It began with an innocent inquiry by a
3 year old girl in 1943. While Doctor Land was snapping pictures on
the beach in Santa Fe, his daughter asked “Daddy, why can't I see
the picture now?” He pondered that question the rest of the day,
and had a workable answer that would drive his company for the next
half century.
Though instant Polaroid roll film is
one of the few types of instant film you cannot get anymore, the
cameras form an essential part of my collection. The 95 was the first
fully instant camera they rolled out in 1947. The first pictures
came out in sepia tone and were prone to fading. This was solved by
immediately painting on a sticky stop goo called the print coater.
One would have to wave it back and forth to dry the coater. This is
where the famous “shake it like a Polaroid” came from.
Originally the intention was to have
other companies manufacture the cameras, but the cameras of the time
were fairly inaccurate ( due to easy corrections that could be made
in the darkroom). Obviously with instant film no lab based
corrections could be made to the image. The cameras had to have very
specific shutter times, so Polaroid started to manufacture their own
cameras.
Polaroid got a reputation as a consumer
point and shoot instant camera company in the eighties, but they were
not always regarded that way. From the very beginning, Polaroid had
the attention of professional photographers everywhere. Ansel Adams
was a lifetime consultant to Dr. Land and a huge fan of Polaroid.
The earliest instant roll film cameras
were very heavy- weighing in just above 5lbs! This was due to a tax
break on “professional” cameras- the professional determination
was based solely on weight! The 95 was a consumer designed product,
but it was followed quickly by a string of professional grade
products including great fully manual lenses and shutters, the
110,110a, 110b, and 120. These cameras are still highly sought after
by Polaroid fans. Today there is a small cottage industry that creates
packfilm conversions of these cameras which then sell for around 700
to 1500 dollars.
There were several other versions with
this general shape- each refining the product. The last one, the 850
and 900, included the “electric eye” which allowed for the first
automation of exposure. One version, the 80 “Highlander” was the
first portable Polaroid camera. The J33 and J66 were roll film
cameras that started to hint at the design of the later pack film
bellows cameras, the Automatics.
My absolute favorite of this line of
cameras is my 120. It is a fully manual camera manufactured by
Yashica for Polaroid for international markets, and it has an
aperture range from f4.7-90. It needed a tiny aperture like 90 to
compensate for incredibly fast film speeds(3000). With such high film
speeds in black and white, one could take indoor pictures with no
need for a flash.
When I think of instant cameras, I am
always reminded of Arthur C. Clarke's three laws:
- 1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
- 2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
-
3. Any sufficiently advanced
technology is indistinguishable from magic.
- This followed by the famous quote of Dr. Land himself: Don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.
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