Polaroid no longer does Polaroids
By Paul Miller 
posted February 8th 2008 7:25PM
posted February 8th 2008 7:25PM
posted February 8th 2008 7:25PM
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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?