass one a bit more so far...
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@genex Gene, I may very well take you up on your offer to test the plastic lens camera... and maybe purchase it. Too much going on right now to think about it this part of the month. Towards the end of January I will have more time to play. Juggling a lot of balls right now.
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@BobHorowitz yep just hit me up whenever you have time!
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@genex Will do. Thanks!
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@genex Hey, Gene. Following up with a quick note, now that we are approaching the end of the month.
I'm not going to go the lomo route, at least not for now. Between expenses, caretaking duties for an elderly friend, my own medical issues, and lack of time, I need sit tight for a while. Eventually I might look at the yet-to-be-released Wide EVO, but even that is a ways off in the future.
I don't want to hold you up if you are planning to sell your older wide lomo.
As for my Polaroid Gen 2+, I have one final pack of film to try out before I give up entirely. If this last pack, just purchased from Best Buy, is also a dud, then I know it's the camera that's a failure. It's a shame. I had high hopes for the camera when I got it a year ago but it's been nothing but frustration.
Anyway, off to bed here. Cheers. Hope I run into you at some point since we are both local.
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@BobHorowitz Sounds good - no rush on the Lomo I have. If you didn't know, #Polacon Bay Area is coming March 13-16 and it's a great event to meet up with lots of instant film nerds and check out funky gear, cool techniques etc. Here's details on it as tickets are now on sale - I highly recommend checking out at least the Saturday event at Thee Parkside! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/polacon-bay-area-2025-tickets-1218711812839
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@genex Oh cool. Thanks, Gene! I will check it out.
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@BobHorowitz I find this is the frustration and charm with modern Polaroid. I never used it back in the day, but I hear it used to be as reliable as instax.
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@Billthoo
”charm" 🤣
The older Polaroids got much better reviews and results. There was a 50/50 split when it came to the Now+, with half the people who purchased them being frustrated.
I think exposure is the biggest problem. I've learned that if a scene has interesting colors but similar luminosity throughout, there is zero chance the photo will turn out well. And if there is too much contrast, again the photo will turn out badly, with no detail and everything either blown out or silhouetted.
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@BobHorowitz my best images were on bright cloudy days - diffuser light box conditions. Then I got lovely pastels.
The flaws scream “I shoot film…” it’s very charming when it works. Not this banding shit, though… 😆
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@BobHorowitz @Billthoo I can confirm the older Polaroids being better. Tried bunch of the cameras, I find the older ones much more reliable. The only one I kept is the SX70 and it still works well, when I can get my hands on a good pack of film at reasonable cost.
Bob, as for your exposures, my guess would be film. I’ve seen countless results like you describe during The Impossible Project experimental film days. Chemistry in pouches not mixed correctly and/or issues with film resulting in banding and all kinds of weirdness. I found their film was the best just before they started making new cameras, and I feel like lot of the focus went away as they got into cameras. I mostly stopped shooting the film shortly after that, but still every now and then get a pack with decent results.
As for shielding the film, I just used the frog tongue. Waited for 30-60s after exposure with the photo under the tongue, then grab it at sides from below, rotating it under the tongue towards the camera (so exposed side faces down) and into a box/pouch/pocket. Not sure how the new film is, but that seemed to be sufficient back then.
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@mayo @Billthoo Thanks, Mayo. I think you are correct here: the film is not dispensing fluids onto the backing correctly. I ordered the color pack from Amazon last summer, along with its black and white and equally disastrous companion.
I had a friend with an SX-70 who used to get beautiful results nearly 100% of the time. With gorgeous colors too... The candy apple reds really stood out in my mind.
I have decided to drop by Best Buy and pick up a fresh pack of film. And shoot the entire 8 pack within a week of inserting it into the camera.
As for how sensitive the film is to light during the first couple of minutes out of the camera... I'm not sure. I always thought if a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second was enough to take a picture then I should be very careful exposing a fresh photo to a few seconds of light while I was handling it. But that might be faulty thinking on my part.
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@BobHorowitz, the Reddit sounds like a probable explanation.
I've not looked elsewhere but the Polaroid literature all seems to say room temperature for storage. My experience with Polaroid is very scant and only just beginning, having scorned them when I was younger.
On a related note, I just had some fun testing a ProPack camera with some Polaroid 107 B&W that expired in 1977. I might start a band called Caustic Jelly.
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@roguemusiclab The reddit picture/problem certainly matched mine to a T. And the explanation seemed reasonable. Well, I have a store credit at BestBuy and there's nothing else on my wish list that they carry, so one more pack of film seems likely.
1977 film? That's crazy!
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@BobHorowitz, I would also recommend cleaning the rollers. I found watered down dish soap with a q-tip worked reasonably well. I was able to clean up both the ProPack and my SX-70.
Here's the worst of the 1977.
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@roguemusiclab That is one hot 🔥 mess, James.
Jeez chuckles
And yes, before the next pack I will re-clean the rollers. I used alcohol two packs ago. I'll try diluted dish soap this time.
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@BobHorowitz Have you watched “An Impossible Project,” a documentary about the people who saved the last Polaroid factory, and the challenges they’ve faced? (Did I hear about it from you?)
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@breitensteinart I remember reading about an impossible project years ago... Maybe in an Atlantic article. I don't think I've seen the video.
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@BobHorowitz ... Can't help with your Polaroid problems, Bob, but the Shitty Camera Challenge ends at the end of January. There's still time to enter more super images, like these.
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@keithdevereux Oh! Good to know, Keith. Thanks.
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@BobHorowitz I love that little corner on #SlowSanchez. Remember when they had the fake grass there too? I always wanted to sit there for a bit, but couldn't tell if it was intended for public use or not.
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@docpop Oh I forgotten about the fake grass. That was a nice touch :-)
As far as I can tell, the table and chairs are set out there to make passers-by comfortable. But I rarely see people sitting there.
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@docpop
A few months earlier, I took this photo of the chairs and table. The mood was right: first heavy drizzle of the season, and the sky was dark.
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