Smile! Perhaps here you have an award winning smile instantly in the palm of your hands ready for the world to see, or wait maybe it’s the most horrendous picture of you ever to see daylight and it’s instantly manifested itself in the physical world! Once upon a time there was an object of strange wonder, before the age of DSLRs, Digital Cameras, Cellphones and Instagram. An object that could snap a photo and instantly as if by magic (but really a pinch of optics, a dash of chemistry and some creative compact engineering)! That’s right, photo enthusiasts, hipsters and impatient people rejoice! On this issue of Hit Replay, we will look at the marvel that is the Polaroid Camera which has made a comeback to popularity and society!
To many people, a camera is a neat little device on your phone that lets you take pictures, and since the decline in popularity of Polaroid Cameras few even know that they are still in use by people in many places. Simply put, a Polaroid Camera which is also known as an instant camera is a type of camera that can take a picture and print and develop it on the spot.
The first appearance of an instant camera called the Polaroid Model 95 appeared in the late 1940s, credited to one Edwin Land. The camera featured of the main module, and an accordion-like darkroom component. People essentially wielded in their hands a camera with a built in darkroom for development! Despite of the camera’s fairly high price at the time, the Polaroid camera hit the wave of consumerism and caught on. In the 1960s the Polaroid lineup expanded with more models and more were produced. It because a gigantic success starting a large trend especially with teenagers. The Polaroid Model 20 Swinger of 1965 was the first popular market aimed camera that was inexpensive. This camera was extremely popular throughout the mid-60s to the early 70s.
At the time, the process of taking a picture and developing it took time. It was only natural that Polaroid cameras with their instant picture printing gained popularity. The idea of being able to see how the picture turned out on the spot allowed users to retake the photo if they didn’t like it. The instant cameras were also hugely popular with professional photographers for previews to check for lighting and balance before taking the final shot. It was common to see ID services, passports and the like use instant cameras for quick and easy processing of the documents. Even in police investigations and interviews, instant cameras were used to take crime scene photos or mug shots. Instant cameras provided a quick and easy way to see photos without the long wait time.
It was at the dawn of the digital era when Polaroid cameras went into a decline in popularity. As better technology appears, it is natural to see people gravitate towards the new. In the case of Polaroid cameras, most of the advantages that it provided were easily replaced by the digital camera, and digital imaging. The killing blow to Polaroid Cameras in the battle versus digital was that Polaroid cameras cost more due to the special film that is uses, while digital cameras used no film at all. In 2008 the manufacturer of instant cameras, Polaroid itself, announced a discontinuation of the production of the film after a major drop in sales during the decade.
In 2009 however, Polaroid once against announced that it will continue producing its famous instant cameras. And in recent years the popularity of Polaroid cameras have increased in comparison to the early 2000s. Kickstarter campaigns seeking to bring back old photography techniques have also surfaced within the last few years, and corporations such as Fujifilm have given their attempt new modern instant cameras. Polaroid cameras are slowly making their way back to popularity in an extremely digital world. Some argue that instant cameras have an authenticity and uniqueness that digital cameras don’t quite capture. Perhaps it is the same magic that captured the hearts of many long ago, the ability to have a physical photo in your hands moments after you take the shot. Smile!
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