With 'Roid Week '10 a couple of days away, I have of course been applying my mind to which cameras/films I'm going to point at things. I have my SX-70s with the possibilities of Artistic TZ, Fade to Black, 600, some Time Zero, and of course some Impossible Project PX100 and PX600. There is also my ProCam with its Spectra film. My Holgaroid still has a couple of shots of Sepia left in it...
Ah yes, the dwindling pack film. I have some more Sepia, some Chocolate, a couple of packs of 669 and one of 690, as well as a pack of B&W Fuji. But as my Polaroid 250 is on the fritz, I'll have to use my...
600SE!!!
(
Here's an excellent overview at filmwasters. I sadly only have the one lens at present...)
Yes, I finally managed to snag one off eBay for a reasonable price. I was very excited, even though the seller said it might need a little attention. Turned out is needed a LOT of attention as nothing worked: cable release was stuck, shutter wouldn't fire, rangefinder wasn't moving, viewfinder was foggy, both backs were in a crappy state.
Got straight back to the seller, and he was keen for us to get it fixed, so I sent it off to a great repair shop in Sheffield,
Premier Electronics. It took a couple of weeks, and involved pretty much stripping the whole thing down and rebuilding it. Turned out the poor camera had probably been submerged at some point. Anyway, it came back to me, as good as new, and the seller and I went halves on the repair (which was only £120). Repair guys said it was a pleasure to work on, as it is completely mechanical - no batteries or wiring. Most modern cameras are a pain, as circuit boards are not the most fixable.
If you've never used a 600SE, it's a beast: a big black box with a large lens on the front, definitely more functional than ergonomic. But it produces beautiful results. My first film was some 125i Silk which has lovely "true" colours. I tried it under some cherry trees.
So I think I should be OK for choices this coming 'Roid Week.
Oh yes, and in other news, it turns out Polaroid are bringing out a new camera! The Polaroid 300 is a new design for the company, and it uses a brand new Polaroid film! And by new, I mean it's a Fuji Instax Mini 7 and film with the word Polaroid on the front. Literally.
But they seem happy about it: "We are thrilled that today marks the return of instant. It's bigger and better than ever."
You can probably guess how I feel about this. I'm not going to waste pixels on their crap.
Here's the story at BJP. Feel free to circle in red the parts that piss on the memory of Polaroid, the ambitions of Edwin Land, and the hard work and love of The Impossible Project.
You may need more than one pen.
Jake Messenger
