Street Fair Family

Polaroid Situation Update

So as everyone in the photo world knows, Polaroid announced a month or two ago that they’re going to stop production of all instant films.  Some people say that it’s lack of market, but I think it’s more that the conglomerate that bought Polaroid a few years ago doesn’t want to deal with a small ancient business like that.  I’m still hopeful that Fuji or someone will step up and start making more.

I’ve talked to a number of people, photographers and muggles who are upset about it.  I was at Calumet a few weeks ago and I saw some girl buying a stack of film packs for her 600 (that’s the consumer square, “shake it like a polaroid picture” ones.  Which you’re not supposed to actually shake, by the way.)  I figured she was an artist, instead it turns out that she was having a party. <blank stare>.  My friend Carole was telling me last week how they use polaroids in the puppet world to record sets and puppets for continuity.  To make sure they know what hair they used on the green one for that episode last year.  Going to CVS to get prints done from her digcam is not good enough. She’s looking into portable printers. And of course there are photographers. I was reading a blog by Emily Shur lamenting the loss.  And she shoots 4×5 all the time. Life’s going to get annoying for her.

I’ve got about a half box of Type 55 and a half box of Type 79 left, but a couple weeks ago I ordered 3 boxes of 55 from ecamerafilms which is where I’ve gotten all my stuff in the past.  The price had gone up from $70/box to $99/box, but I figured that it was a one time last minute splurge.  A couple days later it hadn’t shipped and I got an email saying they were out of stock and couldn’t get more.  So I tried another place, same thing.  And then another, same thing.

Boxes of 55 are going for about $150 on ebay right now. That’s about $8 a sheet.  Too rich for my blood.  So I guess what I have left is the end for me. And it’s sad, because that’s mostly what I used my 4×5 for.  I’ll get less use once I’ve got to start going into manhattan and waiting 6 hours to get a photo developed.

I was chatting with a big-time large format photographer last week and he was saying that he just spent $3000 on 8×10 Polaroid stock.  That’s about 10 boxes at today’s prices, and there are 15 in a box. So he just spent three grand to take 150 pictures. Again, too rich for my blood.

Luckily for me, film is a luxury. It’s what I shoot when I want to do something for fun, for me, to experiment, or to slow down. For me, it’s a sad inconvience, for people like my large format friend or Emily Shur, it’s a fundamental problem.

So, a toast to Polaroid.  Oh and the glasses were not shot on Polaroid, I just thought they were pretty touch to the post.

Logan Levkoff

Madison Sq Park

Some explain this to me..

Ok, I’m probably going to start a flame war here, but can a fan of Fuji film (I’m talking C41 color here, not the instant stuff) explain to me why it’s good?

I remember a few years ago I shot a few rolls of NPH on the recommendation of a photo finishing place.  She had said she had a customer who swore by NPH.  Shooting it and getting it developed within hours (apparently that was the trick).

Well in the intervening few years, as I’ve gotten more into photography, I’ve become a fan of the Kodak Portra films.  On both 35mm and 120, I shoot usually the 160NC, 400NC, or 800 and I’ve found it to be very consistent, fine grained, pushable, etc.   Maybe I’ve become spoiled.

A few weeks ago I was at Calumet (it was a Sat, so I couldn’t go to any of the usual photo stores in NYC) and they were sold out of the 400NC I was looking for.  So I asked about the Fuji Pro 400H, and the guy behind the counter said, it was OK, but most people preferred the Kodak.  Since they didn’t have what I wanted but I needed some film, I said, “Ok, give me a couple rolls and I’ll try it out”.

Now, this isn’t an ad for Kodak or anything, but I’ve shot both of the rolls in my Leica and I’ve got to tell you, I’m very underwhelmed.  The colors are washed out, the contrast is “eh”, and it’s really grainy.  Well lit stuff shot at f/11 and 1/250 look soft and with grain that looks as if the film has been pushed a stop or two.  Look at the photo of the lamp in the next post down.  Look at the amount of grain near the lightbulb.  And this was a well exposed, correctly scanned picture shot in the middle of the day.

When it comes to chrome, I’ve been shooting Kodak lately too, I like the 100G stock, especially in my hasselblad when I travel. I have however had good experiences with Provia (and occasionally Velvia when I’m feeling saucy) on medium format, and Provia on the 4×5 comes out gorgeous.

So I feel like I’m missing something with their normal color film.  Let me know if I’m wrong or I got a bad batch, but from what I’ve seen both literally and figuratively, I don’t get it.