Today was my one and only day off of work. How did I spend it? Test shooting my new polaroids. It was wonderful! I slept in the morning/early afternoon and when my husband came home from paintball, we got dinner and strolled around downtown Greeley. I got a feel for each of the cameras, and I have to say I am pleasantly surprised with all of them.
The Polaroid cameras I reviewed are as follows: the 600 One Step Close Up, the 600 One Step (a later version of the Close Up, but essentially the same camera), an Impulse AF (autofocus), and the Pronto Land Camera. Given that the Land Camera is the only one in the group that shoots SX70 film, I will be talking more about it in my next post. In this one, I’m going to focus on the three cameras that shoot 600 film.
Given that I had no idea if any of these cameras would work, as well as the fact that prior to these three, I had never owned a 600 film camera, I didn’t want to waste money on their film. If all three of them failed, I wouldn’t need additional 600 cartridges. So, I only had one cartridge per camera, and I chose color for all three.
I’m going to start with my least favorite and work my way up!
Polaroid One Step Close Up (pre-1998)
Although the camera worked, I wasn’t very happy with the outcome. The pictures were not very focused, and the overall image seemed… bland.. for lack of a better word. Now, it very well could have been my subjects, framing, etc. And it is apparent that there was something wrong with this particular pack of film, as there was a vertical stripe in half of the shots (2,4,5, & 8). But that being said, I was only pleased with one of the shots.
Shot 6 could have been alright except it’s not in focus. And I was disappointed that the mural in shot 7 didn’t come out. I’m guessing it was just too bright out but I was hoping the colors were vibrant enough to show through. This makes me want to do a more thorough comparison between the two Close Up cameras.
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Polaroid One Step Close Up (post 1998)
This camera worked great! I loved the shots I got from it and can’t wait to take more! They were clear and vibrant. This camera’s film was also defective, as there was vertical striping again. But that doesn’t change the fact that the pictures came out wonderfully.
Shot 1 & 2 has the vertical stripe which is a bummer. But I was blown away with the clarity. In shot 2 you can see the little dude’s face. I was surprised how well 6 came out. You can almost make out the cigarette butt on the sidewalk. And in 4, you se see the five inscriptions posted above the windows. Of course shot 8 stole the show.
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Polaroid Impulse AF
And the winner for the day was of course this little baby. I have to say, when I purchased this camera at the antique store, I referred to it as, “that ugly one.” I named it Bob and didn’t really think I would get much from it’s photos. But I have to say its’ performance was outstanding. It even out performed the Pronto Land Camera (more on that next post).
I really have no complaints in any of the following photos. In my opinion, they are all great. Even the spotting caused by the dirty roller was great, although I will be cleaning the rollers prior to going out again.
The Next Step
Before I go out next, I will be cleaning all of the rollers. I will still only shoot color film for the two Close Ups but I plan on playing with some black and white on the Impulse. The Close Up cameras will be compared side by side by taking pictures of the same subjects, from the same perspective. I could have done that this trip, however I really wasn’t wanting to compare any of the models. Today was more of an attempt to confirm that they function which was a total success!
Old Hat Project 