Recently, I have come into possession of a vintage Polaroid SX-70 Sonar Onestep camera. Having spent loads of time on Flickr researching how cool the shots could look, thinking of how cool I would look while shooting, and just the general all around coolness of actually having a Polaroid, I waited in baited breath for eBay to deliver my goods.

Last Saturday morning my prayers were answered. I opened the box and laid all my goodies down on the table. I sat there, as an immense feeling overwhelmed me. It was dread. Oh God, now I actually have to use it. I have to physically handle the film, set focus manually and modify the cartridge to accept standard 600 film. Arrggghhhh. It seemed like such a delicate object. What the hell was I going to photograph? At £2 a shot, it needed to be freakin’ amazing.

So, this is the story of my first pack of film and the heart-stopping 10 minutes that I give myself – from taking a shot to analysing the developed result like a crazy person.

Polaroid manufactured the SX-70 from 1972-81. The Sonar Onestep models were the first autofocus SLRs available to consumers and now the most sort-after for collectors. I could go into a lot of detail about all the ins-and-outs of these cameras, but I will try and keep it short. I have purchased two different types of film for my first attempt: Artistic TZ, an experimental film designed for the SX-70, with an expiry date of 09/09; and the more common 600 film, with an expiry date of 10/09. This amounted to a total of £50, including shipping, courtesy of Polapremium, a Viennese-based company.

I decided to use the 600 film first, as it is slightly cheaper. Not being designed for use in the SX-70, some manipulations are required for consistent results.

FIRST MISTAKE: In under 2ºC temperature, I went to the eerily foggy, largely squirrel-populated Highgate Wood in London for a test shot. Due to the cold, the film was unable to develop properly.

SECOND MISTAKE: Not researching how 600 film works in the SX-70, the shot was extremely overexposed.

THIRD MISTAKE: Like the eager little children that I am, I neglected to clean the rollers prior to loading the film. This caused four constant yellow spots down the left side of the film. A mistake, yes, but a somewhat good mistake. I am now writing it off as artistic creativity.

Since then I think we have progressed. The shots below are in the order they were taken – a collaboration between Krash and I.

Next time – Artistic TZ.

PS: I got some great advice from Rob Spicer, a Polaroid photographer that I contacted on Flickr. Check out his stuff at here. You can also view my work at my flickr page here.

xx

Related posts:

1. Artistic BOOM
2. The Impossible Project saves Polaroid