So anyway, once more I'm propelled into blogging due to new equipment! Well more accurately old equipment: a Polaroid SX-70. It is a thing of beauty and engineering ingenuity: folding to the size of a paperback book, unfolding to produce images almost instantly. It's an SLR! It has leather casing! It was given to my father in the early 1970s by a colleague in the advertising industry, and was given a service in 1980, and has laid dormant on shelves for at least 20 years. The wonderful thing about the SX-70, is that as the battery is contained within the film pack, it worked perfectly first time. Wonderful.
(My first shot in about 25 years)
The great thing about getting into Polaroid is there are a lot of communities out there on the internet - notably Polanoid for showing off your shots (here's my currently somewhat diminutive profile - link on the right to see pictures), lots of Flickr groups, and the very helpful Georg Holderied Salvisberg shows you how to take one apart to repair or modify. And then there's Polapremium, a shop for all your Polaroid needs - cameras, films, books, accessories.
Which brings us to the not so great side of Polaroid. It no longer makes cameras or more importantly, film. Fortunately for me, just around the corner from my work is The Photographers' Gallery which has a wonderful bookshop which also sells pinhole, Holga and Lomo cameras, and Polaroid film. This is the last batch of the stuff, with expiration dates in September this year (not that out of date film is a major impediment to the modern Polaroider). I picked up a pack of TZ Artistic film which has creamy, muted colours (see above), and is a bit expensive. This is the only correct speed film for the SX-70, but it is possible to use the less expensive 600 film if you modify the camera (permanently or using a neutral density filter on the lens or on the pack). Boots in the UK seems to still have stock of 600 film at a reasonable price.
All is hopefully not lost! There is The Impossible Project which aims to restart making film. I really hope they do it.
As to the actual camera, it is in great condition (my dad looks after his stuff). One slight problem is that there is a strange mouldy-looking bloom in the rear of the lens. Thanks to Georg's site, I know how to take off the lens housing. Unfortunately, the camera was built during a brief period where Polaroid thought using 1mm square-headed screws was a great idea. Cheers. It seems impossible to find the correct implement, so modifying other tools seems to be the way to go. No luck yet, but getting closer.
My enthusiasm for this magnificent piece of technology has spurred a colleague from work to get one off eBay! Fun ahead...
And finally, a great little movie explaining the SX-70's workings and philosophy:
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