Some Tele action ???

 Initially didn't even know that this existed.  There are some other assemblies on the market where you can add a telephoto lens but they seem to have a problem where the barrel of the lens is in the frame of the photograph.

Polaroid back in the 70's offered this lens that doesn't have issues at all with barrel distortion.  I thought it would be just some sort of magnifying glass element but in fact is a 4 element lens.

Not expecting anything fantastic but the added reach and the ability to compress the native 35mm equivalent 40-50mm field of view from the SX-70 to be better able to shoot models once again will be great!

DARK SKIES...and missing pack film.

 Taken with a Polaroid 195 Land Camera using Fujifilm FB-3000 film.

There are several million Polaroid pack cameras still in the world.  When Fuji pulled the plug on the film back around 2017, it killed this wonderful film and the original Polaroid (this is when you had to shake it like a Polaroid).  

Pack cameras are the ones you pull out of the camera, waited 15 to 120 seconds and peel the film to give you the print!

If I hit the lottery, I would travel to the Netherlands and sit down with the people at Polaroid and make them an offer to start making this film once again.

The new Polaroid company has all the documents and rights to what Dr.Land invented and what the people in Cambridge, Mass created.  It can be done again.  Just need a lot of money.

GROWING THE LOVE OF IT...

 OK... another boring Polaroid shot.  Not crispy.  Slightly out of focus.  Odd composition. 

What's the big deal and why are you still shooting this?  You use to shoot on some of the best gear around.

The story on this.  Hand held for about 1.5s.  This is with a camera with a giant mirror moving up and down.  Held for this long because Polaroid has an f/8 lens (approximately f/2 in 35mm terms. 0.39 crop).

Considering the latitude of Polaroid film, the detailed saved is better than expected (thus the 1.5s exposure to give the film a chance to give me some detail in the shadow).

Look closely and you'll see really shallow depth of field.

Comparing Instax to Polaroid.  We all know Instax will produce a clearer, sharper and very pleasing image.  Polaroid is still a bit of hit and miss.  The images will never be as crispy or vibrant but has a softer tone and more vintage versus technical.

For us former or current Leica folks - we know this from lens characteristics.  A Summarit to Noctilux.

Consider Fujifilm as Summarit and Polaroid as Noctilux pre-aspherical.

Having been in pursuit for the "perfect technical" photograph, I loss the ability to know what artist have.  The ability to communicate through whatever form they desire.  Their interpretation of what they see, feel and want to convey.

In my quest to stay human (aka ANALOG), I've committed myself to this medium.  Very few great examples.  Ansel, Warhol, Newton, Evans, Tarkovsky, Kertesz, etc... exist but not much.

My niche.  My art.  My say.

The weapon of choice is the SX-70 (and all the variants).

Not only for the medium and film, but the challenges.

I learned today about the SX-70 from some optical scientist and engineers.  Although f/8 is the measurement you are told to use, the SX-70 uses what is called an efficient shutter aperture combination.

Easiest way to explain it... a variable shutter and aperture.  That's why the Mint Time Machine claims 1/2000s shutter speed when in fact an SX-70 can shoot roughly at 1/170s max.  Mint uses ratio's to calculate and the camera tries to give a combination shutter and aperture to 1/2000.  Considering that the camera will vary aperture from f/8 to f/96.

OK...too much tech geek stuff.

When done right... Polaroids (and yes even Fuji) are some of the most unique images.  Each one a painting since no two are ever a like.  They are indeed the ONLY true photograph and the ONLY real photographic ARTIFACT.  Digital is 1's and 0's.  Film negative isn't a physical capture and can be manipulated and duplicated.

INSTANT IS IT !

NEW ADDITIONS...

 With the i2 now with a new owner, I replaced it with the Polaroid Flip.  In the world of Polaroid, this camera stands in the mid pack of offerings.   

It revives the old Sonar autofocus system that came out in the mid-1970's and was way ahead of anyone. In fact, this is still the ONLY autofocus system that can autofocus in very dark or even dark environments.

Everyone in the Instant Film world was surprised that Polaroid came out with this camera right after bringing out the NOW+ 3.

The i2 was a struggle.  Even in automatic mode.  Getting a decent normal photo was a challenge that wore me out.

This Flip is indeed what the reviewers have said.  Nails it and costs about half of the flagship i2.

The camera to the right is the latest SX-70 to come to the lineup (saving the word fleet for the cars).

It is a Mint SLR670-S iType.

A modified and updated SX-70 that has a battery pack built in and can run all the current Polaroid films (except for the Polaroid Go film).  The gizmo on top is what they call the TIME MACHINE which will allow the user to select the shutter speed or allow the user to shoot automatically in either SX70 or 600/iType film formats.

I have an original SX-70 that has never been modified in the cabinet.  I wanted a chrome SX-70 to compliment the Mint SLR670-X-Ming-iType (whew what a name) and the recent SX-70 model 2 from Retrospekt Camera (they update, restore and covert the camera to use the 600 film.)

Polaroid isn't cheap to use.  

600 Film has the classic battery built in the film pack and costs about $2.30 a shot.
The iType film is Polaroid 600 minus the battery pack and costs about $2.00 a shot

The goal here...
As you know, I am at a stage where following the crowd is not something I want to do.
I want to carve my own path and yes, legacy (I'm at that age and stage of life).

The Filp will be the EDC type of camera (in addition to all the Fuji Instax variants).

The SX-70's will be for more serious work.

I just found and bought a hard to get (in good condition) an SX-70 telephoto lens.

The world is full of digital and film images.  Polaroids in terms of something special is harder to find out there.

I want to leave behind boxes of artifacts (that is what makes instant film photography so great).

More on this and my impressions of the Filp later.