what was it like using color polaroid film?

[rphenning]

Coming into the LF game way too late (about 6 months ago), I have no idea what it was like using this stuff. I've used it in a 600se before and I really like the results 690 and 669 gave me but I can imagine that LF polaroid film was so much better. What was it like? Did you just use it for proofs or did you use it for finals as well? Were there weird color casts? Could you do emulsion lifts with the 8x10 stuff?

The polaroid 20x24 is like a dream to me. I couldn't imagine shooting that thing, it would be so cool.

[jamesklowe]

i had 10 sheets earlier this year,
all gone. and most of it didn't really work too well.

was heavily affected by different light sources/more so than the e6 that i normally shoot on.

wish i still had some actually..

[Deniz Merdanogullari]

hey rphenning,
seeing that you are in CA, give tracy storer a call.
You can rent his 20x24 polaroid for the day.

8x10 polaroids are super amazing. I have done a few.

Waiting for the polaroid resurrection to come out with a new version of T55. possibly a faster emulsion!!! ISO 400, how cool would that be!

[rphenning]

hey rphenning,
seeing that you are in CA, give tracy storer a call.
You can rent his 20x24 polaroid for the day.

8x10 polaroids are super amazing. I have done a few.

Waiting for the polaroid resurrection to come out with a new version of T55. possibly a faster emulsion!!! ISO 400, how cool would that be!

i'll have to save up but it would be cool to even just go see.

if the impossible project makes 4x5 film I'd be happy that's for sure.

How does the Fuji stuff compare to the polaroid?

[r.e.]

I found colour Polaroid to be way too finicky. My hat's off to Christopher Broadbent, whose colour Polaroid portraits are in another current thread. I found it to be a difficult medium to deal with.

The Fuji is a pleasure to work with, as was Polaroid B&W.

[rdenney]

Waiting for the polaroid resurrection to come out with a new version of T55. possibly a faster emulsion!!! ISO 400, how cool would that be!

Extremely cool. But as cool as it would be, I don't know who is contemplating it. Have you heard something? Seems to me Fuji could do it and put it in their 4x5 packaging, and if they did, I would buy it. I was a big fan of Type 55 back in my early days.

Rick "not holding his breath" Denney

[rdenney]

if the impossible project makes 4x5 film I'd be happy that's for sure.

How does the Fuji stuff compare to the polaroid?

The Impossible Project is making instant print film ala the SX-70, NOT peel-apart film such as was used in 4x5. A replacement for peel-apart films for 4x5 is not even in their business plan, especially since Fuji is still making the stuff.

Fuji's color stuff is very nice--about as contrasty as Velvia, though. That presents some challenges, but since I usually use it to proof for a Velvia shot, it helps me visualize the image with all those black shadows.

Rick "who found Polariod B&W to be less contrasty than sheet film" Denney

[r.e.]

Rick, have a look at this site, which says that the Dutch group has plans to expand its offerings: http://www.facebook.com/pages/20x24-Studio/126024313416

[Jim Rice]

I used a good bit of Type 79. As stated earlier, it was finicky but when it worked it really shined.

[Gene McCluney]

I find the current Fuji color peel-apart films to be superior in color and finish than the last few years of the Polaroid peel-apart films. The Fuji has more accurate color, and the finish of the prints is much more perfect.

[Bill_1856]

In the hands of Marie Cosindas it was the most beautiful color process ever made for photographing people.
For most of the rest of us, however, it was fineky and expensive, and had an out-of-date time which was usually only a few months/weeks after purchase, and really meant disaster.

[chachi]

I find the current Fuji color peel-apart films to be superior in color and finish than the last few years of the Polaroid peel-apart films. The Fuji has more accurate color, and the finish of the prints is much more perfect.

i totally agree.

[scowhismi]

I don't know who is contemplating it. Have you heard something? Seems to me Fuji could do it and put it in their 4x5 packaging, and if they did, I would buy it. I was a big fan of Type 55 back in my early days.
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[Bosaiya]

What was it like?

What was it like? Like shredding money. Beautiful and wonderful and more than a little bit silly.

