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 !
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