View Full Version : Gigantic Polaroid Camera
rbultman
11-Dec-2015, 20:19
Perhaps this has already been shared here, but I found the video fascinating.
http://designtaxi.com/news/363970/Raw-Life-Sized-Portraits-Of-Hollywood-Stars-Shot-By-A-Gigantic-Polaroid-Camera/
StoneNYC
11-Dec-2015, 20:53
Yea that's the 20x24 studios Polaroid camera. There are 3 or 4 in existence.
Look up 20x24 studios
Alan Gales
12-Dec-2015, 18:51
One of the members here got married and had Frank Petronio shoot portraits of him and his bride with one of those cameras. Pretty neat! The portraits were awesome.
David Lobato
12-Dec-2015, 20:18
Elsa Dorfman used one for several years for portraits. In her 20x24 FAQ page, she says there are 8 in existence.
http://www.elsadorfman.com
Wow, i never knew there was such a camera.
Its a amzing what you can do when you are an extraordinarily wealthy and well known photographer, something like life size portraits on instant film. Incredible. Its almost a novel, never before done type thing. Today the legend continues, and anachronism remains unchecked.
Recently i saw something called "the south as seen through the 20X24" or something like that, and really, what can be seen through a 239LBS camera, lugged around "the south" that we haven't already seen a billion times from Bill Burke, Jim Dow and their polaroid friends of mid 80's fame?
What is important here? The curiosity of a gimmick originally designed to be demonstrator of purpose, or the medium which makes about as much sense as a panoramic image shot on a dedicated camera, when the same frame could have been shot on any camera, then cropped, just like my 35TI "panorama" function does (yes, its totally a stupid thing to take an already tiny format and cut half of it out).
Alas, one question remains: WHY?
Still, the interweb is amazing.
dsphotog
13-Dec-2015, 12:35
Why?
Because each image is an original, one-of-a-kind piece of art.
Why?
Because each image is an original, one-of-a-kind piece of art.
Surely you cannot say that about anything that is not done with a 20X24 polaroid, a pleasure exclusively reserved for photographers with means.
dsphotog
13-Dec-2015, 13:14
Sorry if I wasn't clear... I'm not saying those qualities are exclusive only to a 20x24 Polaroid...
There was one at Calumet in San Francisco, I don't know about now, but that camera/studio was avail. to anyone to rent by the hour, plus materials.
Frank Petronio isn't a rich man, he just had a subject willing to pay what it cost for a special session.
http://www.mammothcamera.com/rental.html
200$ per exposure. I am not sure it includes the rental of the equipment. In any case, i guess thats not so much more then actual cost of a negative 20X24. With that said, i still wonder - why?
dsphotog
13-Dec-2015, 13:33
I would encourage anyone to shoot any Polaroid, now while it's avail... It's just magic!
There was a time when, before shooting 4x5 chrome, we shot 4x5 Polaroid for disposable test shots, I delivered pickup trucks of 8x10 Pol, and Ektachrome to a local industrial studio, and also used to shoot tons of Polaroid passport photos too, it was a great experience, I'll never forget the lovely smell of that chemical.
photonsoup
13-Dec-2015, 14:25
Perhaps Bob Crowley or someone from 20x24 Studios could chime in. I think New55 is in the same building? I haven't paid a lot of attention to the relationship, but I'm pretty sure there is one.
http://www.20x24studio.com
http://http://www.20x24studio.com
Tin Can
13-Dec-2015, 14:42
I would encourage anyone to shoot any Polaroid, now while it's avail... It's just magic!
There was a time when, before shooting 4x5 chrome, we shot 4x5 Polaroid for disposable test shots, I delivered pickup trucks of 8x10 Pol, and Ektachrome to a local industrial studio, and also used to shoot tons of Polaroid passport photos too, it was a great experience, I'll never forget the lovely smell of that chemical.
I am gearing up to shoot 11 boxes of expired FP100C and 12 boxes of FP100C45 I got for free recently. Bought a Polaroid 550 today for $17 delivered, for the 45 Fuji and LF cameras. Paid $20 for 18 Magicubes/72 flashes to use with my free Polaroid BIG Shot.
I also have 15 boxes of FP3000B I actually paid for!.
Pretty sure 20X24 Polaroid at $200 a shot is a great bargain, if I was close to one I would be sorely tempted.
Why, because.
Party season is here!
