Today, people are used to view their digital pictures right after a shooting. In times of analog cameras you had to wait a few days, trusting that the photo is correctly focused. You got – among other things – surprising effects like light leaks and under-/overexposed images by incorrect & unwanted settings or damaged hardware.

The Polaroid Camera has achieved cult status. Since Edwin Land brought the first polaroid camera (called „The Land Camera“) to the market in November 1948, there have been dozens of variations of the instant camera. The most well-known camera with more than 6 million sales is the “Polaroid SX-70”: a fully automatic, motorized, folding, single lens reflex, which ejects self-developing, self-timing color prints. In 2008, Polaroid discontinued the production of instant films completely. Florian Kaps founded a little company called “Impossible” and snatched one of the last factory for instant pictures in Enschede, Netherlands in 2010. They still produce cameras & films, so the term "Polaroid" continues to exist.

I always wanted to have a Polaroid camera. Ebay and other sites are providing a ton of old cameras for little money. But the "problem" is much more related to the cost of films. Here in Germany you have to pay about 20€ for 8 pictures. Having done some research I found out that Fujifilm also offer instant cameras. My eyes fell directly on the Instax 210 which has sparked my interest with its new wide format. With around 70€ it is an inexpensive camera. The costs for 20 pictures are priced about 15€ and the results speak for themselves:

If you don't want to miss the enjoyment of an instant camera, have a look at the cheaper alternative from Fujifilm.

By the way: there are a few nice photo apps including Polaroid effects in the Android market:

• Roidizer
• Vignette
• Retro Camera

Hero image taken by Michael Raso - Film Photography
Polaroids by Emily Tebbetts and jimperuta