[Frank Petronio]

Very few studio shooters shot for a perfect color Polaroid aimed at reproduction, they were more just tests for exposure, lighting, and composition. Often the entire box was shifted magenta, although the latest color materials were improved. You could often shoot through a box or two (20 per box) when doing a single important shot for an Art Director. The current nostalgia for all things Polaroid is a bit silly, but the current alternative -- some persnicky client looking over your shoulder at a monitor is often just as tedious, frustrating, and in the end, stifling.

The B&W Polaroid materials were a lot nicer, you could actually frame a clean B&W Type 52 or 54 shot, and even if you use them out of date, they aren't so bad.

[Bill_1856]

What was it like? Like shredding money. Beautiful and wonderful and more than a little bit silly.

Thou has said it, Friend!

[Gene McCluney]

Polaroid is a bit silly, but the current alternative -- some persnicky client looking over your shoulder at a monitor is often just as tedious, frustrating, and in the end, stifling.



You said it. Much nicer to shoot, process and hand the client a polaroid (now-Fuji) test for them to look at, sitting in their own chair. I still do it.

[Gene McCluney]

For the longest time, back in the late 1970's and 1980's, I only shot b/w polaroid tests for the shots I was to deliver in Ektachrome transparency film...because the color pallet was so different for the Polaroid color materials, I did not want my clients judging the color from the Polaroid tests, just the composition and lighting. I eventually started using the color instant films, but had to train my clients to not judge color. Now with the Fuji instant films, under studio/flash shooting, I find the color to be very accurate.

[Sascha Welter]

For the longest time, back in the late 1970's and 1980's, I only shot b/w polaroid tests for the shots I was to deliver in Ektachrome transparency film...because the color pallet was so different for the Polaroid color materials, I did not want my clients judging the color from the Polaroid tests, just the composition and lighting.

The weirdest thing we ever did back then was one client who demanded polaroid tests to be faxed to them. I doubt that they could judge anything more than rough composition, sometimes hindered by the fax squeezing or stretching the image. They still complained about stuff like "the light side of that table is too white", which there was no chance for them to really judge on the basis of what they had seen.

We didn't use color polaroids either, or only very, very rarely.

[Ed Richards]

It is the best way to learn 4x5, if you are willing to trade money for time. If you do not process your own film, it is even cheaper. Since the stuff is a contact print, you can even put a loupe on it and judge sharpness. 100 sheets shot carefully and studied over a couple of weeks could get a new user to the basic competence stage. Since you see your mistakes at once, it is much more effective than film.

[sanchi heuser]

It is the best way to learn 4x5, if you are willing to trade money for time...


When I began with largeformat, I used in the first year not a single sheet film,
only polaroids. Mostly type 664 black and white.
I don't know how much material I exposed:eek: .

Later I used type 55 and after a while I gave the best to
a local black and white lab to get prints from them.
I remember when I showed the prints to some people and they were really
amazed when I told them that were prints from a polaroid,
then I gave them a loupe and they could discover even more details...

That was really fun:)

sanchi

[Jerry Bodine]

I started large format with 4x5 around 1970 and initially looked to Polaroid as a possible learning tool for both b&w and color. Starting with color first, I began a series of tests to learn how it performed and study its limits, setting up my camera indoors on tripod with only electronic flash on light stands. Went through the first box, then opened another box and duplicated exactly the conditions as for the last shot from the first box – the results were TOTALLY different. Although Polaroid quickly replaced the box, further tests showed poor consistency, and I decided the cost per exposure was exorbitant and would no longer consider its use. I’ve never looked back, so I have no knowledge of any later improvements. Frustration OVER, and think of the money I’d saved by switching immediately to Ektachrome. The b&w experience was not so ugly; Type 52 produced acceptable prints, but the keepers needed to have that goopy coating smeared over them to preserve the high values (and to catch dust specks carried by breezes when used outdoors) and of course one needed to have trash bags on hand for all the paper litter created by this process. Neither of these issues would exist for indoor work, but for outdoor work (especially in airy conditions) the process was rather impractical.