Film Showcase Polaroid Spectra - New Spectra

[Cerita]

This is a my first decent shot with this film and spectra camera combo. The camera I bought off Ebay has some issues with it, the rollers jammed which meant I had to open the film door, and I think this ended up flashing the rest of the exposures, the first three shots were completely ruined. The rollers cause a lot of streaking and I did clean them and made sure they were rolling freely before inserting the cartridge. Some slight adjustments made in Affinity photo to remove streaking. I don't like this image, it looks completely mis-exposed!

View attachment 148688

 

[MoonMind]

Looks more like an older batch of Impossible Project film to me; nothing much wrong with it except its age (so colours are seriously off and/or muted); also, upsizing it like you did will enhance the flaws ... The new film is a lot(!) more reliable.

M.

 

[Cerita]

Hmm, that's a good point although the package is completely the new Polaroid, doesn't say impossible on it. I haven't given up on this yet but since this new Polaroid is not easy to buy in Canada and when one can, it's quite expensive that I am not going to try very hard. I picked up a Fuji wide 300 camera, Fuji is easily available and much cheaper.

 

[MoonMind]

Okay, I didn't know that ... But here's another thought: How cold was it? Below 10 degrees C, the film starts acting up ... I ruined four frames this way not too long ago. You *can* counteract this by storing the fresh prints close to your body after a minute or two; shield them from the light first, then warm them up. But it'll never be as good as when it's shot in a sufficiently warm environment.

M.

 

[Cerita]

It was taken from indoors, it was about 22 C or so, and I immediately put the photo into a dark box, speaking of which, do you know why one has to do this with Polaroid, and not with Fujifilm? I am coming around to the idea that they may have packaged old Impossible film into new boxes, and you are so right, I have looked at other photos from the Impossible batch and they sort of look the same. Anyhow, as I mentioned, it's awfully expensive film, at least here in Canada so I am very reluctant to buy another pack, I'll wait for a few months. The new camera isn't even sold here as yet.

 

[Cerita]

Here is another view, this time edited in LR and closer to the real size rather than blown up version, looks slightly better.

View attachment 148689

 

[MoonMind]

No further attempts at explaining it on my part - all that appears clear is that the whole affair is extremly fragile and fickle. I'll have to find a way to retest the film.

M.

 

[Brian]

I used to shoot hundreds of Polaroids- it's a shame that the film does not have the color saturation and reliability of the film I grew up with. I've shot Polaroid since 1966. I hope with the rebranding that some of the older character of the film returns. I still have me Spectra SE, SLR680, SLR690, SX-70 Sonar, and original SX-70.

 

[Cerita]

I used to shoot hundreds of Polaroids- it's a shame that the film does not have the color saturation and reliability of the film I grew up with. I've shot Polaroid since 1966. I hope with the rebranding that some of the older character of the film returns. I still have me Spectra SE, SLR680, SLR690, SX-70 Sonar, and original SX-70.

I remember that too, in fact a few months ago I scanned some polaroids from the 90's (early) that were taken with a Spectra camera, they look amazing and shot indoors too. I was hugely disappointed with the above, and as Matt pointed out, the box I got most likely was old impossible packaged in a new format box, in fact the battery and the dark slide say impossible on them. I am willing to try the 600 film and their new camera, but I now have a Fuji wide camera and really looking forward to using the Fuji wide BW film that has just been released.

 

[MoonMind]

I was very pleased with the first couple of films I tried, but I have to say that it's a bit hit and miss. That said, nail the shot in terms of exposure, and the results are really pleasing. It's quite the roller coaster ride, to be honest. Yesterday, I used the old Polaroid Impulse AF and Polaroid Originals OneStep2 alongside each other, and in one case, the Impulse AF more or less was spot on - but really boring; whereas the OneStep2 was too dark, but quite dramatic. I chose to try the OneStep2 again, +1 compensation, and it was too bright (and soft - because I was too close to my main subject), but oh-so-pretty, wonderful overall impression. I think what I'm trying to get across is, if these cameras are used for "real" photography instead of non-descript fun shots (mostly of partying people), you have to really know them to get good results. Mostly, this means being aware of their limitations - and that of course includes the films ...

M.

 

[Cerita]

I ended up nabbing a SX70 Sonar yesterday locally and ordered BW film for it, let me see what success (or not) I have with this combination.

 

[Les Klein]

I guess I’m slow — about instant film cameras. I have a Polaroid Spectra AF camera (25 yrs old?) and I haven’t used it in about 10 maybe 15 years but I’ve always had some affection for the camera, film, and images. I followed the Impossible Project, but I never bought a film pack. Today, I “discovered” that Polaroid cameras are back (the i type) and so is film for several Polaroid formats including Spectra. I must say that I’m tempted to give it a try. I’ll do more research and wait for the opportunity.