How to Find Film for Your Old Polaroid Camera (2024)

We actually like bodily images round these components. Our information to the Best Instant Cameras has a group of recent devices that print out footage you can stick in your fridge or pin in your partitions. However what in regards to the ones that began all of it? Polaroid cameras have been fumbling round attics, garages, and storage closets for many years. And when you discovered one or simply purchased an affordable used one, there’s excellent news: You simply want some movie.

The higher information is that, regardless of large problem up to now, it is now simpler than ever to get movie in your previous Polaroid cameras. Nevertheless, regardless of it being simple to seek out low-cost movie on Amazon, there is a bit extra nuance to picking movie than randomly choosing no matter exhibits up first. In the event you’re unsure what sort of movie your digicam makes use of, learn on.

A Temporary Historical past Lesson

Discovering movie for older Polaroid cameras might be easy and difficult on the identical time. In the present day, when you come throughout a classic digicam manufactured by Polaroid—which went bankrupt and shut down in 2001—you possibly can nonetheless purchase movie for that digicam from a more moderen, principally unrelated firm: Polaroid.

Confused but? Persist with me and it will make sense.

When the Polaroid Company went out of enterprise, its property, together with the manufacturing line for its movie and cameras, have been offered off or licensed to numerous traders over the subsequent a number of years. Movie was nonetheless produced utilizing the Polaroid model, till the businesses that owned Polaroid’s property determined to abandon the instant camera business entirely in 2008. Not coincidentally this occurred lower than a 12 months after the original iPhone came out.

That very same 12 months, an organization referred to as the Impossible Project was founded to take up the mantle Polaroid was forsaking. The corporate purchased a few of Polaroid’s previous tools and developed new prompt movie modules that may very well be utilized in current Polaroid cameras. All through the next decade, Unattainable typically labored with no matter firm at the moment owned Polaroid’s property to fabricate cameras, movie modules, and different equipment.

That’s, till 2017, when the Unattainable Challenge’s largest shareholder purchased everything of Polaroid’s property and mental property. Like reforging a sword that had been broken, Polaroid had grow to be entire as soon as once more, and in 2020, Unattainable rebranded itself as Polaroid.

Which brings us to the scenario we’ve got immediately: Polaroid as soon as once more makes Polaroid cameras and movie for Polaroid cameras. In the event you search Amazon for “polaroid film,” you will discover movie made by Polaroid for Polaroid cameras. Handy, proper? Nevertheless, there are nonetheless a number of particulars in regards to the numerous forms of movie you must know.

What Kind of Movie Do I Want?

Polaroid cameras use a number of several types of movie, and so they’re not typically interchangeable. Step one is to lookup what mannequin of digicam you could have. For instance, I’ve a Polaroid Spirit 600 which takes (shock) 600 movie. Under we’ll go over every sort of movie, and the particular issues it’s best to bear in mind for every.

You probably have an image in your thoughts of what “a Polaroid” appears to be like like, that is in all probability what you are considering of. Early Polaroid cameras had low sensitivity to mild, and thus have been solely actually good for outside pictures—except you had a actually vivid flash. Polaroid 600 movie was created to be extra delicate than earlier movie sorts, so you might take images indoors or in low mild and nonetheless get a usable photograph.

These modules additionally had a small battery in them to energy the digicam, which did not have energy by itself. This implies, amongst different issues, that any movie manufactured by the unique Polaroid Company previous to 2008 might be useless by now. In the event you hunt for classic movie on websites like eBay, there is a good likelihood that the movie cartridge will not work in your older digicam. Thankfully, the brand new Polaroid makes 600 film manufactured this decade that can work simply high-quality.

The Polaroid 600 cameras have been widespread within the ’90s, however you probably have a Polaroid digicam from the ’70s or ’80s, it is extra doubtless to make use of Polaroid SX-70 movie. These have a sq. form just like the 600 movie, however they are much much less delicate to mild. Most cameras that use this kind of movie will wrestle to take a great image indoors except you could have a flash—which many fashions did not include.

When Unattainable Challenge began making its personal cameras in 2016, it made a small change to the movie cartridges conventional Polaroid cameras use. Relatively than placing a tiny battery in each movie cartridge, the cameras would offer energy themselves. This not solely made it attainable for movie cartridges to last more, it was higher for the surroundings total. This new format is the I-Kind movie.

A comparable pack of I-Kind movie is sometimes slightly cheaper than extra conventional 600 movie. Nevertheless, you will want one in every of Polaroid’s new I-Type cameras to make use of it. These newer cameras can settle for each 600 movie and I-Kind movie, however you will often be higher off with the I-Kind movie, because it would not require a built-in battery just like the 600 movie does.