Well doesn't OutKast look silly now. The brand synonymous with instant film is killing off the Polaroid film format and attempting to reinvent the brand so it "lives on for the next 30 to 40 years." In the short term that means closing factories in Massachusetts, Mexico and the Netherlands, cutting 450 jobs, and breaking the hearts of hipster-photographers the world over. Obviously the concept of Polaroids was never going to be much more than a niche in the age of digital photos, and the Polaroid / Zink
Digital Instant Mobile Photo Printer is filling the instant development void left behind, but it's still sad to see a format with so much history and fond memories die, especially since Polaroid spends the majority of its time these days slapping its de-valued logo onto
rubbish commodity electronics.
posted Feb 8th 2008 7:25PM
this is a sad sad day.
Yeah, there can't be a follow-up to the movie Mememnto
Sad day indeed.
I used to work in the now closed scottish factory that made Polaroid Peel-Apart film, sunglasses, and lots of cameras. I seen this coming a couple of years ago, but still cant believe it has actually came to this. No doubt we will still see the classic Polaroid picture ident for many years to come.
Hi to all Polaroid ex-pats reading this.
What are photographers going to put in their 'stripped-down, back-to-basics' galleries now?
That's the first thing I was thinking. A Polaroid piece is in my college's art gallery right now.
It's so ironic! Like Xerox not xeroxing or something.
Or Band-Aid not making band-aids anymore!
lots of photographers / artists (including myself) use polaroid backs on large format cameras to get test shots (lighting, focus, whatever)... it's really too bad Polaroid had to pull the plug, although this was being talked about almost 10 years ago, it's just surprising it finally happened.
I guess no one has seen the Xerox monitors. They're awesome, just... expensive.
Or IBM no longer... oh right.
Anyone remember Kodak had a camera that was the same thing and quit making it b/c they got sued? Well, now is the time then for them to bring that back. I've still got mine from back then. LOL A piece of history. (Also aging myself lmao)
I was thinking about the fashion industry. Isn't the Polaroid used to help w/ lighting & quick shots. How're they going to make those people look better than us now?
I thought of the exact same thing as you. LOL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_camera
But instant cameras were found to be useful for other purposes such as ID cards, passport photos, ultrasound photos, and other uses which required an instant photo. They were also used by police officers and fire investigators because of their ability to create an unalterable instant photo. Medium and large format professional photographers have also used the higher end instant cameras to preview lighting before taking the more expensive medium and/or large format photo.
---------
I can't imagine why they can't preview lighting now with a cam connected to a laptop or similar larger display (dunno about the other uses, which i presume have mostly gone digital down to purely cost savings, as most things do)
Haven't most studios migrated to digital cameras and backs?
Digital cameras and LCD screens will not show you what lighting is going to look like when a photo is printed, which is the whole point.
Another industry that's going to be hurt by this is the film industry, although maybe not as much. Polaroids have long been used for both location scouting and continuity. A location scout would go out in the morning with an empty notebook and a Polaroid camera and would come back with a notebook full of Polaroids to show the producer and director for locations. Doing that digitally is not such a big deal but it does require the extra step of transferring shots to a laptop, not to mention carrying a heavier laptop around everywhere. It's a waste of time and energy.
Continuity is a little bit harder, although I'm sure there are already systems in place and that the switchover has already started. But again, in the Polaroid days you'd just take a bunch of shots and put them in folders. Everybody could then pull those out and look at them while they were on set to make sure makeup, costumes, etc. were the same from shot to shot (given that many shots that are supposed to take place at the same time in the same scene are often shot days apart). I imagine these days they use a laptop, but they've either gotta go through the time-consuming process of burning a bunch of discs every day so that multiple people can have simultaneous access while working on different costumes, makeup or sets, or they just have to limit access to whoever's around that one laptop. Either way, it's gotta be a pain in the ass compared to using Polaroids.
I doubt anyone didn't know this was coming, though, so I'm sure the industry's prepared for it... but that doesn't mean they're happy about it.
But you can easily edit the digital photo to fix the details in the final print
I stopped using polaroid 2 years ago when i purchased my digital back. Yes, you see the preview immediately on the computer screen if you are shooting tethered via firewire. What's nice about it is that never again do you lose the "best" first polaroid shot or have to waste time trying to re-create it on film.
I do save about 10K /year by not having to buy polaroid.
Hmmm, the Polaroid thing has a friend in a bit of a tizzy. He has collected and iventoried 250 SX-70s and something else. His problem, what to do with them now. I would imagine that Polaroid would abandom its propriety information to allow third party vendors, but who knows. Any ideas?
I R TEH POLRSAD NOW...
This ought to teach those pop-stars not to get behind products with less than 100 years of existence!
How's it feel OutKast! How's it feel!?!?!?!
On the other hand, "shake it like a Polaroid picture!" is a lot more catchy than "Shake it like a MicroSD solid state flash storage device!"
win
I bet ppl know that even tho solid state memories can handle G-forces, it doesn't mean it necesarry HAVE to be shaken. They could always take on with spraycans, asthma-inhalers.. or your friends can of coke.
