Monday, March 24, 2008

Breaking the bank. +20 129 Remaining

I went to Walgreens today to get some 110 film developed. As I was checking out I remembered the sale on Polaroids they were having a few weeks back, so I excused myself away from the cashier for a moment and looked around. Film! I think they had two twin packs and one single pack. The price had gone way up, though. A few weeks ago a single pack was about $10-11 and now its $14!

I got up to the cashier and handed her a twin pack and a single pack, praying that the buy a twin pack, get a single pack free sake was still going on. But it wasn't. So I ended up buying a twin pack anyway. I couldn't resist. Its ok, though, because I'll have some extra funds coming in soon.

So, anyway, this should make up for the majority of the messed-up photos I took trying to get the SX-70 to work.

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Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter! -6 109 Remaining

Sadie, my niece, came over to the house today to celebrate Easter and search for some eggs. Well...jelly bean eggs anyway.

She had a good time and I had the opportunity to take some shots of her while she searched.

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Everything still seems to be working great on the SX-70. Nothing to complain about.

Friday, March 21, 2008

SUCCESS! -2 115 Remaining

This morning I woke up eager to test out the SX-70 after replacing the photo-cell filter. I'm in the shower thinking of what picture I want to take when my brother yells at me from the hallway letting me know he's at the house. I quickly get dressed and go and talk to him. We discuss the camera and the fungus in the lens when I start telling him about the filter on the photo-cell. Then I ask him to go outside and pose for me because I hadn't tested it and I knew that anything to do with jeremy and a photo will be a riot. So, with the new "filter" in place and the exposure wheel set to slightly darken...

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SUCCESS! A perfectly exposed Polaroid straight from the SX-70. WOOHOO! Now I don't have to waste anymore exposures trying to figure what's wrong with the thing. Now I can just focus on taking pictures.

--later---

Tiffany and I are at Chewacla soakin' up the sun when I take another, wanting to show her my triumph.

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Again, another well-exposed image! I think I could have even left the exposure wheel at normal, what with her shadow and all.

So yeah, a good day for Polaroids and the SX-70. I couldn't be more relieved.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Lake Martin. -10... 117 Remaining

I woke up this morning excited about the 600 pack I had put in the camera the night before. Wanting to see what the new pack had in store, I immediately got up and took a pretty neat looking photo of the horn on the vintage-ish record player Tiffany had gotten me as a present some time back. (exposure wheel set an normal)

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I liked it, but i could tell that the shutter was open for a little too long. There was plenty of light, and there was noticeable camera-shake on the print. (Also, I had already forgotten that this wasn't SX-70 film and tried to manipulate it. It worked to some degree (black lines))

This worried me, and, in my mind, a well-exposed image outside would do my nerves good. In the backyard, I took a photo of Patch (my dog) in the shade with exposure wheel set at normal.

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As you can tell, it's ridiculously overexposed. At this point I was pretty annoyed/confused. Shade+normal exposure+ND filter SHOULD turn out a well-exposed photograph. In another attempt, solely for the sake of experimentation, I took a photo of a flower in direct sunlight with the exposure wheel at its darkest setting.

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This came out reasonably well with only slight overexposure. regardless, it was 100x better than the photo of patch. Colors were good, clear image, black blacks and white whites. Good stuff for the most part. So keeping the wheel at the darkest setting was the answer......

Later...

Tiffany was off work today, so we went to lake Martin and hiked some trails. I took my less-than trusty SX-70 along for the ride in hopes that, under pressure, I can find a way to make it work. We're walking and talking and having some fun, when we come to a scenic point where the trail runs alongside the lake-shore. Still in my ever experimental mood, I try to take the photo and capture some of the colors and leaves underneath the water. Exposure wheel at its darkest setting.

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Ok, not COMPLETELY overexposed, but you can't see the colors very well and there is little definition. I shook it off and trekked on. Along the trail there were more photo-ops, which I took.

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All of them were slightly overexposed, which was a little disappointing. I wanted to be able to catch the rich colors that I was seeing.

