Talk:Instant camera

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 25 January 2021 and 12 May 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Bellatrixccx.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 23:01, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Parkdj.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 00:34, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Instant Movie System
The article says that the colours fade. Is this true? The Polavision system was based on the Dufay colour process, which had fixed colour filters in the film stock. I don't believe even Dufay had fading problems. 86.133.8.129 18:15, 1 August 2006 (UTC) this is not true.

Image Transfer
What exactly is "image transfer", which is mentioned in the article and in the subtitles under the picture? Image transfer should be under instant film

Professional use
Polaroid has, in the past, been popular amongst professional photographers as well. It's main benefit being to preview the a shoot's setup. This is especially important for commercial/advertising photography where even small mistakes could be costly. Due to digital camera technology, professional use of polaroid cameras has largely vanished.

Large format, 8" x 10" and larger, cameras used the polaroid color process in the reproduction of art. Further research on this would be appreciated. Also, Ansel Adams was a "consultant" with Polaroid. Again, further research would be appreciated. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.191.53.58 (talk) 13:59, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

It was also largely used by government agencies like DMV for the making of IDs. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mystixa (talk • contribs) 17:35, 3 November 2015 (UTC)

Trivia about Memento
In Memento the main character has a Polaroid SLR 690 that he uses quite often out of medical need. Luis Dantas 15:20, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

Lacquering the prints
I've put in a mention of the least attractive feature of the early Polaroid system- the need to coat the prints wit a lacquer (fixing agent) to prevent fading. Even Bill Cosby mentioned it: he wished for a system to produce instant babies without the nine month wait: "When you get one you want you've gotta dip 'em in the lacquer or they'll fade on ya"Saxophobia (talk) 19:05, 20 February 2008 (UTC)


 * The basic information you added probably could go after the next paragraph, since some types of pack film did require coating. (I think type 55 still does).  The statement that this led directly to the development of the SX-70 is a little suspect, but so far I've not turned up any specific reference one way or the other.  I am pretty sure there were pack films that did not require coating, and I happen to have an ancient roll of type 20 (Swinger) film that states that coating is not required.  -- LarryMac  | Talk  20:39, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

The coating used was derived from an experiment applying Beacon Wax, a commercial product, on a print. This information was told to me by the late Herbert A. Bing. This discovery was not Mr. Bing's but a very significant invention was.

Mr. Bing was an MIT graduate and design engineer at Eastman Kodak hired by Ewin Land to be a design engineer at Polaroid. Mr. Bing's most significant patent contribution, among many, was the design of the roller spreader system. Dr. Land's patented spreader consisting of sprung flat blades failed to evenly spread the developer/transfer gel between the negative and print paper. The roller system made a marketable prodect feasable. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.191.53.58 (talk) 18:43, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

ColorPack film did NOT require coating and preceeded the SX70. It was a quality color print media and was used in art reproduction prior to digital technologies. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.191.53.58 (talk) 16:54, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with File:Pg32.jpg
The image File:Pg32.jpg is used in this article under a claim of fair use, but it does not have an adequate explanation for why it meets the requirements for such images when used here. In particular, for each page the image is used on, it must have an explanation linking to that page which explains why it needs to be used on that page. Please check


 * That there is a non-free use rationale on the image's description page for the use in this article.
 * That this article is linked to from the image description page.

This is an automated notice by FairuseBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Media copyright questions. --03:15, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

More info needed on Kodak's instant cameras.
Didn't Polaroid sue Kodak twice? Once for their original pack film and cameras and later when Kodak introduced the Trimprint line where the photo could be peeled off the developer backing and trimmed with scissors without the photo delaminating, which wasn't possible with Polaroid's SX-70, 600 or Spectra film. I'd thought by then Polaroid's patents would have been expired. This article also needs some images of Spectra, Kodak, and Fuji cameras. There are also several different Polaroid backs made for some Holga cameras, the latest is the Holgaroid made by The Impossible Project. Bizzybody (talk) 03:20, 9 September 2011 (UTC)

I add ed a citation on one of the suits where polaroid sued for violation of 10 of their patents. Provided by a Popular Science article from 1976 at the introduction of the EK series. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mystixa (talk • contribs) 17:37, 3 November 2015 (UTC)

