It’s been called the greatest instant camera ever made, the apex of the Polaroid folding line of cameras, and even the evil twin of the original SX-70 camera!
I am of course talking about the magnificent Polaroid SLR 680 camera. For me, this is the camera that started off my Polaroid obsession a few years ago, find out in this episode why I love this camera so much.
“The magic of Polaroids is their uniqueness. Traditional photographs are by definition reprints from a negative. Polaroids are a one-of-a-kind painting, produced by light, which might be why artists were so drawn to it.” Florian Kaps
Episode 5 summary
- Introduction
- Brief history of the SX-70 line
- Introduction of 600 speed film
- Debut of Polaroid SLR 680 in 1982
- Description of the camera in comparison to the SX-70
- Description of the Polaroid SLR SE 680’s features and specs
- Differences between the Polaroid SLR 680, Polaroid SLR 680 SE and Polaroid SLR 690 cameras
- What it’s like to shoot
- How I got my Polaroid SLR 680 SE
- Why didn’t I shoot Polaroid photos back in the 90s?
- Description of the images including information about blue marks (opacification failure) and pink colour cast on images (scroll down this page for images!)
- Summer road trip stories with lots of cameras!
- Special surprise from a generous fellow film photographer!
Shout outs
- Check out Dan Finnen’s excellent website with tons of info about Polaroid cameras
- Dan Finnen’s guide to Polaroid SLR 680 and 690
- Explanation of blue marks on Polaroid Originals images – opacification failure
- Explanation of pink / orange colour cast on Polaroid Originals images
- Polaroid SLR 680 hashtag on Instagram
- Huge big up to my main man Alan @thefilmsweats for sending me some bulk rolled black and white film!
- Music used in the show: Casi – thEnd [Free Download] by Casi is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Available at https://soundcloud.com/casisnmz/thend
Buy Polaroid Originals Color 600 and Ice Cream Pastels film from Amazon US
Buy Polaroid Originals Color 600 and Ice Cream Pastels film from Amazon UK
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Matt Loves Cameras: film camera reviews, instant camera reviews, everything analogue photography related.
Images taken with the Polaroid 680 SLR SE