Instant film
In earlier Polaroid instant cameras the film is pulled through rollers, breaking open a pod containing a reagent that is spread between the exposed negative and receiving positive sheet.
In 1972, Polaroid introduced integral film, which incorporated timing and receiving layers to automatically develop and fix the photo without any intervention from the photographer.
Instant film was used where it was undesirable to have to wait for a roll of conventional film to be finished and processed, e.g., documenting evidence in law enforcement, in health care and scientific applications, and producing photographs for passports and other identity documents, or simply for snapshots to be seen immediately.
Instant film has been supplanted for most purposes by digital photography, which allows the result to be viewed immediately on a display screen or printed with dye sublimation, inkjet, or laser home or professional printers.
After a minute, depending on film type and ambient temperature, the negative is peeled away to reveal the picture which was transferred to the positive receiving sheet.
[8] With that being said, photographers and enthusiasts still practice with this limited, special and discontinued film, with both older Polaroid stocks or Fujifilm FP-100C or FP-3000B varieties.
[6] This process is similar to subtractive color instant film with added timing and receiving layers.
[7][10] The dyes then diffuse through the stack and the reagent, driven by electrostatic and chemical gradients, and deposit into the image-receiving layer.
Each sheet contains a reagent pod, negative and receiving positive, and was loaded separately and developed outside the film holder.
Polavision was introduced by Polaroid in 1978, with an image format similar to Super 8 mm film, and based on an additive color process.
Polavision required a specific camera and tabletop viewer, and was not a commercial success, but did lead to the development of an instant 35 mm color slide film.
Polachrome was an easy to develop 35 mm film, available in color, monochrome and 'blue' formats (the latter intended for making title cards).
The AutoProcessor was very cheap and did not require a darkroom; the results were somewhat variable, the resolution was not as good as conventional film due to the matrix of tiny red, green and blue filters required to make the monochrome emulsion work in color, and the sensitivity was low, even for slide film; in tungsten light, Polachrome CS is rated at ISO 40.
A Polaroid transfer removes the emulsion from the plastic backing and residual chemicals, offering an alternate form of preservation.
[14] Polaroid filed suit against Eastman Kodak in April 1976 for the infringement of ten patents held by Edwin Land and others on his development team relating to instant photography.
Kodak appealed but was denied and an injunction prohibiting production of their instant film and cameras was put into effect.
The pictures are the same size, the cartridge is almost the same, with some easy plastic modifications; the Fuji Fotorama series film can be made to fit.
When Kodak lost, Fujifilm was able to work with Polaroid to allow their cameras and films to remain in the market,[16] provided that they have a technology sharing agreement.
This led to Polaroid having access to Fujifilm's extensive electronic, video tape and floppy disc magnetic products.
Another product was Fujifilm's Digital Instax Pivi film for their battery powered portable printer which was made available for those who wanted to print from their mobile phone via infrared, USB and Bluetooth.
No legal issues arose with Fuji's peel apart instant films as Polaroid's patents had expired.
Fujifilm announced at PMA 2003[vague] that pack film would be made available to the North American market.
[20] The FP-3000b45 arrived in the North American market in Jan 2011, after Fujifilm Japan stopped manufacturing FP-100b, but was discontinued in 2012.
Fujifilm instant films include: Since the stop of production of the packfilm, most photographers are using the existing stock available on the market.
There are also a lot of interest in having this as a personal project, as to make a functional camera does not require an extreme amount of work; articles from The phoblographer.com [29] shows the process of doing such modifications.
A group called the Impossible Project acquired Polaroid's old equipment and factory in Enschede, in the Netherlands.
[30][31] On their website[32] they stated: We aim to re-start production of analog instant film for vintage Polaroid cameras in 2010. and "The Impossible mission is not to re-build Polaroid Integral film but (with the help of strategic partners) to develop a new product with new characteristics, consisting of new optimised components, produced with a streamlined modern setup.
An innovative and fresh analog material, sold under a new brand name that perfectly will match the global re-positioning of Integral Films."
A company called New55 Holdings, LLC, ("New55 FILM") based in Ashland, Massachusetts, brought to market a black and white 4x5 positive-negative material that is exposed and processed in a Polaroid 545 holder.
Winding up their proof-of-principle R&D phase, New55 Holdings, LLC, ceased operations in December 2017, but under a new structure restarted production of New55 100 and 400 speed instant 4X5 film sold through Famous-Format's online store .
