Polaroid obsession

ped said:
Flashbar 2 has arrived. Lovely little unit and has some filters (yellow and blue) which attach to the flash using magnetism. Really cool.

Unfortunately it's arrived the very day I've converted my SX70 to use 600 speed film (changed the ND filer in front of the light meter) so that complicates it's use but I'll give it a few test shots tomorrow.

Cheers
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Have you used the flashbar yet? thinking on getting one and wondering what they are like :)
 
Cheesed off with my latest pack of 600 (gold frame too). It has a weird dark mark on the bottom of each frame so far and the emulsion is barely spreading and leaving huge brown areas of nothingness. Can't be the rollers as the last pack was near perfect.
 
gazmorton2000 said:
Cheesed off with my latest pack of 600 (gold frame too). It has a weird dark mark on the bottom of each frame so far and the emulsion is barely spreading and leaving huge brown areas of nothingness. Can't be the rollers as the last pack was near perfect.
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Cant you take it back? I thought they were quite open to swapping film packs that failed.
 
They were very helpful last time to be honest. It's just really frustrating and time consuming having to go back into Manchester.
 
It is part of the problem of the Impossible Project film, I know some see it as part of the charm and I've been quite pleased with some of the stuff I've used but a little more consistency wouldn't go amiss. It does seem that each new incarnation sees an improvement so I have high hopes for the future.
 
seashaker said:
Have you used the flashbar yet? thinking on getting one and wondering what they are like :)
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Still haven't used it yet! Not feeling very inspired at the moment.

Sorry to hear about your problems Gareth, I hope you didn't lose any important frames.

Until I can rely on the consistency of the film, taking a Polaroid (apart from the 195) will always be as a second camera. Just in case.
 
gazmorton2000 said:
Cheesed off with my latest pack of 600 (gold frame too). It has a weird dark mark on the bottom of each frame so far and the emulsion is barely spreading and leaving huge brown areas of nothingness. Can't be the rollers as the last pack was near perfect.
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RaglanSurf said:
It is part of the problem of the Impossible Project film, I know some see it as part of the charm and I've been quite pleased with some of the stuff I've used but a little more consistency wouldn't go amiss. It does seem that each new incarnation sees an improvement so I have high hopes for the future.
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I'm pleased I'm not the only one whose experienced this. They have disclaimers stating that polaroid photography is still experimental & can be unstable, they are often introducing new varieties of the same film with new formulas. In April 2012 for example, they redeveloped their formula. They say that they had to re-invent polaroid photography after purchasing the very last factory in the world still able to produce instant film in 2008. It's quite interesting actually! But rest assured it's not your rollers but that individual pack of film. Some are better than others & there are now newer gold frame packs of film with a new formula.
 
Anyone else ordered some of the new 'experimental' cyanotype SX-70 film?

I can't wait - think 'blue & white' rather than 'black & white' - I'll try and save some for the East Anglian film shoot day ;-)
 
I got the email about that.. I don't think I like it! Real cyanotypes are fun but it's the process I like! It's interesting, though.
 
ped said:
The flash pops fizzes and smokes. All very satisfying.
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Got half way down page 1 of this thread. Read this. Decided I want one based on this alone. I'm old enough to remember Polaroid being popular but never used one. I remember seeing on a TV show, someone taking Polaroids and then messing with them as they developed with sticks or something to make people in photos look like elves etc. There's probably a whole website\Flickr group\forum devoted to doing just that.
 
Just had a go at my first emulsion lift today. Pleased with the results...

12949806345_516fe762be.jpg
 
Interesting effect, details please.

How, why, where, what & who etc.
 
wickerman said:
Here's the how....http://content.photojojo.com/tutorials/polaroid-emulsion-lifts-with-impossible-project-film/
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I did it like that, but not quite the same ;-)

I use a knife to slice the chemical pods off the bottom, then run a blade flat around the back though the white tape that seals over the black background, then just peel off the black backing.

I used three trays, two with hot water (60 deg C) and one of cold.

Go into the first tray and lightly use a paintbrush to remove the white chemical residue from the back of the print (takes seconds) - this leaves white speckles in the water, hence my transferring to another tray for the 'lift' (as per instructions above) mine took about 2mins to start to float off - you'll need to work round the edges with a no2 brush to free off the edges

Then use the paint brush handle to pick up the very gelatinous image and drop it into the cold tray. Tease it out to full size then slide wetted paper under it. Position the image where you want it, and remove the paper from the water.

Dry them flat & job done.

It's a very simple process that sounds really complex here - it's not.

It's 'fiddly' rather than 'difficult' - I have 'fists of ham' and managed it ok!
 
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Have a look on here, www.leboncoin.fr, there are some good ones there if you dont mind asking in French lo..l on the map click any region, once there, on the left (near the top) empty space, type in polaroid, next drop down box, goto image and sound, next drop down box got to "tout la France. then lastly, "CHERCHER"
et voila, there you go..
 
Graham said:
Have a look on here, www.leboncoin.fr, there are some good ones there if you dont mind asking in French lo..l on the map click any region, once there, on the left (near the top) empty space, type in polaroid, next drop down box, goto image and sound, next drop down box got to "tout la France. then lastly, "CHERCHER"
et voila, there you go..
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Doesn't work for me, comes up with "The city you provided is not valid".
 
Keep playing, you will get there.
 
wickerman said:
Here's the how....http://content.photojojo.com/tutorials/polaroid-emulsion-lifts-with-impossible-project-film/
Click to expand...
ChristofLP said:
I did it like that, but not quite the same ;-)

I use a knife to slice the chemical pods off the bottom, then run a blade flat around the back though the white tape that seals over the black background, then just peel off the black backing.