Going right now to one, free booze and gourmet food at my local bar. Too bad I quit drinking, but the still want me there. It's good to have friends and Fujiroid.
StoneNYC
13-Dec-2015, 17:36
Perhaps Bob Crowley or someone from 20x24 Studios could chime in. I think New55 is in the same building? I haven't paid a lot of attention to the relationship, but I'm pretty sure there is one.
http://www.20x24studio.com
http://http://www.20x24studio.com
I believe there certainly is a relationship there, 20x24studios makes the pods for new55 I think, just like IP I believe.
I know that everything hinges on the pod making machine being maintained because if it breaks the cost of repair could be too high to keep things going.
I'm still unclear if new paper is being made or if the stock is just very large and eventually it will run out? I hope there's a contingency plan.
Regarding the question of why, it's one of little importance, because we want to. Why does anyone bother buying a CPP3+ when why bother shooting film at all, because we want to and we enjoy it or find value in it.
The same rich people that can afford 20x24 film are the same rich people that can afford a CPP3+, $4,000 for a heating element and electric motor that ultimately costs $150 in actual parts, but there aren't many and time and engineering have gone into it, and so it costs more. Time and energy have gone ING 20x24 Polaroid design. At one time there was purposeful documentation reasons for the Polaroid stock, copy camera work, a friend of mine did a bunch of that work for Polaroid and also did some emulsion lift videos using a 20x24 image he had made years ago and decided to lift the entire emulsion and move it artistically to a new piece of paper, it was pretty neat to watch. I now own his darkroom door and sink. He is a chef and fine woodworking maker now. Why? Because he enjoys that and finds value in it, could he work for 20x24 studios? In a heartbeat, but why doesn't he, because he finds more value elsewhere.
We all value things differently. There's no shame in that, instead, we can find joy in the possibilities.
I just FINALLY got a CPP2+ with lift, why? Because my roller base broke and I want to develop my own color consistently, why do that when color printing is dead? Because I enjoy shooting 8x10 Velvia50 and the Lambda/LightJet C-Prints that come from them, I find value in that.
I'm not a rich person, in a 30 year old college student, but I find a way to make it work because I find value in it and want to.
Emphatic I suppose...
I am gearing up to shoot 11 boxes of expired FP100C and 12 boxes of FP100C45 I got for free recently. Bought a Polaroid 550 today for $17 delivered...Funny...I just bought a Polaroid Minute Maker camera (about $14) and ordered two boxes of the FP100C. Am looking forward to playing with it.
Tin Can
13-Dec-2015, 19:20
Funny...I just bought a Polaroid Minute Maker camera (about $14) and ordered two boxes of the FP100C. Am looking forward to playing with it.
1977, it can also use Magicubes. I have an earlier model of your camera, a ColorPack 2, but mine cannot use Magicubes, which really are Magic! No batteries, no electricity.
It is still easy to find these 70's Polaroids in unused condition. They sold a lot of them.
Tracy Storer
13-Dec-2015, 19:52
Never heard of it? REALLY ?!?
SMH (that's Interweb for "Shaking My Head")
a brief history lesson here:
http://www.mammothcamera.com/thecamera.html
If you don't have time to read that, Polaroid built Five cameras, not including two prototypes. I am nearing completion of my third and likely final one.
PS, I have been working with these camera for 30 plus years.
SMH
Richard Wasserman
13-Dec-2015, 21:33
20x24 is a miniature camera. There is (was?) a 4x9 foot Polaroid camera which Joe Mcnally used for “Faces of Ground Zero, Portraits of the Heroes of September 11, 2001 Collection,”
http://www.facesofgroundzero.com/#!/about
Tin Can
13-Dec-2015, 21:39
20x24 is a miniature camera. There is (was?) a 4x9 foot Polaroid camera which Joe Mcnally used for “Faces of Ground Zero, Portraits of the Heroes of September 11, 2001 Collection,”
http://www.facesofgroundzero.com/#!/about
We used to also put men on the Moon. I would love to see the camera and lens.
Tracy Storer
13-Dec-2015, 22:10
We used to also put men on the Moon. I would love to see the camera and lens.
For a couple years, I was one of the cameramen on the 40" x80",
It required two operators INSIDE the camera. I was one.
Tracy Storer
13-Dec-2015, 22:14
Call it a miniature format after shooting 50,000+ shots.
And after pulling a few hundred 40" x 80" s.....
