Brian Moore
Moderator
So I ordered up three packs of Fuji FP100C film and they arrived on Wednesday. I loaded one pack into my Polaroid 450 Land Camera.
A common problem with Fuji film loaded into the old Land Cameras is the difficulty in retrieving the initial shot or two. This phenomena seems to be due to the thickness of the pack casing. Whereas the original Polaroid film pack casings were metal, the Fuji ones are plastic and they are thicker. Also, the original Polaroid film packs contained 8 exposures, whereas the Fuji packs give you 10.
The thickness of the Fuji casing and the two extra exposures inside it causes the door of the Land Camera to squeeze rather tightly down onto the pack. Sometimes the pack is so tight that the film release tab can tear as you try to remove the film.
With the 450 Land Camera the problem is exacerbated some by the presence of a timer in the back door of the camera. A self-contained timer was a valuable aid to the Polaroid photographer back in the day when the timing of the emulsion's development was an important factor. It's not important today at all with Fuji film, however. The Fuji emulsion is self-terminating, so you can leave the film unpeeled as long as you want. (Just don't peel it apart too soon.)
Anyway, the upshot of all this is that my first image from a new pack of Fuji film shot in my 450 failed to develop properly. It got jammed and the developer spread over just a part of the image surface. Exposure #1 also stuck to #2, pulling it partially out of the camera. And therein commenced a brief but disconcerting chain of unfortunate events that led to a further partial ejection and a prematurely burst developer pod.
Oh,...the perils of the Polaroid! But never mind! Here's Polaroid 450 Land Camera Image #1 from Thanksgiving Day, 2014. (The subject is my new growler and two glasses of Hang Five IPA from Beach City Brewery--which is walking distance from my house!)
A common problem with Fuji film loaded into the old Land Cameras is the difficulty in retrieving the initial shot or two. This phenomena seems to be due to the thickness of the pack casing. Whereas the original Polaroid film pack casings were metal, the Fuji ones are plastic and they are thicker. Also, the original Polaroid film packs contained 8 exposures, whereas the Fuji packs give you 10.
The thickness of the Fuji casing and the two extra exposures inside it causes the door of the Land Camera to squeeze rather tightly down onto the pack. Sometimes the pack is so tight that the film release tab can tear as you try to remove the film.
With the 450 Land Camera the problem is exacerbated some by the presence of a timer in the back door of the camera. A self-contained timer was a valuable aid to the Polaroid photographer back in the day when the timing of the emulsion's development was an important factor. It's not important today at all with Fuji film, however. The Fuji emulsion is self-terminating, so you can leave the film unpeeled as long as you want. (Just don't peel it apart too soon.)
Anyway, the upshot of all this is that my first image from a new pack of Fuji film shot in my 450 failed to develop properly. It got jammed and the developer spread over just a part of the image surface. Exposure #1 also stuck to #2, pulling it partially out of the camera. And therein commenced a brief but disconcerting chain of unfortunate events that led to a further partial ejection and a prematurely burst developer pod.
Oh,...the perils of the Polaroid! But never mind! Here's Polaroid 450 Land Camera Image #1 from Thanksgiving Day, 2014. (The subject is my new growler and two glasses of Hang Five IPA from Beach City Brewery--which is walking distance from my house!)
)
