New hope for Polaroid photographers

[photax]

I have read in the weekend newspapers, that some folks ( one austrian and a bunch of nederlands ) try to reinvent the Polaroid-film and bougt therefore the Polaroid factory in the nederlands.
Have a look at:

www.the-impossible-project.com/

lg MIK

[mickeyobe]

I wish them luck but I have grave doubts that Polaroid can compete with the far, far cheaper and considerably more versatile digital photography.

I was out on Sunday and shot 61 pictures at virtually no cost. I came home and edited them and manipulated them on Photoshop. Still no cost.

Well, I gues miracles might still happen.

Mickey

[PeterW]

Unless these guys can start a cult following, like the Lomo boys, I agree with Mickey. I don't think they stand a hope in hell of making it pay. There just isn't the market for Polaroid nowadays.

PeterW

[aceroadholder]

Mickey, what size prints does your digital camera make when you take a photograph..... oh wait, is there a digital camera that can do that?
Seriously, there is a small market for instant photography. For legal uses and any situation or business where you need a photo right now.
Instant photography has never been cheap, but it does something nothing else does.. and the question becomes, are enough people willing to pay for that.
Instant photography isn't in competition with your DSLR...never was in competition with your SLR (or good rangefinder) either. What these guys need is to interest the cell phone crowd... If they can, they may have a chance... The technology and machinery are in hand and bought for almost nothing... just have to make film for the millions of Polaroid cameras and the new Nikon IFD-20 instant film/digital camera.

Orlin in SC/USA

[mickeyobe]

Hi, Orlin.

I can see the picture instantly on the screen at the back of my Pentax K100d camera. Granted that is not the best way to view it but view it I can.

When I get home to my miraculous digital darkroom on a desk as so clearly described elsewhere (in today's "Togetherness" thread) by PeterW I can make as many prints as I wish in almost any size I wish although I have never gone over 8"x10". I can also alter the exposure, contrast, colour, etc. etc. I can, furthermore, "mail" them anywhere in the world and pay no postage.

When Polaroid was first introduced I was working in a camera store. I took advantage of many opportunities to make "60 second" Polaroid pictures and, in those days, coat them. Exposure was hit and miss. Quality was, at best, mediocre. Permanency was very questionable. Manipulation, virtually impossible.

I now have a small collection of 9 Polaroid cameras. Polaroid just never impressed me. The one exception being the superb 110A. But it is now, unlike my 1895 8"x10" Gundlach Korona and thousands of other film (glass, sheet or roll) cameras, which can still be used, completely useless as are the other 8 and the rest of the abandoned Polaroids.

"there is a small market for instant photography. For legal uses and any situation or business where you need a photo right now."
When I was in business and I retired 11 years ago, I had an HP DeskJet 340 portable printer to go along with my laptop computer. It was used for "right now" copies. They must surely be available today in greatly improved versions.

I am, however, sure - well almost sure - that there is a use for Edwin Land's ingenious Polaroid somewhere, somehow, so I hope they succeed. After all, they were the technological marvels of their day and should not be relegated to complete obscurity.

Oh dear. 2:10 am. And so to bed.

Mickey

[Randy]

Polaroid photos don't have much of a shelf life either. A twinkie lasts longer.

[PeterW]

aceroadholder wrote

Seriously, there is a small market for instant photography. For legal uses and any situation or business where you need a photo right now.

There's a big market now for membership and other identifying cards that have the holder's picture on them. I have a Senior Citizen's bus pass with my picture on it, a Reader's Card for the British Museum Library, a disabled parking pass which allows any car in which I'm a passenger to park at meters and in car parks without paying a fee, also with my pictures on them and a couple of others.

When I got my Reader's Card, for example, there was a box with a lens on the front on the application desk. I looked at the lens while there was a click, and about three minutes later I had my card with my picture encapsulated in it.

There is a growing acceptance for scanned and printed, or even photocopied, documents to be accepted legally provided the copy is signed by a Justice of the Peace or similar public notary as being an "unmanipulated" copy.

I don't know how much more instant you want a picture but in my mind Polaroid technology, innovative though it was, is yesterday's technology. I can't see a market for it.

PeterW

[Deleted]

One could produce beautiful prints with Polaroid B&W film. It was virtually grainless with a creamy texture. The film also could capture a huge range of gray tones.

[photax]

I will agree to the gentlemen, whou said that these days there is no market for yesterdays technology. However i wish the guys all the best, although i am not convinced that this will be a success, because they are selling T-shirts to keep the factory warm ! (as seen on their web-site). I had taken snapshots with my SX-70 years ago (donated from a relative) and sometimes there was a nice one among them. I just knew that a Polaroid-camera was no Leica and a Polaroid-picture is not everlasting, but it was a lot of fun. In my opinion it is simply a snapshooting fun-camera. Once, as a joke, i had tried to make portraits with the Polaroid Big-Shot, like Andy Warhol did: the result was awfully bad. No art at all The only serious camera in my collection is the 110A ( as Mickey wrote ) with an rodenstock Ysarex lens.
But if there will be a new film, i`ll buy one for sure, because my Polaroid 600 Tasmanian Devil already looks frightening hungry.

lg MIK

[Mark Vaughan]

I'll buy a Polaroid - or a bunch of pack film for my 80A and 110A - if they pull this off.

[herron]

Perhaps I should dust off the Polaroid backs for my Speed Graphic?

[drako]

Whether these guys think they can build a cult following or there is indeed a captive market (legal, etc.), I would not want this to by *my* latest business venture. Unless I happened to be a glutton for pain, of which most certainly am not!

[aceroadholder]

I was at Camera's Unlimited here in Greeville, South Carolina this afternoon discussing this and the owner pointed out that he has Fuji instant film in stock.. I asked him if he sells any and he said yes, "That's the reason I stock it."

Admittedly, any photographic business not digital and without a manufacturing base in China is going to have a very difficult time surviving... I guess that explains why, last week, the Fuji film plant in Greenwood SC announced it is adding 50 employees??

I hope that instant film and negative film will be able to find a market stabilized point so that continued production will be a long term viable proposition.

Orlin in SC

[vintageslrs]

Well, first off---(for Randy) Yes, a Twinkie will have a longer shelf life....but that is no small feat---I think a Twinkie has a shelf life of about 10 years.... .

And secondly----I certainly wish them well and I do believe there is already a cult following for Polaroid....and a pretty big one at that...particularly here in the US. If they do get it up and running I think folks of that cult will buy the film and the cameras if they are not too expensive.

It would be nice to see.....

Bob