8x10 instant film is coming back via Impossible.

[mattydk]

Okay, so it may be early days but it looks like they're trying their best to get some new instant materials out there for all us LF shooters:

http://shop.the-impossible-project.com/newsletters/

I only hope they try to bring back type 55 and the like, now THAT would be pretty sweet!

[Asher Kelman]

Okay, so it may be early days but it looks like they're trying their best to get some new instant materials out there for all us LF shooters:

http://shop.the-impossible-project.com/newsletters/

I only hope they try to bring back type 55 and the like, now THAT would be pretty sweet!

Well then, the if stuff works and doesn't fade too fast, I can start fire up my 8x10 processor and remember how to work the thing!

Asher

[Walter Calahan]

At $570 per box I'm going to have to pass even though I own two 8x10 Polaroid processors. Ouch.

[Frank Petronio]

Haha scammer hipsters is all that is.... They can kiss my behind with their bogus, grossly over-priced, rapidly-fading, blotchy "film".

Leave the dead alone, especially if you can't do it right.

[Daniel Stone]

$570/15 shots

bullshit.

someone here mentioned about some actor that shoots 8x10 polaroid, maybe he'll buy some!

-Dan

[Tracy Storer]

I am looking forward to their new "integral" stuff, not sure what the pricepoint on that will be. They may also come up with a new "peel-apart" film...not sure. Not sure what the $570 is getting you, developer/reagent age is certainly relevant.

$570/15 shots = $38/shot, which isn't cheap, but....

[Valdecus]

US$570 is for a couple of boxes of old stock original Polaroid 8x10. The website does not say anything about the price they intend to sell the newly to be produced Impossible 8x10 stuff.

Cheers,
Andreas

[Asher Kelman]

US$570 is for a couple of boxes of old stock original Polaroid 8x10. The website does not say anything about the price they intend to sell the newly to be produced Impossible 8x10 stuff.

Cheers,
Andreas

My wife knew my 8x10 Polaroid stash was valuable, so she kindly transferred it to the freezer!

Hopefully the pods did not burst!

Asher

[Rayt]

Why $570? Are they gauging how much people are willing to pay for their stuff?

[ic-racer]

At $570 per box I'm going to have to pass even though I own two 8x10 Polaroid processors. Ouch.

Same here, I'm waiting to see how much the new stuff costs.

[matthew klos]

This company is such a joke. I am so sick of seeing all of their shity products

[D. Bryant]

This company is such a joke. I am so sick of seeing all of their shity products

+1!

[luis a de santos]

They are misleading at best.
All the talk about bringing 8x10 back and all they are doing is selling bad outdated film.
As it is it will be worthless with bad blue cast due to red dye fading.
I have some film left and it is no good.
I am very disappointed on this outfit that what supposed to revive Polaroid.
As for 4x5 size,Fuji is 1000% better than their stuff.

Luis

[cyrus]

So the stuff is expensive, but come on guys - encouragement is what's called for here. Instead of dissing them for putting out an expensive product, cheer them for trying. Think positive! A bunch of people are putting in the effort to accomplish something quite grand, and good for them (even though I can't afford their product yet.)

[Frank Petronio]

No, they are shysters.

[atlcruiser]

Not so sure they are shysters but my opinion of them has gone down a bit as I have seen their prices and products.

On the other hand, making money from selling their product is just fine with me and if there are hipster folks out there who will buy their stuff more power to them.

If fuji did not produce their instant film then I think the opinions might be a bit different overall.

I still hope they will pull out a win at some point. If they make the 810 film I will buy a pack and try it just to say I did.

[Robert Hughes]

Reminds me of the time I bought about $1K in stock on a silver mine. They were re-starting some old mine with new equipment and processes, they had a sharp looking prospectus and web page, they looked legit.

They spent all their money on hookers and coke, and went bankrupt, of course. I expect the same from these guys - except I'm not investing this time.

[D. Bryant]

So the stuff is expensive, but come on guys - encouragement is what's called for here.

Encouragement of what? Crappy over priced products?

[matthew klos]

I think the concept of the company is an amazing idea for silver junkies like ourselves. What they set out to do is very different from what they have become. Their market demographic as i see it is targeted to a younger generation such as myself. For people who enjoy looking hipster and cool with there newly refurbished polaroid camera, taking vintage looking photographs of their friends. I was looking forward to a sister product like the Fuji line of instant films, Which by the way are amazing and absolutely worth every penny, i use them often. back to my point the company has to my standards not done a hell of a lot.

[akfreak]

They named the company right, The impossible project. It will be an Impossible Project to ever get a dime of my money. $510 for some shitty wannabe Polaroid film. Give me a break.

[Valdecus]

$510 for some shitty wannabe Polaroid film. Give me a break.

Some people are also spending huge amounts of money on uncoated, 100 year old lenses with horrible chromatic aberrations and other design flaws - just to achieve a certain 'look'. What's wrong with shelling out vast amounts of money to achieve a 'vintage Polaroid' look, if you desire? In the end, nobody forces me to buy their products.