Shake it like an asthma inhaler.. *sexy*
"Shake it like a microSDHC card" anyone?
Ooh. Five minutes cost you rankings.
fail
OutKast doesn't look silly, they're gonna be remembered as the last band that mentioned Polaroid before Polaroid film went out of production.
"Shake it like a Polaroid picture."
Polaroid couldn't have been handed a better marketing line associated with a hot pop act at the time, did they sign them up for marketing at all? I'm pretty sure even with a slight push Polaroid could have sold out product because there was so much hype around OutKast at that time.
Those freakin ZINK concepts better get to market!
I remember a press release or an interview or something.
Polaroid did mention that their sales shot up after the song was released. Then they had to remind everyone that shaking a developing shot did not do anything to help it develop faster, thus proving they had no real idea why it was in the OutKast song in the first place or how to capitalize on it.
shoulda just said "you can shake it if you wanna"
Shake it like an Etch-A-Sketch!
@Marvin
You mean they're disappearing? so mean
Title of the article should have been: You Can No Longer Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture...
The boys over at ZINK have revolutionized this piece of the industry. I say this as a silver-halide fan-boy from way back, before th term fan-boy existed. Watch these guys and gals at ZINK, some good things are a comin'!
Yeah, like I'm going to keep a digital camera and printer in the trunk of my car in the event that someone runs into me. Derrr.
I'VE SEEN THE XEROX MONITORS
They are the sweetest things in the world, but you're quite right...their high end ones cost nearly triple what normal high end monitors cost :/
Awwww..memory cards just don't have that same "aroma".
This is a very sad thing to see. Dr. Land who invented Polaroid would be very upset to see what happened to his company. Both my Dad and Mom have lost their jobs and all benefits. 41 years he worked there. Now they did let the digital age by like it was not happening but there is still very useful moments for a instant film.
Movies use them to check the scene real quick, some high end photographers use it still. The film made money.
Like losing a family member.
I feel for you- but it's the American system. You aurvive or you are too stupid. Polaroid (and Kodak too) made all the wrong decisions.
As long as I can keep shaking my monitor to make pictures load faster, I'll be okay.
Funny, when I shake my tablet, the pictures disappear...
now i'll have to go buy a million polaroid film cartridges. my hipster-id demands it of me.
If only you actually COULD stockpile Polaroid film, Sabrina. Alas, the film goes bad after something like 18 months.
and some day in the future we'll learn the news that "Windows no longer does Windows".
Your Windows does windows? What version of Vista has that option? My dogs are always leaving marks on my windows I would love to have a computerized solution to that issue.
Sorry, that wasn't funny at all, Geoffrey.
The first time I ever posed nude for a camera, it was a polaroid. They were a great thing for that. You did not have to worry about showing your bare booty to the geeks at the photolab.
The first time I ever took naked pictures of Angie was through the viewfinder of my Polaroid. It was great.
Care to share with the class?
wtf?
why did you share with the class?
Now future generations aren't going to know the answer to the joke, "What do Eskimos get from sitting on the ice for too long?"
Truly the end of an era.
Matt! Awesome. I havew fond memories of that day too. I have updates where should I send them?
Just like how Apple is no longer a fruit.
Steve Jobs didn't invent the fruit, though.
No way!
STEVE TOTALLY INVENTED IT
u dun know nething duh ur a nubcake
@Joel.
No he didn't... but he did take credit for it and for Kool Aid.
Simon
Damn... I guess nobody will be getting a 'double Polaroid' anymore :)
Isn't it about time they made cameras in a similar form factor to polaroids, but with a wee inkjet printer in them instead?
Wouldn't that be fun boys and girls?
Nooooooo! Polaroid Type 55 was one of the best films ever made! There isn't any other large format film that gives you a positive and a negative with so little processing. And the negatives? Beautiful fine grain with a grayscale that rivals Tech Pan. This is a sad day, indeed.
I think that this is a huge mistake, I still see Polaroids in use a lot.
I miss Polaroid cameras. :(
Polaroid pictures, like babies, should never, EVER be shaken.
Can we all fucking stop abusing the adjective "hipster"? Just because you saw some skinny Williamburg art imposter wielding an SX-70 does not make Polaroid a "hipster" medium. Fucking lazy writer losers, you are.
Abusing? As if "hipster" should be a term of endearment or admiration? Please.
nope, just kids trying way too hard to be cool.
Hit a little close to home? Aw, it's ok, You know you love Bedford.
Ah, Polaroid. Maybe not the birth of amateur porn, but certainly the adolescence of it.
Does anyone remember that icky developing stick that you used to have to rub all over the photo before it developed? Im sure that was really not the best thing to come into contact with...
I remember when my father bought Polaroid stock at $ 2.50 a share
It is a sad day that Dr. Land would maybe weep over. I still have my SX-70 in great condition. It still serves as a reminder of what Polaroid accomplished back in the early to mid 70s. It put a self developing picture in your hands in 60 seconds from a camera that when closed took up the space of a pocket book. A design worthy of today's Apple. However, once digital came into the picture, film based cameras became endangered species. Many of my SX-70 pictures are still good and were of my son when he was a small child. So long Polaroid and thank you for all the memories.
