PBS affiliate WGBH recently took viewers into The Polaroid Project, a new exhibition at the MIT Museum. Described as 'being at the intersection of art and technology,' Polaroid revolutionized photography with the launch of its first instant camera in 1947.
The exhibit showcases notable Polaroid photography from past decades, as well as a number of Polaroid instant cameras and instant film packs. Curator Willian Ewing in talking about the technology told WGBH correspondent Jared Bowen:
It was a very small thing you could hold in the hand, but you had to participate in the making of the picture. The thing whirred and clicked. The picture came out and developed slowly. And that was described as magic.
The Polaroid Project Part I will be live until February 23 followed by Part II from March 9 to June 21.
President Jimmy Carter thought the formal traditional oil painting (portrait) of the president was getting quite expensive as well as time-consuming. So he thought a photograph would do. So Ansel Adams, who donated his time and expertise for free, took the formal portraits of president Jimmy Carter, and vice president Walter Mondale, with a monster Polaroid camera that produced 20"x24" prints in 75 seconds.
I have the Polaroid Captiva, but I can't find film for it anymore.
My father went to summer camp with Ed Land in the 1920s. Later Land asked my father to invest in a new invention - an instant camera. My father thought it sounded unworthy and refused.
He did eventually have a Polaroid camera and took thousands of instant family photos with it.
You should check out some of the work that was done on Polaroid film in various formats by some of the greats. Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Andy Warhol, and David Hockney are just a few of the artists who did great stuff with Polaroid.
moimoi The stuff that was based on the SX-70 film did leave a lot to be desired. The 4x5 B&W film was very good and it produced very usable negatives. (Yeah, there was a pull apart stock that produced a print and a negative) The 8x10 and larger films were magnificent.
Just because your experience is with SX-70 and Fuji instant film does not mean that the Polaroid films were all that bad. Don't judge Polaroid based on current Fuji output.
Current Fuji output outshines anything to come out of Polaroid itself in decades. Impossible has gotten a lot better, but it still isn't as good as it was back in the '70s.
Elsa Dorfman used a large format cameras to produce giant color polaroid prints that are technically excellent. However, the consumer film that went into the SX70, Spectra and One Step produced blurry images with less than accurate colors. Polaroid's previous generation of black and white peel apart film was far superior to the color stuff. Unfortunately, that B&W film is now long gone and the machinery that made it was sold for scrap. There isn't enough demand nowadays to justify making new equipment to produce peel apart films so they are now the thing of history.
You are only thinking of the little point and shoot Polaroids. However, Polaroid Type 055 - a large format, B&W material that produced by a positive and a printable negative from the name shot - was fantastic. I used loads of it. It had a beautiful long tone scale and plenty of detail. Many, many of Ansel Adams massive prints were made from Type 055 negatives.
"...While on vacation with his family, his 3-year-old daughter asked him why she couldn't see the picture he had just taken of her. Quite an obvious question for a 3-year-old toddler. But Land was a visionary man, and he started cooking the idea of an instant camera that very same day" (https://www.lightstalking.com/polaroid-camera/) The rest is history.
DJI has officially entered the world of FPV (first-person-view) drones. Combined with long flight time, DJI safety features and OcuSync 3.0, DJI's FPV drone puts you in the driver's seat of a high performance aircraft.
The Panasonic Lumix S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 Macro O.I.S. is a moderately sized, moderately far-reaching and optically-stabilized telephoto zoom lens for full-frame or APS-C L-mount cameras. Read our review to find out how it performs.
When Olympus released the E-M1X sports camera in late 2019, the company also released a modern editing app called Olympus Workspace. Is it fully featured and fast enough to replace an Adobe-based editing workflow? Let's find out.
Being cooped up inside doesn't mean you have to take a break from photography. If you've got negatives from way back when, what's the best software around to scan them? Check out our in-depth comparison to find out.
The Sony Alpha 1 is Sony's flagship mirrorless camera for, well, just about anything. With a 50MP sensor, it gives you tons of resolution, but it also lets you fire off burst images at 30 fps for fast action sports. Add in 8K video capture and you have a really impressive package.
Although a lot of people only upload images to Instagram from their smartphones, the app is much more than just a mobile photography platform. In this guide we've chosen a selection of cameras that make it easy to shoot compelling lifestyle images, ideal for sharing on social media.
If you're looking for a high-quality camera, you don't need to spend a ton of cash, nor do you need to buy the latest and greatest new product on the market. In our latest buying guide we've selected some cameras that might be a bit older but still offer a lot of bang for the buck.
Whether you make a living out of taking professional portraits, or are the weekend warrior who knows their way around flashes and reflectors, you'll want a camera with high resolution, exceptional autofocus and a good selection of portrait prime lenses. Click through to see our picks.
What's the best camera for shooting landscapes? High resolution, weather-sealed bodies and wide dynamic range are all important. In this buying guide we've rounded-up several great cameras for shooting landscapes, and recommended the best.