I used three trays, two with hot water (60 deg C) and one of cold.

Go into the first tray and lightly use a paintbrush to remove the white chemical residue from the back of the print (takes seconds) - this leaves white speckles in the water, hence my transferring to another tray for the 'lift' (as per instructions above) mine took about 2mins to start to float off - you'll need to work round the edges with a no2 brush to free off the edges

Then use the paint brush handle to pick up the very gelatinous image and drop it into the cold tray. Tease it out to full size then slide wetted paper under it. Position the image where you want it, and remove the paper from the water.

Dry them flat & job done.

It's a very simple process that sounds really complex here - it's not.

It's 'fiddly' rather than 'difficult' - I have 'fists of ham' and managed it ok!
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Thanks guys, thats very interesting and a great look.
 
pingu666 said:
you should, there great
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191375499461?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0000ALLZ6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

keep spending to much :/

instax stuff is abit cheaper and u can watch it dev from white to a picture, while 100 pack film you cant, but you get a negative too with it, so i can give away the pic and keep the neg
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That's a very good price for the film. It's a shame that they no longer make the black and white film.
 
mrcad has some of it in stock, and yeah its annoying its discontinued, dont know why they dont do kickstarter type batches
 
That is a good price for the 100 film! May have to stock up on payday. Think I prefer the gloss to the silk but may give both a go.

On the subject of polaroid, here's a recent one with the impossible film. Still so much fun to carry and shoot and always creates discussion!

Crossfit Days are Good Days by GazMortonPhoto, on Flickr
 
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Got a pack of Fp-100c silk at Christmas and also a pack of Fp-3000b. Very excited to try it and think I'll use it in the Polaroid camera rather than the Hasselblad so I get the benefit of using the full frame so to speak. It looks a lovely film from some of the shots in this thread but it's so expensive now it's been discontinued.
 
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ive not shot fp-100c gloss yet, but the silk i wasnt that pleased with, didnt like its texture for most things

remmber to keep and reclaim your negatives :)
 
pingu666 said:
ive not shot fp-100c gloss yet, but the silk i wasnt that pleased with, didnt like its texture for most things

remmber to keep and reclaim your negatives :)
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I do prefer the gloss to be honest but the silk was a present so not going to complain!

This reclaiming of negatives though. I've heard of it but not looked into it!
 
just youtube it, its fun :)

i took a instax pic today but didnt get to see it finish devloping, was whisked away.... ah well
 
I prefer gloss too, but had some good resutls with the mat too and i think they are a little less sticky.
 
Recently got a Polaroid back for my RB67 but was a bit cheesed off at it not using the full space, especially considering the price of film. I got hold of a cheap colourpack 100 and that's also a bit naff. Could someone recommend a camera to try and hunt down and which is going to get me the most out of the format? I have a few boxes of fuji pack film that I'm holding back on.

Thanks
 
Blasted said:
Recently got a Polaroid back for my RB67 but was a bit cheesed off at it not using the full space, especially considering the price of film. I got hold of a cheap colourpack 100 and that's also a bit naff. Could someone recommend a camera to try and hunt down and which is going to get me the most out of the format? I have a few boxes of fuji pack film that I'm holding back on.

Thanks
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The cheapest film out there is Fuji FP100 that's Film size : 85(W) x 108(H) mm Picture size : 73(W) x 95(H) mm, if you can find some sort of adapter fro a 4x5 camera at least you will fill the frame, although I've not heard of one.

The problem is that obviously a 6x6 or 6x7 like your RB camera is only going to give you that size image regardless of the size of your instant film so it's always going to be a compromise.
 
Thanks, I meant I bought a Polaroid colourpack 100 camera to make the most of the film, and the camera is a bit naff. I was looking for suggestions on what Polaroid camera to get to use the pack film I already have.
 
Blasted said:
Thanks, I meant I bought a Polaroid colourpack 100 camera to make the most of the film, and the camera is a bit naff. I was looking for suggestions on what Polaroid camera to get to use the pack film I already have.
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Sorry completely misunderstood your post, I'm pretty sure the Polaroid Land Model 250 (or any of the 100-400 series cameras) use the Fuji 100 film. I can't remember the exact hierarchy but IRC the 250 and 350 are very highly regarded.
 
RaglanSurf said:
Sorry completely misunderstood your post, I'm pretty sure the Polaroid Land Model 250 (or any of the 100-400 series cameras) use the Fuji 100 film. I can't remember the exact hierarchy but IRC the 250 and 350 are very highly regarded.
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I have the 320. It's so much fun to use and the image quality isn't bad at all.
 
There are some guides about the differences between models
Must admit I would like one of the folding ones, with the range finder :)
 
ChristofLP said:
Just had a go at my first emulsion lift today. Pleased with the results...

12949806345_516fe762be.jpg
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Nice results and it suits well the picture, i've only tried this with a pretty rubbish shot before. How did you get the picture to glue to the paper? I remember mine did tried out and then fell of the paper! That makes me want to try again!
 
Lemaildetom said:
Nice results and it suits well the picture, i've only tried this with a pretty rubbish shot before. How did you get the picture to glue to the paper? I remember mine did tried out and then fell of the paper! That makes me want to try again!
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If you do the lift using warm water, and then slide it onto the watercolour paper in the water, you won't need any glue, as it dries it'll stick to the paper...

Thanks for the ind words about the pic.
 
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