Polaroid 100 Land Camera

Land Camera shot with a Toyo View 45E on Ilford HP5+

A few months ago I was chosen as a winner in the Polaroid Packtastic Giveaway over on the Film Photography Podcast. Michael sent me a beautiful, well-loved Polaroid 100 camera. It needs a bit of tending every now and then, but I don't mind showing it the extra love that it deserves. From the day I opened the package, I've kept this camera close by my side. It's one thing to get a new camera, but it's even better when someone hand picks a camera that they think you'll enjoy and they send it to you (at no cost). My excitement radiated as I tore open the box, read the enclosed note, and carefully opened the camera. And now, there's no turning back.

I've taken it everywhere, and tried nearly everything. Here's the first shot I took with it:

A Pineapple! on Fuji FP-100C

I had some help pressing the shutter. I slowly pushed my way through that pack of Fuji FP-100C, trying to conserve it until my new order arrived (you didn't think I would be able to live on just one pack of film, did you?). And the day that those packs of FP-3000B and FP-100C (from the Film Photography Store) arrived, I felt at ease and allowed myself to experiment with the film I had left in the camera. I did some sunset work, and a double exposure or two. My favorite shot from that day ended up being this one:

Grain on FP-100C

After the first box I was definitely feeling pretty confident with this trusty little guy. The obvious next step would be to toss some black and white film into the camera and see how that works out, which is exactly what I did. Since it was going to be a bright day outside, I opted for a box of hard to find FP-100B over the super speedy FP-3000B. I decided it might be a good time to start working with people in my photographs, so I grabbed a friend, sat him down, and snapped this:

On the Farm on FP-100B

I wasn't disappointed in the least. I love the tones it had (the scan doesn't really do it justice). And the black and white definitely worked well for this subject.

A few weeks later I did some traveling and found myself in Letchworth State Park in Castile, NY with the Polaroid 100 Land Camera at my side. I was a bit nervous as to how it would handle a really low light situation, but I placed it onto a tripod and took a few second exposure of the stove in my cabin. I have to say, it really impressed me. It gave nice deep blacks in the shadows and kept the highlights extremely clean.

Stove on FP-100B

The next day we went out hiking and again I brought along the Land Camera. It is light, portable, and never a bad companion. I was standing in the shade when I took this picture, and I was unsure whether or not the camera would have trouble metering for the land in the distance. But, it did alright.

Letchworth State Park on FP-100B

I am extremely surprised with the versatility of the Land Camera, especially since it is 45+ years old. It still gives me those excellent highlights and deep shadows that I am looking for. I was a bit wary at first when I considered jumping into Polaroid pack film cameras because I thought that the money spent on film could never be worth the image created. But, in hindsight, I would definitely say that I was in the wrong. I wouldn't trade this camera for anything (well, unless someone was willing to give me a ULF camera, and even then it would be a tough decision because this was given to me as a gift of sorts). I will keep shooting the Fuji instant film - I don't have much of a choice with 8 boxes sitting on the desk next to me pleading to be used. I hope you've enjoyed your Land Camera as much as I have, but if you don't have one yet, then what are you waiting for!? Get out there and find one!

Double Exposure on FP-100C

Fortepan 400 Film

In case you haven't heard, there is a tremendous thing happening, and it involves free film!

The Film Photography Podcast, headed up by the enthusiastic Michael Raso, has monthly giveaways of both 35mm and medium format film. I've been extra lucky in the month of July because I happened to be one of those few who received some film in the mail.

Mike sent me a roll of Fortepan 400 B&W and a roll of EasyClix 400 color print film (I'll be shooting that one soon and will write another review of it).

Over the weekend a couple of friends were participating in a 48 hour film project, in which they had from Friday night to Sunday night to write, shoot, edit, and create music for a short film. It was a tremendous undertaking and I am very proud of them for doing it. There will be screenings for all the films created over the weekend on Wednesday August 11 and Thursday August 12 at 7pm at the Market Arcade in downtown Buffalo. You should head out there if you have a chance.

But back to the roll of Fortepan - this is what it looks like:It even comes with that neat little spec sheet that gives development times for different chemicals and some tips on shooting the film.

The main reason I chose to shoot this film at this time was because of what I have seen others do with it. All the examples I found online were rather grainy and had a bit lower contrast, so I figured that since we were going to be on an old farm with a lot of different textures and excellent subjects it would make the most sense to shoot this grainy, organic film. The film also expired in 2000, so I expected even more grain. And, in the end, this was also pushed a little further because I processed the exposed film in Rodinal (that was the only developer that I had on hand at the time).

This is the first shot from the roll. And it sort of explains the rest of the farm. There is a lot of plank, a lot of deterioration, and a lot of beauty. The film looks the way I had expected, after looking at what other people had done. The grain is definitely noticeable, especially where the focus falls off.

I decided to shoot this roll with my Konica Auto S2 for a number of reasons. First of all, it is nearly fifty years old. It shares so much with the barns on this farm; unlike those barns, though, the camera has been given a second chance to live through a complete CLA. The barns haven't been so lucky. The smaller of the two is being slowly taken apart, plank by plank. It is starting to become a problem and it would be better to see it taken down rather than face ultimate collapse.

The second reason that I decided to use the Konica is that the gentleman that it belonged to before me traveled with it throughout Europe. The camera had been so many places and seen so many things, and I thought it would only be right to give it a chance to see a bit more. And, perhaps, it would be able to see something that it had never known before.

While the others were preparing to film, I decided to shoot a few behind-the-scenes shots on this film. I figured it wouldn't hurt anything, and at the very least, I might get a couple neat images out of it. The house in this image is an early 19th century farmhouse that has been meticulously taken care of by my friend's father. It is such a beautiful place that truly lends itself to the past. In the film, the man returns to his childhood home with his girlfriend/wife after his father's death. This is them standing and looking at it.

During filming I also took a couple of the Directors/Actors/Helpers aside to do some portrait work, just to see what would come of it. This was my favorite of all the portraits. It almost has a candid-posed feel to it (if that is even possible). The contrast was great, and I thought the framing worked well with the leading lines, subject, etc.

In the end, I'd say that I had a really great time shooting this film. It was everything that I hoped it would be, and as a sucker for expired film, it definitely met my expectations.

It is always a treat to work with expired or odd films, and when I can do it for free, it just makes it that much better.

I want to give a very special Thank You to Mike from the FPP for sending me this film.

Keep shooting that film!