Another photo-op. The trail had led to a point where it met the lake-shore. You could see the water reflecting on the golden rocks underneath the beautiful teal water. I stepped out, got in position, framed and...jam. Not good. This time I had no idea what could have started it. I tried to take another picture, but to no avail. I could hear the gears turning inside, but no photo. With hair standing on the back of my neck, I sat down and tried to fix the problem without having to expose the rest of the pack.

Finally, after not being able to take out the print myself, I sacrificed a polaroid and took out the pack. I put it back in in hopes that the camera would spit out the jammed photo after being closed. Nothing. Retried. Nothing. Finally I was able to pull the twice-exposed photo out of the camera.

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Unfortunately that meant that another photo as wasted, but at this point I just wanted to make sure that nothing was wrong with the camera itself. I put the pack back in the camera. Still no photo. After some more finagling...

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I thought about the ND filter. Could that be keep the film from coming through? Again I took out the pack, sacrificing another polaroid, and removed the filter. After putting it back in, out comes a photo.

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Already mad that I had wasted 3 shots, I took another photo of Tiffany looking at my troubles

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No ND filter. Overexposed, but looking good. The last of the pack. Nearly a whole 10 images wasted.

I have come to the realization that trying to fix this bloody camera will require a lot of sacrifice. But, however, 600 film is still being produced in Mexico (I think) so there is still the possibility of acquiring more.

Anyway, I hike the rest of the trail with the thought of wasted Polaroids weighing heavy on my conscience. Fortunately, that means thinking of ways to overcome the situation at hand. While hiking, I decided that I would replace the ND filter in front of the electric eye with a clear piece of plastic. This would allow the electric eye to see more light and adjust shutter speed accordingly, hopefully giving me a correctly exposed Polaroid (for once)....So I did.
http://photojojo.com/content/photojojo-original/discontinued-polaroid-projects/

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Compare that with the photo I took the other day.

I REALLY have high hopes for this mod. I put the same ND filter on another pack of 600 film, but made sure that everything was secure and that it wasn't preventing any of the camera's operations. The ND filter, along with the piece of plastic in front of the photocell amounts to a -3 exposure stop. I think that's the right terminology.

Usually all it takes is two stops, but...I don't know.

-1 Pack of 600 film

Posting for March 19. -7 ...127 Remaining

Yesterday I didn't get a chance to post. Maybe just too distressed. Anyway, the day just doesn't start off well. I tried to take a shot of some boxes, but I guess I'm too dumb for my own good. Whatever the case, the shot turned out completely black. I took it with the time-zero onestep. I supposed I guessed incorrectly when it came to available light inside.

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The day didn't really go any better after that. I went to see Tiffany at work, and I wanted to test the SX-70 some more so I took her photo. (yeah I know, another one). You could see her pretty well but, nevertheless, it was really overexposed. Strange. We weren't in bright light, and I had the exposure wheel at normal...

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This disturbed me, so when I got home I took some more photos trying to figure out what the problem was, or if there even was a problem...hoping that it was mere user-error. This is what I came up with

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I played around with the exposure wheel as well. Still nothing. ALL of them looked bad. AND some of them had that strange black spec, like someone had used a sharpie to mark them. Distressed, I went about the rest of my day wondering what was going on with the camera I wanted to work so much. That night, after having taken ALL of the remaining exposures in the blend pack (GRRRRR) I attempted to switch the ND filter from the blend pack to the 600 pack here.




I did this, then blindly hopedthat somehow in some great scheme of things I got a wacked out pack.

BTW Keep in mind that I made that video very late last night and was a little delirious.

-1 pack Blend film

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

-2, SeXy-70. 134 Remaining

Yeah, weird title.

Today confirmed that the SX-70 is in full working order. I went outside for some better light and took a picture of a spray-paint can.

Canister

Needless to say I was pleased with the results. While it was developing I threw it in the fridge to grab some extra blues.

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I find it amazing that the fungus in the lens doesn't appear on the photos or the viewfinder for that matter. Crazay. You can see the worst of it here. Its that spot in the lens. Here's a big pic for you.



So now its just more of a cosmetic thing, which I can live with. The seller on ebay isn't going to be getting any positive feedback, however. The seller said that the lens "appeared" to be clear and free of scratches. Free of scratches, yes. Clear, no.

While writing this entry I took a photo of the inside of a lamp. I dig it.