20x24 is a miniature camera. There is (was?) a 4x9 foot Polaroid camera which Joe Mcnally used for “Faces of Ground Zero, Portraits of the Heroes of September 11, 2001 Collection,”
http://www.facesofgroundzero.com/#!/about
There is another of these 20x24 in operation at supersense (supersense.com) in Vienna, Austria. Portraits are 250 Euro, and you can talk to them about rentals.
Tracy Storer
14-Dec-2015, 08:49
Supersense' camera is one of Wisners, with separate processor. He made several. They're not part of the "official camera count".
Tin Can
14-Dec-2015, 23:32
Supersense' camera is one of Wisners, with separate processor. He made several. They're not part of the "official camera count".
I just had a nice laugh at the thought that Polaroid 20X24 has no commercial, artistic, or use in this digital world.
I was reading a sample copy of the latest Forbes Magazine just now. I turned to page 95 of issue 12/15/2015 and bingo, Bill Gates, in a one page splash, in a Polaroid 20x24 just taken of him and at least 6 others used for a story about, "I don't care..."
Forbes and the article is not the story, the usage of the "Tiny" 20X24 Polaroid camera is.
I was cheered to see it used and acknowledged. They even had their facts right, 5 extent.
As for 'cost' I bet camera rental, film and perhaps Tracy Storer was the least expense at this fandango (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fandango). I use the second definition.
The picture of Gates, caught my eye because it looked so different than any other image in the magazine. Artistic licence...
Can you tell us any more Tracy?
Tracy Storer
15-Dec-2015, 10:19
That's the New York Studio crew, they are much busier than I am here in Cali. I did Photograph Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Steve Wynn (with Timothy Greenfield Sanders) in Las Vegas a few years ago though.....
I just had a nice laugh at the thought that Polaroid 20X24 has no commercial, artistic, or use in this digital world.
I was reading a sample copy of the latest Forbes Magazine just now. I turned to page 95 of issue 12/15/2015 and bingo, Bill Gates, in a one page splash, in a Polaroid 20x24 just taken of him and at least 6 others used for a story about, "I don't care..."
Forbes and the article is not the story, the usage of the "Tiny" 20X24 Polaroid camera is.
I was cheered to see it used and acknowledged. They even had their facts right, 5 extent.
As for 'cost' I bet camera rental, film and perhaps Tracy Storer was the least expense at this fandango (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fandango). I use the second definition.
The picture of Gates, caught my eye because it looked so different than any other image in the magazine. Artistic licence...
Can you tell us any more Tracy?
chris kleihege
22-Dec-2015, 00:44
Aimed especially at Randy...Columbia College has (or used to have) one of the 20x24's. Track down Peter LeGrand or Dawood Bey and they can tell you all about it. A couple hundred a pop? Measure twice and cut once.
http://www.mammothcamera.com/rental.html
200$ per exposure. I am not sure it includes the rental of the equipment. In any case, i guess thats not so much more then actual cost of a negative 20X24. With that said, i still wonder - why?
THATS IT..i'm selling all..no..tossing out all my cameras and shooting everything with the camera in my phone...that is if I shoot anything at all since it's all been photographed before anyway
Drew Wiley
22-Dec-2015, 09:10
AA took the official portrait of Jimmy Carter with one of these, accompanied by a Polaroid tech and lighting assistants of course, in lieu of a traditional painting.
It was all set up in advance. He merely pushed the shutter at the right moment.
rbultman
23-Dec-2015, 04:58
Oren already posted here (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?127389-Elsa-Dorfman-is-retiring&p=1296365&viewfull=1#post1296365), but here is another 20x24 Polaroid artist.
https://artery.wbur.org/2015/12/22/cambridge-photographer-elsa-dorfman-retiring
Bob Salomon
23-Dec-2015, 06:29
There used to be a camera store in LA called Pan Pacific. When they moved to what ended up being their last location they also had a 20 x 24" Polaroid installed in the store for rental. However the owner's son got caught taking some, for lack of a better term, business shortcuts over a fax machine and the store had to close. I wonder where that camera ended up?
Michael R
23-Dec-2015, 08:28
It's sort of funny the article describes Chuck Close simply as a "renowned New York based portrait photographer". Anyhow, thanks for posting this. Enjoyable. A few years back View Camera magazine had something on Close using the 20x24. There was a picture of him photographing Clint Eastwood with some serious bellows extension.
