Even though I take dozens of photos every day with my iPhone 15 Pro Max, I've always loved the novelty of printed images. I bought my first instant camera for a cheap price at Urban Outfitters when I was in college. Since then, I've amassed a sizeable collection of printed photographs that replicate the Polaroid products that were popular in the 1970s.
But I recently learned about Retrospect, the company that actually sells the Polaroid SX-70 camera that brought instant photography to the mainstream. Polaroid itself sells refurbished SX-70s, but they are always out of stock. Alternatively, at Retrospeck he currently sells 16 of his SX-70 styles starting at $379, with special gold-plated versions going up to $999.
Now, I'm not a vintage camera enthusiast, but I wasn't going to pass up the chance to see what my printouts looked like 50 years ago. The item I ordered arrived in a very modern looking box, but what was inside was something completely different. Retrospekt has rebuilt the camera to ensure it works properly, cleaned all components, and refurbished the exterior to make sure it looks completely true to its original form.
In some ways, the camera's operation felt similar to the instant camera I currently use. It has a shutter button, focus dial, exposure adjustment, and a viewfinder for squinting. In another sense, the SX-70 is unlike any other high-tech gadget I've used in my 27 years of life. Opening this requires some delicate touch, which I only practiced the first time I tried Apple Vision Pro. If you make a wrong move, it feels like it will fall apart in your hands.Luckily I found Whole thread on Reddit We are specialized in proper opening and closing form for this instant camera.
Once I was confident that I wouldn't break this very beautiful camera, I took it to the park for an afternoon picnic with a bunch of friends. When I proudly pulled it out of my tote bag, it immediately became the center of attention. None of my peers had ever seen a vintage his camera like the SX-70, and it certainly wasn't a working camera.
I packed up a pack of Polaroid Color 600 film, which costs about $20 per eight photos, refreshed myself with Retrospekt's streamlined user manual, and started snapping. It took me a few tries to adjust the exposure settings properly for outdoors, but all my photos still looked completely retro. Of course, in an aesthetic way that my generation can't get enough of. A quick look through the film pack left me with a collection of images from my Pinterest board.
Sure, I guess you could buy one of those iPhone apps that modifies everything with filters to get similar results. But then you lose the physical and momentary satisfaction of pressing the big red shutter button on the front of the SX-70 and extracting a printed image. When I take photos with my iPhone, I know that it doesn't matter if I don't get everything right, and I take at least 10 at a time. With this instant camera, I intentionally took photos at a slow speed, not wanting to waste any precious film.
Concerns about the price and fragility of the film remain, so you can't take the SX-70 everywhere. all of my photo. But when you can walk away with a physical memento (what can I say? I love memorabilia), this is one of the most fun gadgets to have.