Lighthouse


Now my next Polaroid project is going to be getting this mama to work for me.

Polaroid Automatic 210, enjoying the weather

I thought she was in great shape when I got her. All I needed was a battery and film. Well, the battery came in the mail, but the shutter wouldnt open at all. :-( I took it apart, cleaned the battery contacts, everything I could think of.

Finally I took it down to cameragraphics and let them look at it. They seem to think that the power to the "electric eye", and in turn the shutter, is being cut off somewhere from the battery. I'll take it somewhere else this week to see if they can take care of the electrical problems. I really have hope for her, although it has been diminished a little bit now.

Monday, March 17, 2008

...Strange day for Polaroid -8! 136 Remaining.

Well, the day started off strange and just kept going. Today Tiffany and I went to Chewacla again, although I didn't bike there this time. Anyway, we're having some fun and we want to take a few pics. Why not a Polaroid or two? I mean, after I'm through with the packs in the time-zero and the pro, The SX-70 will be taking up the rest of the slack, right?

Well, the first shot we took was a doozy...actually I should say the first TWO shots we took, since TWO photos came out. The first came out ok but it had some strange stuff at the top corners and a line that is probably a light leak at the bottom. The second, which came out underneath it, was all f-ed up as you can tell. Weird, and not too happy about it, since it was just a straight up waste. I put it down kind of freaked out, but maybe it wouldn't happen again.

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Well we messed around some more and wanted to take some more photos. Well, I nervously pulled out the Polaroid. But then I thought about it, "better now when we can make up for it rather than later when I need a photo of something fast". Turned out to be a good decision. Same story. Two photos came out, one on top of the other. The top photo came out looking ok with minor faults. The second, obviously getting no light, was completely black.

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Well, now just wanting to alleviate the problem, I just decided to to empty the pack because there might be some more screw ups...so I did. And, of course, they looked fine.

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So, my Onestep Pro decided to play a few tricks on me. Grr... but ok. Its over and done with, and I kind of have some cool "shots" to show for it. But then I found out at dinner that my brother had just gotten my SX-70 in mail today!!!! Woohoo! right?

Well, I get it home and...well...just watch.





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So not exactly what I'd hoped for. But, as far as the fungus goes, you can't tell on the actual print, as you can see in this terrible shot which, by the way, is the first "official" photo taken with the SX-70.

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Also, some good news I guess. Apparently my scanner isn't as bad as the scans its been putting out lately. For some reason I imported the images straight from Photoshop tonight rather than just telling the scanner to do its own thing. Whadda ya know? These look 10x better than the ones I've already posted.

SO, be expecting much better quality scans in the near future. Hopefully the good scans will be of good photos, but that still remains to be seen.

With everything going on I'm not sure if this is going to pan out, but, assuming it does, here is the plan.

1. No more photos with the One600Pro
2. Finish pack in Onestep time-zero
3. Take all remaining photos with SX-70, assuming I can whip it into shape.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

-2 Bikeride to Chewacla. x104x 144 Remaining!

Springsnow Skywhite

I rode my bike from my house to Chewacla State park. On the way there was this driveway lined with these beautiful trees. I couldn't resist. The second one I took to focus on the tops of the trees, but that spot is pretty distracting. Needless to say I was hesitant to take the second one, but I thought it would be worth it.

Using the same 600 film still in my Polaroid Onestep Pro. I have 6 left in the pack.

EDIT: 9:41 PM

I heard on Flickr that WALGREENS was having a sale on film. Well, I went to check it out, and they were! But they were out of the one packs that you got free when buying a 2 pack. So... I did what any other fool would do and said what the heck and bought two 2 packs and some 110 film.

Thats right, I took two photos today which were replaced by 40! I like those numbers.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

The Polaroider- A look into the last of Polaroid film

Basically, this blog is going to be the photo to photo of my last Polaroid images.

As of right now, I have 6 unopened packs of 600 film, two packs of SX-70 blend, and one open pack of 669 that I hope isn't ruined. I have 8 photos remaining in my Polaroid Time-zero onestep and 8 left in my Polaroid onestep pro. That makes 106 images total, with the possibility of accumulating more later. And I'm going to post every last one of them here.

So, enjoy, and watch my Polaroids live their lives.