Richard Johnson
23-Dec-2015, 09:54
The Polaroid 20x24 camera is wonderful but what happens to most photographers is because it is expensive, slower than digital, and the requirements of longer 600-800mm lenses makes focusing especially critical... they tend to shoot more conservatively. Many of the photos look similar even though they were made by widely different kinds of photographers. It's really hard to interject your personality into it.
One of the Polaroid techs I know has shot with it extensively - she considers her 8x10 her compact camera - and she has broken through the barriers I think: http://www.jennifertrausch.com (weird website nav, can't be perfect).
I think her work is more successful than most of the famous celebrity type photographers who have used the 20x24 for a day or two.
Tracy Storer
23-Dec-2015, 09:57
Aimed especially at Randy...Columbia College has (or used to have) one of the 20x24's. Track down Peter LeGrand or Dawood Bey and they can tell you all about it. A couple hundred a pop? Measure twice and cut once.
THat was one of the "real" 20x24s made by Polaroid, the camera went back to Polaroid, but the 1200mm lens went missing for several years before turning up again.
Tracy Storer
23-Dec-2015, 09:59
Jennifer is a good friend and a wonderful photographer, with ANY sized camera she chooses to use.
The Polaroid 20x24 camera is wonderful but what happens to most photographers is because it is expensive, slower than digital, and the requirements of longer 600-800mm lenses makes focusing especially critical... they tend to shoot more conservatively. Many of the photos look similar even though they were made by widely different kinds of photographers. It's really hard to interject your personality into it.
One of the Polaroid techs I know has shot with it extensively - she considers her 8x10 her compact camera - and she has broken through the barriers I think: http://www.jennifertrausch.com (weird website nav, can't be perfect).
I think her work is more successful than most of the famous celebrity type photographers who have used the 20x24 for a day or two.
Tracy Storer
23-Dec-2015, 10:02
Columbia College had a Wisner system. They sold it several years ago to a photographer in Colorado. (I traveled there to train him) He subsequently sold the camera to a group of photographers in China.
Dawoud Bey worked with the camera a lot in the '90s and was probably part of why Columbia bought one. I loved working with him, he is a good man with a huge heart.
Aimed especially at Randy...Columbia College has (or used to have) one of the 20x24's. Track down Peter LeGrand or Dawood Bey and they can tell you all about it. A couple hundred a pop? Measure twice and cut once.
pierre506
23-Dec-2015, 17:45
1977, it can also use Magicubes. I have an earlier model of your camera, a ColorPack 2, but mine cannot use Magicubes, which really are Magic! No batteries, no electricity.
It is still easy to find these 70's Polaroids in unused condition. They sold a lot of them.
Polaroid Colorpack uses 2 batteris inside of its body. Colorpack and Minute Maker are using the Flashcube flash.
Tin Can
23-Dec-2015, 18:17
Polaroid Colorpack uses 2 batteris inside of its body. Colorpack and Minute Maker are using the Flashcube flash.
I have a Colorpack 2, but use it outside. Not as interesting a camera or picture as the Big Shot.
I shoot the Fuji 1/4 plate Fujiroid with 6X9 Horseman VHR. Then I get sharp images. But that's a big package with the rotary back and all.
Just got 2005 FP100C45 which should be good still, as it came with the little FP100C, which is fine.
Jennifer is a good friend and a wonderful photographer, with ANY sized camera she chooses to use.
Love her work with the 20x24. Off the scale.
She's since moved on from 20x24 studios, did a stint with 'Impossible' in Berlin, I believe, now back in the US (Brooklyn?). Hope she is well.
Tracy Storer
24-Dec-2015, 01:06
Correct.
Life goes on !
She is back in Brooklyn working towards new things.
Love her work with the 20x24. Off the scale.
She's since moved on from 20x24 studios, did a stint with 'Impossible' in Berlin, I believe, now back in the US (Brooklyn?). Hope she is well.
pierre506
24-Dec-2015, 04:49
I have a Colorpack 2, but use it outside. Not as interesting a camera or picture as the Big Shot.
I shoot the Fuji 1/4 plate Fujiroid with 6X9 Horseman VHR. Then I get sharp images. But that's a big package with the rotary back and all.
Just got 2005 FP100C45 which should be good still, as it came with the little FP100C, which is fine.
Yes, I love Big Shot, too. However, the magicubes are increasingly hard to find.
143937
Why?
Because each image is an original, one-of-a-kind piece of art.
Some Real Cameras are measured in millimeters and centimeters.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.