A Decade of Shooting Polaroids and Polaroid I-2 - S18E02

A Decade of Shooting Polaroids

It started in 2013 with using the Fujifilm Instax Wide on a whim during the Summer. Things shifted later in the year with The Impossible Project, which is now Polaroid and using the vintage Polaroid cameras.

Over the 10 years, I have changed cameras and films from Fujifilm to the classic Polaroid cameras. I was using the Polaroid Sun 600 camera and then the SX-70 Sonar and flash bar to shoot instant film photos from 600 film and SX-70 film. In 2017, when The Impossible Project got rebranded to Polaroid Originals, I shifted to using the OneStep 2, they brought out the i-Type film. It’s slightly cheaper to the 600 film as it doesn’t have a battery.

In 2018, the company released the OneStep+ which has built-in bluetooth where paired to a smartphone, there are some tools where the photos can be enabled from the smartphones.

In 2020, the company rebranded again to just Polaroid and released a successor to the OneStep 2, the Polaroid Now. In 2021, the company released the Polaroid Now+, which was the successor to the OneStep+.

My experience with shooting Polaroids have fun and costly because films aren’t cheap. The company’s support to Canada has been minimal but they are people in Ottawa who are fans of analog photography. It’s an expensive hobby.

Since 2017, shooting with the newer Polaroid cameras has been uneven because the viewfinder is not as precise. Some of the photos have not positioned well and some of the photos turned out dark and blurry.

Favourite film frames were the Impossible/Polaroid’s Colour Frame because I wanted to be unique and not use the standard white frames. I’m more into the special edition films and frames that Polaroid would from time to time. Black & White films were fun to shoot as well various duochrome films. Most recently, I have been using Black Frame edition films because it feels stylish.

It’s quite a surprise to have take Polaroid photos for a decade, time just goes by fast.

Here are the camera that I have used over the years. It’s more of the recent Polaroid Originals to Polaroid brand cameras. Missing a few and it includes the new Polaroid camera, I-2

Favourite Photos

My favourite Polaroids I have taken, there are several and they will be posted below. It’s pretty extensive. The ones from Hong Kong in 2022 are still my favourites as it’s the only time I have shot outside of Ottawa.

A photo of a former band Montreal has become a favourite because it got used on social media.

Those are what I can think of with the favourite Polaroid photos.

The Polaroid I-2

To cap off the decade of shooting Polaroids, how it’s fitting when the company releases a brand new camera for professionals and enthusiasts. The I-2 has been several years in the making and due to the pandemic, it took awhile for it to be released.

The new camera is the successor to the Impossible I-1. This time, the camera can support all Polaroid film formats: i-Type, 600 Film and SX-70 Film. They have a three lens system, a LIDAR autofocus system and advanced manual settings like Aperture, Shutter, Manual, Auto and Multiple Exposures.

This is not a sponsored post as I purchased the camera on my own. I got the camera on Monday, September 18, 2023, it was a week and a half since the release. The design of the camera is amazing and there’s some heft to it. I had a chance to shoot photos at an event at Twentytwo in Westin Ottawa. The photos are posted on Instagram and are posted below.

Another event was on Sunday for the final day of MilkUP Moo’seum. I took some Polaroid photos of friends. It looked better this time around.

I’ve been switching around Manual and Auto modes to ensure a good image quality. There have been some mistakes but overall, a big improvement from Polaroid with the I-2 camera. The price is at $599 US, it’s geared towards the Polaroid and instant film enthusiasts.

There you have it with a trip down memory lane and a new camera to boot in continuing the fun format.

Photos
Some favourite Polaroid photos over the years. Some I took and some that I’m in.

Nancy Pants – Shot on the Impossible SX-70 Film, Lulu Guinness Frame Edition