Instant digital cameras with built-in printers
With Polaroids introduction of a new kind of instant camera using a built-in thermal printer (Polaroid Z340) in 2011, shouldn't we mention that in the article sine it is technically a form of instant camera or is this article only about instant film cameras? (I would think that instant camera should be defined as a camera which uses instant film, and a chemical development process)

--Notcharliechaplin (talk) 22:48, 17 April 2012 (UTC)


 * It's worth a hatnote that points out the existence of such digital cameras. I've added it to the top. Mikael Häggström (talk) 18:17, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

Revival of interest?
In recent months I've noticed an upswing in interest in Polaroid/instant camera use. We're seeing a lot of people talking about using them again, a number of celebrities have been photographed using them (the UK actress Jenna Coleman is one example). Is this an actual thing that people have gone back to instant camera the same way some people have returned to vinyl from digital and CD? If so, where do they get the film if it's no longer being made? If any media has done an article on this resurgence this article (and related ones) might need to be updated a little. (PS. I do not believe the instant cameras I'm seeing are the Z340 ones described in the note above.) 68.146.233.86 (talk) 12:55, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Instant camera. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20050716085846/http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landhome.htm to http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landhome.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 07:33, 14 November 2017 (UTC)

Polaroid camera redirect
"Instant-print photographic film and cameras" are mentioned in the very last line of the Polaroid article but nowhere else so I believe this redirect is highly misleading. Or is the title Polaroid camera wrong? --KF 19:26, 10 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Suggestions
As it happens, I'm unable to contribute anything to this article myself, but let me make a list of things I'd be looking forward to reading:

(1) the name(s) of those instant cameras (Wasn't there, at least in Europe, a lawsuit where Kodak was involved?) [Kodak was sued by Polaroid for patent infringment when Kodak introduced a competing instant camera. The Kodak process was very similar to Polaroid's. Ultimately, the Kodak product was withdrawn from the market. I do not have more information.] '''It wasn't the camera that infringed on Polaroid's patents--it was the instant film which did. In this case, discussion of the patent infringement case should be discussed under the instant film article, not here'''

(Should this article contain an exhaustive list of all instant cameras? If so, this would be possible, though it would greatly lengthen the article!) '''The outside links section contains links to Polaroid camera lists. This list is long and does not include non-polaroid cameras.'''

(2) the history -- from their being presented (already in 1947 I see) to their being advertised, mass-marketed (certainly not in the late 1940s?) etc. [The Polaroid camera must have been consumer marketed after 1950 when Herbert A. Bing moved from Kodak in Rochester, NY, to Polaroid in Cambridge, MA. It was Polaroid patents under Herbert A. Bing as named inventor that made a marketable product feasable.]

(Polaroid cameras were mass marketed in late 1948. In fact, Polaroid's marketing engine was instrumental to its success. I'll see if I can do a short write-up, based on Wensberg's book "Land's Polaroid")

'''I'm not sure that instant camera marketing would be relevant to this article. Instant camera history though, could include how the instant camera developed (already covered to a small extent). '''

(3) how they really work (I remember it was suggested you put the photo face down on the table and wait for some minutes)

(The instant film article details how instant film works, which is what I think you're asking. The instant cameras themselves, which is what the article is about, are fairly standard medium format cameras.)

It may be interesting to include how the camera mechanically works, including how the negative is exposed and drawn through the rollers against the positive with reagent squeezed between it

(4) the customers' reaction (people putting up with a much higher price per picture and very bad quality, too, just to be able to look at it instantly) this comment is biased and not worth addressing

(This is an interesting topic, though it would be largely anecdotal. Roll and pack cameras actually produced high quality photos albeit at a higher price. Integral cameras took lower quality photos but were much easier to use, which was a trade-off)

(5) how this technology was completely (?) superseded by digital photography [Polaroid relied heavily on the sale of its propriatary film for income profits. I was told by an employee that the cameras were often sold at a loss to stimulate the film sales. Some of the early cameras were well constructed assemblies of quality parts including bellows by Rochester Bellows and German glass optics. Digital camera technology does not rely on propiatary print media or require print media at all. Digital imaging is more compact in the field.]

(I'm not sure an explanation is needed on the actual reasons why instant cameras were superseded by digital. )

And a photo of an old 1970s camera!