I'm with you on the SX-70. Possibly among the great pieces of American industrial design in the 70s.
STILL looks very classy.
This sucks, I use Polaroids almost everyday to check focus lighting and whatnot on my view camera. What the hell am I suppose to do????? I must buy up as much type 55 and 54 as I can!!!!!!
damn, it is a sad day! i used to bring my polaroid camera with me early to concerts, take pictures with the band and have them sign it on the spot.
It's been a while since I've bought some packs, but if I remember, they started to become expensive compared to the digital alternatives. Sad, yes, but it's in the consumers best interest.
Yes many photographers have gone digital.
But a digital Hasselblad will run you $25k to $50k and backs for large format are even more expensive. No one makes a back for 8x10 or larger formats of cameras. Really there is no need because at that size you just
Try blowing up a image billboard size even with a 12 megapixel camera. It is done but they look like crap. I have no trouble making an 8x8 foot mural with my 35 year old Yashica 124, and it is still a razer sharp image at that scale.
Also when I travel to get photographs of people I always take along a Polaroid so I can give the person I'm photographing a copy right then and there. Even if you don't speak the language that goes a long way in getting you accepted in some areas of this world.
Try tramping going around in the hill tribe regions of Thailand and Laos for 5 months with your digital cameras. Even my Canon EOS-1D was dead in less than a month from fungus in the electronics (My macbook died even quicker). But my little Ebony SV45Ti kept on shooting through the 150 sheets of Polaroid 55 that I had brought with me.
Well hopefully Fuji realizes that it is not "all but a few nostalgia buffs" that use and need instant film.
Oh one final point try and capture any high speed event with a digital camera, like you could with Polaroid Type 667 with its' ISO of 3000 (that is not a typo it was three thousand).
Happy chimping.
great post. well said.
True. Fuji still makes their "instant film", right? Although certainly not in the wide variety as polaroid...
but one thing... who shoots high speed events with polaroid anyways? talk about risking the shot with one chance...
Carrying around a camera and a printer that needs to be charged and linked with the camera, and then requires me to choose which pictures I want to print is so convenient! Thanks for making my life easier, Polaroid.
Oh no, what will Leonard Shelby do now?! All he'll be able to do will be to remember Sammy Jankis and all those other freaky tattoos of his.
Ah, the taste of a thousand hipster tears nourishes me!
I'm reading the words but I just can't believe it. It's like Kellogg's stopped making pop tarts
But what about the instant 5x4 films from Polaroid?
Does this include those, or is it only the Polaroid 600 films?
Maybe they'll be smart and finally allow others to make instant film.
...Oh, but this is Polaroid. What am I thinking?
I would guess that someone will find it profitable to pick up the license to make the film.
What happens to passport photographs? And totally agree with comment that if Polaroid wants to survive they should stop putting their name on crap.
Buy a bunch of Polaroids right now while they are still in stores, then sell them on eBay in 5 years for half a million dollars! Thats a plan I'm going to follow through with!
You do that, why don't you spend your life's savings?
It's not all bad news. It seems they really just want to drop manufacturing and license it off. We'll have Polaroids, even if they aren't bona fide Polaroid.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=apSoe2r9tJ7M&refer=us
nooooooooooooo
and nothing of value was lost
First Apple stops selling apples. Then Microsoft stops selling windows. This is too much! I put my foot down!
It's like Jell-O not making Jello anymore
Nice move, Polaroid! Stop making the film that lots of people still want so you can focus on making crappy LCD TVs and mediocre digital cameras.
And SPEAKING of Polaroid in the 70s...
On a completely different topic, Polaroid revolutionized TV advertising back in the 70s, with an ad campaign that featured James Garner and Mariette Hartley.
What was so different? It was actually meant to be ENTERTAINING (a heretical concept in ads at the time; it was thought that the more annoying the ad, the better the brand "imprint" on the consumer)
*sigh* I'm getting old...
Hey, Fuji is still around and they're still producing Polaroid packfilm and given their control of the market, they probably won't be having any trouble with keeping the film viable.
Film photography is still very alive by the way. Some of you might just be too obsessed with the newest gadgets and all the meaningless numbers to realise that. I've got my DSLR, but I've also got the 15 year old film SLR which still takes better photos (35mm film has resolution equivalent to about 30 megapixels, medium/large format you're talking hundreds of megapixels), and the vintage Polaroid that is pure coolness.
The problem I have with Polaroid film is they only have 10 photos per pack.
By the way I bought a 3 pack of film a couple of years ago (shows how much the camera get used).
i say we petition to bring it back --
Looks like they'll be closing the Polaroid plant in Waltham, Mass. I grew up there, and a few family members and their friends worked at the Polaroid factory there. The facilities there look so old and outdated compared to all the new office parks they've built in the area.
Is Polaroid the only maker of "polaroid" film? I thought there were other companies making it, just like other film. Yes, I'm talking out my ass right now and have absolutely no idea if this is true. Thought I remember there being other brands... Either way, the obvious question is, why can't somebody else make Polaroid film?