Cheers,
Andreas

[Frank Petronio]

The problem is not with their proposed materials, or the chocolate or blue-tinted attempts at making Polaroids, or any of their ideas... the problem is that so far they haven't made anything that works very well. The film is defective, faulty, buggy... it develops with splotches, gaps, and dirt - and they try to pass this off as "charming" and "art-like" rather than admitting that it's a problem. Some of their film isn't even instant, I bought an expensive pack of their faux SX-70 film and had to eject the film into a dark box in order for it to develop at all.

I could understand that reinventing Polaroid is challenging but they want us to pay 4x the original prices for an experimental and defective product. And they sugar-coat it with some very slick marketing and graphic design work to make us think we are getting something of value.

This is all very similar to the Lomography business, which uses slick marketing to resell inexpensive Russian and Chinese cameras at higher prices. But at least the Lomo stuff actually works!

When I would get defective Polaroid, which was no uncommon, I could pack up the faulty packs and return it for a credit on new film. These guys won't do that, they'll tell you messed up film is an "improvement" haha.

As for selling old dried-up 8x10 for $43 per sheet, let the buyer beware, you're stupid to buy it but that's your business.... It's their NEW products that are the real rip-off.

[BobCrowley]

Tough audience.



http://new55project.blogspot.com

[matthew klos]

Well said frank

[Renato Tonelli]

When I saw the thread I got all excited. In my mind, I had already resolved to keep my 8x10 processor and film holder ( I used up my last two boxes of 809 last week on image transfers).
Back to reality. I'll hold on to the gear just in case there is a demand for it but I think I'm done.

[Duane Polcou]

I attended the Impossible Project's product launch press conference in March of 2010 in New York. They are essentially 3 individuals from Europe who felt there were enough Polaroid cameras sitting around collecting dust to make it profitable to re-introduce Polaroid style products. They said they spent $1.3M to purchase, ship, and refurbish Polaroid's manufacturing equipment for integral films, and to establish factory space in Europe to begin production.

They never once lied about the difficulty involved in this endeavor. Quite the contrary; they gave a really long powerpoint presentation about the architecture of Polaroid film and how it took years to perfect (it supposedly has something like 30 layers). They then admitted they had no dyes for the film, they had no reliable formulations to make the dyes, and that the traditionsl supplier of primary chemicals for these products was no longer a viable source. They were basically starting from scratch.

I gave them a lot of credit for trying this project, but all they managed to produce at that time was a weak sepia colored product with very low d-max, very low sharpness, no long term image stability, and no reliability that it would even process properly at all. They eventually managed to produce a color integral film, but from examples I have seen the color does not match the old Polaroid, its' reliability to produce a flawless, cleanly processed print is non existent, and it is horrendously overpriced.

Just my 2 c.

[Renato Tonelli]

If I recall correctly there is a group of photographers using the 20x24 Polaroid cameras who are producing the material they need. It has been pointed out that since the negative and the paper with the chemistry pods are separate from each other, the production could also accommodate the 8x10 version. Perhaps I dreamt it.

[John Conway]

I really liked the Polaroid 8x10 stuff. Man, I was crying about the 149.00 a box I was paying. I bought the machine for 100.00. I miss the polaroid stuff so much.

[Ron McElroy]

If I recall correctly there is a group of photographers using the 20x24 Polaroid cameras who are producing the material they need. It has been pointed out that since the negative and the paper with the chemistry pods are separate from each other, the production could also accommodate the 8x10 version. Perhaps I dreamt it.

I thought everyone renting the 20x24 camera had a limited amount of old stock and when its exhausted there is no more.

[rdenney]

Tough audience.



http://new55project.blogspot.com

Knowledgeable audiences come in with the most hope, because they understand the potential of what is being promised, and the greatest potential disappointment, because they cannot be fooled when that promise is not delivered. A business that targets knowledgeable customers will have more work to do up front, but will end up with a stable revenue stream that does not depend on customer turnover to stay in business.

Rick "hoping the new55project folks understand that" Denney

[BobCrowley]

Traditional LF photographers are not the largest or the target customer for either New55 or TIP. Both seem directed toward those with an appetite for discovery and experimentation, and collaboration.

It is unfair to say that TIP's films don't work. They do, and very well in certain instances, but not like the original. I have personally visited the factory and have seen the small, dedicated group of people who intend to make incremental progress, just as Polaroid and many others had to go through in the earliest days. If you scan through the recent Flickr 'roid week photos you will see some astonishingly good ones from TIP and a couple from us in there too.

Many photographers criticized Polaroid in the beginning, and later too. Film is no good in general, to many. I'm on vacation and failed to bring more than my digi for that reason.

New55 would not be like the original. That is clearly not feasible. It would not, if commercialized, be solely directed toward the "existing" market, since that is small and diminishing - about a third or less of our market research.

Our company has produced many products that are considered the finest of their type, but even then we no longer depend on established customer bases to sell them, since times have changed. Our "target market" is students and artists who are just discovering any of the million Speed Graphics that are still in perfect operating condition. Their expectations are as unlimited as their imagination.