What’s the best camera costing over $2500? The best high-end camera costing more than $2000 should have plenty of resolution, exceptional build quality, good 4K video capture and top-notch autofocus for advanced and professional users. In this buying guide we’ve rounded up all the current interchangeable lens cameras costing over $2500 and recommended the best.
DJI has officially entered the world of FPV (first-person-view) drones. Combined with long flight time, DJI safety features and OcuSync 3.0, DJI's FPV drone puts you in the driver's seat of a high performance aircraft.
Kenko Tokina has announced it will enter a business alliance on April 1 that will see it become the new source for sales and support of Carl Zeiss equipment in Japan.
Laowa didn't waste time at CP+ 2021 to unveil what it's been working on. The company has five new lenses on the way, including three for full-frame camera systems, one for APS-C camera systems and one for Micro Four Thirds camera systems.
Genealogy company MyHeritage has launched a new AI-powered service, Deep Nostalgia. The AI tech, licensed from D-ID, analyzes the faces in photographs and uses deep learning to apply animation sequences.
The Panasonic Lumix S 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 Macro O.I.S. is a moderately sized, moderately far-reaching and optically-stabilized telephoto zoom lens for full-frame or APS-C L-mount cameras. Read our review to find out how it performs.
Chris and Jordan shot this colorful sample gallery with the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN while filming their review of the lens for DPReview TV. Check it out and judge image quality for yourself.
When Olympus released the E-M1X sports camera in late 2019, the company also released a modern editing app called Olympus Workspace. Is it fully featured and fast enough to replace an Adobe-based editing workflow? Let's find out.
The Sony FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 is a compact, retractable zoom lens that's bundled with the a7C and is also available separately for $500. Check our sample gallery to see what kind of image quality you can expect.
Last week we published a video about the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K, and comments came swiftly. We heard your feedback and re-shot the episode to replace some questionable footage. Here's our new and improved version, with Jordan at the helm.
Following the success of the Pentax KP J Limited in 2019, the Japanese camera maker is back with a new J Limited product, this time in the form of the K-1 Mark II J Limited 01. The handcrafted camera is available in four colors and is currently available only in Japan.
FiLMiC, makers of apps including FiLMiC Pro, Double Take and Firstlight, has patented a new image rendering technology, Cubiform. The new tech uses color look-up tables to perform significantly faster editing and rendering.
Yasuhiro Osone, General Manager of the Product Planning Department at Sigma, revealed the news in a mirrorless lens development live stream shared earlier today.
Color slide film can produce images that are brighter and more vibrant than standard color print film, but with far less exposure latitude, there's little room for error. Here's everything you need to know about color slide film.
As we put the final wraps on our Nikon Z7 II review, we couldn't help but take it out for some neighborhood photos during some relatively rare Seattle snow – check out how it performs at ISO values high and low in our gallery update.
A few days after Sony Nordic revealed the details of the 2.00 firmware update for the Sony a7S III, the firmware update is now live and ready to download.
Billed by Sigma as 'a more compact but still high-performing alternative to the existing 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN | Art' its new 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN is indeed considerably smaller and lighter than it's 'Art' series contemporary. Click through for a closer look at Sigma's newest zoom lens.
The sensors in the Phase One XF IQ4 camera system is currently the largest medium-format digital camera sensor on the market, and we've just put the 150MP model in front of our studio test scene. Want detail? You've got it. Check out how our new reference camera fares.
Pentax has released updated versions of three of its prime lenses, adding improved coatings and a more rounded aperture diaphragm for smoother bokeh. The updated 31mm F1.8, 43mm F1.9 and 77mm F1.8 'Limited' lenses will be available in April.
NASA's Juno spacecraft has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016. A recent image captured by the spacecraft and processed by a citizen scientist gives us a beautiful look at the gas giant.
Last year, Isaac Lowe-Anker, younger brother of photographer Max Lowe graduated from college, but like a whole generation of students in 2020, his graduation was virtual. In this video, Max takes his brother on a celebratory road trip across the Olympic Peninsula.
The GN2 builds upon the foundation Samsung's GN1 sensor offers with new and improved features and capabilities thanks to its Dual Pixel Pro and Smart ISO Pro technologies.
The Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN is small, but how does it perform optically? Chris has the answers. Meanwhile, Jordan begins his stint filming episodes with the Pentax K-01. Let the fun begin.
The Sigma 28-70mm DG DN F2.8 is a compact standard zoom for full-frame L- and E-mount bodies. We've been shooting with the lens on the Panasonic Lumix DC-S1R so you can get a first look at its image quality.
Sigma has introduced its 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN Contemporary lens for L- and E- mount bodies. This small and light lens has numerous special glass elements, plus weather-sealing, and will be available in March for $899.
After landing on Mars on February 18, Perseverance has been busy. In addition to its first images, Perseverance has captured a 360° view of Mars using its pair of onboard 20MP Navcams.
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