Yes, even the SX-70: The Impossible Project is making film for them! And for a number of other classic Polaroid cameras.
Polaroid themselves got out of the instant film business in 2008; a group of enthusiasts bought up the machinery from the last few plants, leased space from Polaroid and...started from scratch on the chemistry: Polaroid had made their own dyes, etc. and it was information they couldn't share. It seemed impossible -- but it wasn't.
A couple of years ago, I packed away my Dad's old SX-70, thinking it was long odds it would ever take another photograph. Looks like I was wrong.
It's not that "retro," but it was a lost technology and now it's back. It will probably never again be the preferred choice for vacation snapshots but it is certainly nice to have the option.
(First found here, thanks to her).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The other use for this technology is the creation of "Painterly Photographs". This is where the artist manipulates the image as the the emulsion drys. I have one of a locomotive and love it. Examples: http://www.lindamcadams.com/#home
ReplyDeleteI sold my dad's SX-70 (and several flash bars, even rarer than the film!) a couple of years ago. I shall have to pass this news along to the buyer.
ReplyDeleteWhy couldn't they share the info? Cargo cult chemistry, NDAs signed in ichor, recipes written in mirror-script in ancient Urdu?
ReplyDeleteInquiring (and slightly insane) minds want to know.
It was proprietary. Polaroid just didn't feel comfy sharing. A large enough check might have helped -- depending on just how tricky the dyes were to make. It's not impossible that the tech to make 'em would've required buying another whole factory!
ReplyDeleteKeads: it's very nice -- one of the family member/owners of the Skunk Works started doing that...in 2008.... I need to make sure she knows about these guys!
ReplyDeleteThe thought processes of licensing monkeys astound me sometimes. "Let's set the licensing rate for X at what we think it's worth, not what other people will pay for it - because that's what we paid for it" (or words to that effect).
ReplyDelete----
If it was something that 10 guys reproduced independently (IN A CAVE! WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS, or at least without the aforementioned factory), either it couldn't have been that terribly hard. Or Polaroid was throwing money away with the old process. Ahh, hindsight :)
I'm just boggled that Polaroid didn't want to sell the tech at a price these guys could meet AND they managed to replicate it from the ground up.
this is great news for me, I have a 2 old Polaroids!
ReplyDeleteI've been following this for a while and when I heard the project finally got it working and packaged for sale, I was quite impressed.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, as I was browsing through a thrift store on Monday, and saw a pair of polaroids, I had considered picking the pair up (total cost $1.50 + tax).
And I could have misunderstood, but having access to the old production factory did help in the reverse engineering, so I don't think it was completely independent, as they had clues to the process.
I'm sure they did -- but the factory was not one that produced the dyes, only assembled the film packs. Which is pretty complex itself!
ReplyDeleteThere's another possibility that doesn't require stupiditiy or cupidity on Polaroid's part: the new guys had a pretty good idea of how they could replicate, or had already done so.
ReplyDeleteOr, the new guys figured they COULDN'T replicate the dyes as Polaroid manufactured them without that specific factory and water chemistry, and decided they had to do it the hard way (replicate final product via an entirely different path). My wife does cross-stitch, and whenever she picks up thread, she picks it up by the large lot, as the next lot may not be able to be replicated. One company selling customer fibers had to compeltely redo their product line when they moved their facility because they couldn't even come close to the old gradiations. (It was a decent distance move)
To satisfy my curiosity and memory (since I read about this some time ago), the project team was made up of 10 former Polaroid employees that had, as their website says, had over 500 years worth of instant film experience. One of the founders had been a product and engineer manager for over 25 years at Polaroid had created specialty films (all from the project team page on their website).
ReplyDeleteSo, yeah, I think Ian posited accurately. This project had experts that had been doing this for years already, in production, and really they wanted to find a way to do it at a low cost, but in much less quantity.
I don't think that's in question.
ReplyDeleteThat they didn't have access to Polariod's dyes is a matter of record, as is the large amount of experience the prohject team had -- this would be the team that named it The Impossible project.
It was still a very big and admirable job.
I was (idly) speculating as to the reaosns they didn't have access, is all. Speculation releavls that theree's many possible reasons, most fairly mundane.
ReplyDeleteWonder when I'll be able to get some 667 film for my Tektronix scope camera......
ReplyDeleteAll well and good, and marvelous-but..ATBE, I'd rather have Infrared Ektachrome back. (Sniff)
ReplyDelete