KF 02:32, 18 Dec 2003 (UTC)

I'm doing some of what you asked to expand this, KF, but I also wonder if this article should instead be instant camera, because as you said, Polaroid wasn't the only manufacturer of instant cameras in history. I could add this info to the instant camera wiki, but I don't know how to make this page redirect to that one yet. - Apocaplops 16:40, 2 August 2005 (UTC) [The Polaroid Camera was the only commercially feasable consumer "instant" still image camera until digital technology entered the consumer imaging arena. I omit the short lived Kodak entry into the market because the chemistry and technology were so similar and Kodak withdrew following a lawsuit brought by Polaroid Corp.]

Of course, Fuji is the only instant camera that still survives to this day, so it should be mentioned (2016)

New subcategories
I am planning to add a section talking more about the different film needed to use the more modern instant cameras(fujifilm Instax mini, Fujfilm Wide, Polaroid 300, Impossible films, etc) and also adding a section about instant camera being used in media, pop culture, music, and etc. (for an example the song "Hey Ya!"). How this helped to popularize instant cameras. Parkdj (talk) 15:22, 31 October 2018 (UTC)
 * Hey Ya!. -Lopifalko (talk) 15:36, 31 October 2018 (UTC)

Andy Warhol section
The Andy Warhol section barely contains any info on Andy Warhol, and it doesn't seem so important to have on the main article. Perhaps this could be changed into a creative techniques section as this is what it mostly talks about. --GoodCrossing (talk) 15:24, 8 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks for pointing this out. I've renamed it as per your suggestion and made other improvements but the section remains a mess and is unsourced. -Lopifalko (talk) 16:03, 8 December 2018 (UTC)
 * I've added some references but I think more are needed. Perhaps the section could be structured a bit differently as well. GoodCrossing (talk) 20:39, 6 November 2019 (UTC)
 * I've now rewritten the first paragraph to be a better introduction, and to give a brief explanation to the main techniques. As for citations, please let me know if my introduction needs some, but I think the three provided in the second paragraph are sufficient for both. GoodCrossing (talk) 23:12, 17 December 2019 (UTC)

Samuel Shlafrock and the "earliest instant camera"
I have removed the claim that Samuel Shlafrock invented the earliest instant camera. The patent cited as a source does indeed describe a camera in a box that serves as a dark room. But it produces a negative print! It also requires the operator to insert sensitised paper and pour in chemicals into "baths" every time it is used. The loading, manipulating, developing and extracting the print all require an operator to insert their hand, covered in a sack, into the box. This is a primitive concept, does not produce a positive print, and the patent alone does not demonstrate such a device was ever successfully manufactured. A claim that this invention is comparable in any way to the Land camera, and that it alone predates that camera, requires a reliable secondary source, not a patent. There may well be other patents and other primitive camera-developer concepts. The text was added by an IP in 2010. Searching for alternative sources only produces sites clearly based on Wikipedia, and one even uses a photo of Edwin Land to illustrate Shlafrock's entry in a timeline. Land's genius invention was to produce a positive photograph instantly. -- Colin°Talk 14:02, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

Someone contacted me to say they "own a Chicago Ferrotype Mandelette camera from about 1916 that is a camera containing developing chemicals in a tank below the camera body..much like 'Afghan street cameras' do". We have an article on this: Mandel Photo Postcard Machine. Some sources: And more on the Afghan Box Cameras: The name for this is "kamra-e-faoree", which means "instant camera". Both of these camera types predate Land's camera and unlike Shlafrock's patent, really were widely used for a time. This wiki article still does mention that there were instant cameras before Land's but "These cameras were, however, more portable wet darkrooms than "instant" camera and were difficult to use." A statement that is unsourced. I think there's probably enough material online (and perhaps more in books) to have a section on these "portable wet darkroom" kind of cameras. -- Colin°Talk 18:41, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Chicago Ferrotype Company Mandelette Postcard Camera
 * Chicago Ferrotype Mandel-ette
 * Mandel-ette Camera by Chicago Ferrotype Co.
 * The Mandel-ette
 * Has the Afghan Box Camera Finally Met Its Match?
 * The Amazing Rise And Fall Of Century-Old Afghan Box Cameras
 * ABOUT AFGHAN BOX CAMERA PHOTOGRAPHY