Friday, March 7, 2008

I Rememeber When I Shook the Polaroid Picture

OK. so I really didn't shake it.  The Polaroids I took were the peel-apart type, so you waited 30 seconds, peeled off the paper, and voila, your photo was fully developed.  A couple of weeks ago Polaroid announced they were discontinuing all instant film, I was a bit disappointed but not surprised.   I didn't take a lot of Polaroid photos, but in college I picked up a used Polaroid Reporter camera at Gary Camera.  I don't recall the price, but it was pretty cheap. It used pack films like the fabulous 667 black and white.  Polaroid 667 was rated iso 3000 and incredibly fine-grained for a film that speed.   (By that time in the late '80s Polaroid pack films were mainly used by professionals with medium format cameras fitted with a Polaroid back.)  Unfortunately, while it was fun to play with, the Reporter was pretty much a piece of crap camera.   It was a rangefinder-type camera with a focus setting you just guessed at.  I think the lens was made out of plastic.

My intention was to use to use the camera when shooting photos for the Debris for instant "feedback" on a shoot, but in reality more often it was used for quick snapshots, whether it be to capture a problem one of my study partners and I had worked out on a chalkboard or a friend like Bubba at a party.