If you have the inclination to try to drive these new three-wheeled not quite perfect films, and produce some good results, please do show your success to others, and especially to younger people, and that way things will improve.

http://new55project.blogspot.com/p/flickr-photostream-page.html

[grahamcase]

[The rest of this is kind of a rant. Basically I just want to say that I'm glad some people are making an effort to recreate these products that a lot of people really love, and miss. They may not be perfect yet, but the more we support them now, the more money and time they'll have to figure out how to create the products we want in the future.]

I think The Impossible Project is getting a bad rap, and not necessarily deserved.

Remember, their basically doing this out of a desire to recreate Polaroid, and they're trying to do it being slightly more environmentally conscious, in terms of the chemistry used, then original Polaroid.

Remember, they're recreating instant film from the ground up. They're not modifying existing recipes - they didn't have any of the original recipes to begin with! At this point, their main advantage over the original Polaroid team is that they KNOW this product can exist. Dr. Land and his team were inventing something brand new, but the Impossible Team is starting from scratch.

In a way it's a disadvantage to know it's possible to create this kind of film, because there's so much more pressure on you to succeed, and create a product that is identical to the original.

Is their film perfect? Not by a long shot, but at least they're trying. If people keep buying the film, imperfections and all, then they will continue to have an R&D budget, hopefully allowing them to discover their formula which will make the images better, and help create the opaque developing screen that will enable people to take photos without having to shoot into a dark box.

For the record, you had to do that with early integral Polaroid too. Their first products were similarly buggy to the Impossible Projects film, but they figured it out.

As for the New55 project, I think they're making great headway, and possibly doing things the way you guys all want TIP to have done their work, i.e., do a lot of work and research before, and getting, what I believe, are great results, long before moving into a commercial business. Bob and his group are not only creating these products (that are already seeing some great results) but also sharing a lot of their formulas for their monobaths they are testing for their instant negs.

Groan all you want, but these are people are actually doing something. We can gripe about how their products aren't up to our standards, but it's not like we're getting our own hands dirty trying to remake something that we'll appreciate when they can get it to work.

[dng88]

what is the latest update? any 8x10 instant?

[buggz]

I wish Fuji would make a kit for their color instant film.
I use it on 4x5 all the time.
I need to learn more on how to "recover" the "negatives" though...

[cosmicexplosion]

i like the look of impossible film, it is warm and not digtal, unique one might say.

it is too expensive and the fading point....

why doesnt fuji enter the market and make a bigger range?

[Jay DeFehr]

What I'd like to see is new film for the old Polaroid roll film cameras, like the 110. These youngsters don't know what cool is.

[BobCrowley]

I wish Fuji would make a kit for their color instant film.
I use it on 4x5 all the time.
I need to learn more on how to "recover" the "negatives" though...

If you use a lot of the Fuji 4x5 instant you may want to stock up, as it has been discontinued. The smaller packfilm is still being made: ISO 100 color, and ISO 3000 black and white.

[spacegoose]

I believe the remaining 20x24 film stock is owned by 20x24 Studio (http://www.20x24studio.com/?page_id=1653), and they produce their own reagent / chemistry pods.

[Marc B.]

If you use a lot of the Fuji 4x5 instant you may want to stock up, as it has been discontinued.
I wonder if this statement is true/fact? Yes, production has ended on the 4 X 5, B&W, Fuji Pack Film, FP3000b45.
However, could you please provide a link confirming that production has ceased on the 4 X 5, Color, Fuji Pack Film, FP100c45?
The last announcement I've seen, addressed only the FP3000b45, B&W Pack Film.

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Ffujifilm.jp%2Finformation%2Farticlead_0132.html


Instant Film Peel apartment type "B & W instant film FP-3000B 45 SUPER SPEEDY"
TRANSLATED End-of-Sales Announcement
From the Fuji press release, 29 Sep 11..."the 4 X 5 color will continue."

TRANSLATED...in addition, the color film will be continue to sell.
The press release heading only includes the 4 X 5, B&W production, as being discontinued.

Discontinued one name.

"B & W instant film FP-3000B 45 SUPER SPEEDY"

From FP-3000B 45 SUPER SPEEDY 1 pack
From FP-3000B 45 SUPER SPEEDY 20 Pack
To the best of my knowledge, 4 X 5, 'Instant' color pack film from Fuji 'lives on,' and...is still in production!

Marc

[jzeairs]

long live instant film. TIP

[cabbiinc]

Recovering the negatives on Fuji FP-100C is as simple as:
1) let the negative dry after peeling the print from it
2) using common household bleach remove the black ink layer from the back of the negative, careful not to touch the emulsion side of it as that will take all of the emulsion right off of it.
3) dry the negative again to let all bleach evaporate and keep from transferring to the other side.
4) rinse the dried goop off the emulsion side, use cold water to keep the emulsion in tact. If after a few minutes of rinsing you still have stubborn area gently use your fingers to rub the goop away.
5) dry

Bleaching without damaging the other side is the tricky part. Some tape it down to keep it away from the other side. Some use a bleach foam product. I just lay the neg. on 4 or 5 layers of paper towel and using another paper towel work from the center to the outer edge, switching paper towels to lay the neg. on when needed. It isn't an instant process.