SX-70 Adventures

Right, back on with the Polaroid customisation :0)

I've been thinking about how to skin my Ivory SX-70 and was originally looking at padded cross-hatched suede/alcantara but started looking at options for skinning the entire camera rather than just replace the original skin sections.

I'm not 100% convinced yet and it's hard to describe but I'm basically thinking of covering all of the ivory plastic with a stretched vinyl covering. I used to do similar with interior car plastic trims and it can be pretty effective. I started looking online and found some really good 3M adhesive coverings, including pretty convincing looking carbon fibre. My only concern is that a carbon fibre cover might look at bit mid-90's Max Power but looking at the vinyl it looks considerably more convincing than the stick on vinyl I used to use!

Just after any thoughts really.

Cheers
Steve
 
Don't do it, it'll look hideous :puke:
 
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I'm loving the Ivory look but imho it needs to be given a classy coat to wear not look like its fallen off a Mini Metro that's taken a trip to the Ripspeed body styling shop.
 
Lol, showing your tuning heritage there Nick, are Ripspeed still going?

I know what you're saying but I guess I'm trying to do something different from the norm (although that doesn't mean nobody else would do it because it's butt-ugly!)

I'll keep thinking, thanks the honesty bud
 
I really liked what you did with the chrome bodied SX-70 the wood suited it very well, I just think that the Ivory bodied model would suit something a tad more understated and subtle.

And I'm pretty sure Ripspeed are still going iirc they are owned by Halfords now.
 
Oh yeah, I forgot about Halfords owning Ripspeed now.

I'm currently hovering over the buy button to pick up some PX-70 film due to polaroid curiosity. I think that because I'm considering keeping the camera for a bit, it's making me try to do something out of the box with it. I'm struggling to find a skin I really like hence the thought of skinning the whole camera instead.

I'm kind of picturing the closed camera looking like a solid block of wood until it's opened up.
 
It's certainly nicer in the paler wood although I suppose I'm a bit biased as I think the wood gives it the look of a display camera rather than a user.
 
I know what you mean about the wood making it look more like a shelf camera but the veneer actually makes the 35RC I've done nicer to hold. There's something about the wood being more tactile than the original plain leather.
 
I'm in Manchester for the next two days on a training course so as well as visiting Real Cameras (and keeping my wallet in my pocket), I caved in and went to Incognito so I could buy a pack of PX-70 film :0) I wanted B&W film really but they didn't have any in stock so came away with colour.

Anyway, I've just taken my first ever Polaroid picture and am now waiting patiently for it develop! I took the shot on my Ivory SX-70 and left the exposure wheel at the default central position so I'm just hoping the exposure meter does its' job and delivers something like a correctly exposed shot (in relative Polaroid terms anyway...)

There's something strange about 'instant' film in that it's not there and then like digital or at least an hour with C41 but I feel more frustrated waiting for the shot to develop because I can almost see it! I'm not sure i'll become a Polaroid convert entirely due to the cost per shot but I can definitely see the reasons for so many people getting taken away by it.

Cheers
Steve
 
Ta-dah!

Looks like it worked ok other than a slight yellow cast but I'm guessing that's a Polaroid 'feature' :0)

View attachment 25623

I think I pinched the top left corner when I put the picture in my pocket to keep it out of the light and the first part of the image (at the bottom) isn't perfect but maybe a Polaroid expert like @ped could verify if this looks right?

Cheers
Steve
 
Looks about right to me Steve, the colour is more a product of Impossible Project rather than Polaroid itself although Polaroid did have its own unusual attributes.
 
Yep looks good. Best to shield the picture from light immediately after it ejects and that'll make it less yellow. Also with the current film its best to keep it cool when developing.

With an sx70 I tend to take the shot then invert the camera before/as it ejects then put the shot in my notebook

I think you'll find it quite addictive!
 
Thanks Chris. I tried to put the shot straight into my pocket as I took it and then transferred it into the original box where it was left to develop for about an hour. I can see there is obviously a knack to shooting this film!

While it was developing I did think of an idea to have a clip to attach the original box to the underside of the SX-70 with thin plastic dividers inside so the pictures can be slotted straight into it as they're shot to keep them shielded and stop them getting bent or touching each other. Might have to work on that one :0)

Cheers
Steve
 
Well, my new Aki-Ahashi skin arrived yesterday and I've just collected it from the Post Office. One word, awesome :0)

If anyone's considering buying a skin for their camera I'd highly recommend them. Perfect fit and really easy to apply with no problems at all.

The colour doesn't show perfectly on these but I went for the dark brown skin in the end keep it looking relatively original.

View attachment 26645

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I'm going to be listing this one later today with four shots left from the colour Impossible film I bought a few weeks ago.

Cheers
Steve
 
Dark brown? It looks ivory and blue-grey, so colour me confused!
 
Yeah, they were quick shots in dull light and I think the Ivory body had thrown the auto white balance out. I've only edited these briefly in Snapseed on my iPhone so can't do any thorough colour correction.

This is the actual skin although Aki Ahashi haven't got the colour right either!

http://aki-asahi.com/store/html/sx_dark-brown/dark-brown.php

It's basically really dark brown ;0)

Cheers
Steve
 
Must....resist....next....project.....SX70...

$_86.JPG


;0)
 
I'm at it again :0)

Just received a relatively shiny chrome SX-70 Alpha in the post for my next restoration project. I'm also in conversation with a local gallery who sell my landscape prints about the possibility of doing some on-going custom cameras for them so that may prove interesting.

In the meantime, I'm trying to decide between these four veneers so would appreciate any thoughts;

1) Macassar Ebony

View attachment 29289

2) American Walnut

View attachment 29290

3) Mansonia Bete

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4) Zebrano

View attachment 29292

Cheers
Steve
 
stevelmx5 said:
Cheers Strappy, excellent description ;0) I'm thinking number three because the walnut has such a large grain that it might not work on the smaller section.
Click to expand...

I think you're right. If it was me with the walnut, it'd drive me nuts if I wasn't able to line up the grain across each piece on the camera.


ETA: the danger with black leather and chrome is that it'll look like a 1980s refugee, though that could really work with the camera.
 
Strangely, I changed the 35RC from black leather to wood veneer so I shouldn't really be going the opposite way now but I've seen a few SX-70's (generally Sonars) that actually suit the black. I'll keep looking for inspiration
 
Duude, you are so techno-centric.
 
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