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Polaroid Instant Cameras

Started by Fabius, October 05, 2016, 08:16:05 PM

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Fabius

I was in a Goodwill a few weeks ago and there was a mom with her teenage daughter. They were looking at 2 Polaroid cameras. They where talking about what they were and their value. I offered them the use of my iPhone to Google Polaroid instant cameras and find information. They chose one and left. I looked at the one left behind but I thought the $7 price was high. When I got home I checked the internet and was surprised to find out that there is great interest in these cameras. Polaroid stopped making film for them years ago but a company bought the rights to make the film so fresh film is available.

So I've started watching them on eBay and received my first one today. Just what I need, something else to collect. But they are a cool icon of the 1970s.

Pictured is the Polaroid One Step Close up model. It is the one I received.
Tom Vaughn
La Porte, Indiana
ATCA Past President
ATCA #765
C*NET 1+ 821-9905

WEBellSystemChristian

Yep, those cameras are in very high demand. Every photographer at my age desperately wants a Polaroid for the 'od school' look, including my sister.

Nice camera, congrats!
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

TelePlay

I see them in antique malls all the time, different models and quite a price range. During one visit, ran in to a young woman looking for nothing but those. Told her I saw one in the other aisle. She said she saw that but it wasn't her type.

Finding film for them is the challenge. Polaroid stopped making it but IIRC, a different company makes it for a handsome price.

andre_janew

My dad had one of those One Step cameras.  However, it wasn't the Close Up model.  It was the regular One Step.  He had a lot of fun taking candid photos with it!

Dan/Panther

I have 2 or 3 of these in box somewhere.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Fabius

Got this one yesterday. I like the large "sonar". (Rangefinder)
Tom Vaughn
La Porte, Indiana
ATCA Past President
ATCA #765
C*NET 1+ 821-9905

twocvbloke

I never used a regular Polaroid instant camera, the closest I got was one of their i-zone things which produced 1.5x1" prints, don't think I have it any more, but to be honest, it was one of those "I really want one!!" things that got used 'til the film ran out and then resided in a drawer... ;D

And yes, mine was this lurid green model...  ;D

andre_janew

I think Kodak had an instant camera.  Theirs had a crank that you had to turn to get the picture out.  Never had one, but I understand they're rarer than any Polaroid camera!

19and41

I have a couple of the SX-70 cameras.  One of them I got as an open box item at the Wiesbaden post exchange in 1976.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke


Fabius

Quote from: andre_janew on October 11, 2016, 06:48:01 PM
I think Kodak had an instant camera.  Theirs had a crank that you had to turn to get the picture out.  Never had one, but I understand they're rarer than any Polaroid camera!

I think Polaroid sued Kodak and Kodak lost and had to quite making them.
Tom Vaughn
La Porte, Indiana
ATCA Past President
ATCA #765
C*NET 1+ 821-9905

Dennis Markham

#11
I had a Kodak instant camera in the 1980's.  Kodak was forced to stop producing the instant film, (I believe) because of copyright infringement which was pursued by Polaroid.  All Kodak owners were part of a class action law suit and as settlement I remember getting some money back from Kodak.  It wasn't much but it was something.  I still have the camera packed away in a box along with others.  I started a camera collection in the late 70's.  Everyone I knew was throwing their old cameras at me.  I know I have several models of Polaroids.  Guess it may be time to dig them out again.

The image is from Google.  This is the same model camera that I have that resulted in some small settlement from Kodak.

(Edit:  Mine is actually the Model 250)

WEBellSystemChristian

It's sad to see such an incredible camera manufacturer like Kodak relegated to making throw-away cameras by the end of its life. If only they had even made an effort to go digital, they could still be a major camera manufacturer, and one of the only ones based in the US.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

jsowers

Quote from: WEBellSystemChristian on October 13, 2016, 10:39:04 AM
It's sad to see such an incredible camera manufacturer like Kodak relegated to making throw-away cameras by the end of its life. If only they had even made an effort to go digital, they could still be a major camera manufacturer, and one of the only ones based in the US.

Kodak has been making digital cameras for years. My mom bought one as her first digital camera about 2002. I don't think their cameras are very high end. Mom's even had a cradle it sat in to charge. She replaced it with a Canon EOS so she could use different lenses like her old SLR camera. A quick Google search shows lots of Kodak cameras from WalMart, Kmart and QVC. So they don't make just throw-away cameras--yet.

The Eastman part of Eastman-Kodak is the maker of Tenite, BTW.
Jonathan

WEBellSystemChristian

#14
Quote from: jsowers on October 13, 2016, 10:57:37 AM
Kodak has been making digital cameras for years. My mom bought one as her first digital camera about 2002. I don't think their cameras are very high end. Mom's even had a cradle it sat in to charge. She replaced it with a Canon EOS so she could use different lenses like her old SLR camera. A quick Google search shows lots of Kodak cameras from WalMart, Kmart and QVC. So they don't make just throw-away cameras--yet.

The Eastman part of Eastman-Kodak is the maker of Tenite, BTW.
Wow, I could have sworn Kodak went out of business last decade.

I didn't even know they went digital. The story I heard was that they refused to give up film, and slowly died because of that. Well, I give them credit then. At least they live on!

http://www.kodak.com/Consumer/Products/Digital-Cameras/default.htm

This is what I remember! From Wikipedia:

"Kodak began to struggle financially in the late 1990s as a result of the decline in sales of photographic film and its slowness in transitioning to digital photography. As part of a turnaround strategy, Kodak focused on digital photography and digital printing and attempted to generate revenues through aggressive patent litigation. In January 2012, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. In February 2012, Kodak announced that it would cease making digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frames and focus on the corporate digital imaging market. In August 2012, Kodak announced the intention to sell its photographic film (excluding motion picture film), commercial scanners and kiosk operations as a measure to emerge from bankruptcy.

In January 2013, the Court approved financing for Kodak to emerge from bankruptcy by mid-2013. Kodak sold many of its patents for approximately $525,000,000 to a group of companies (including Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Samsung, Adobe Systems and HTC) under the name Intellectual Ventures and RPX Corporation. On September 3, 2013, the company emerged from bankruptcy having shed its large legacy liabilities and exited several businesses. Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging are now part of Kodak Alaris, a separate company owned by the U.K.-based Kodak Pension Plan. On March 12, 2014, it announced that the Board of Directors had elected Jeffrey J. Clarke as Chief Executive Officer and a member of its Board of Directors."
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford