Comment by GaggiX
1 day ago
You can still buy a Polaroid, there is one factory left in the world able to produce the film required but they still make them.
1 day ago
You can still buy a Polaroid, there is one factory left in the world able to produce the film required but they still make them.
“Still” isn’t the right word. Once Polaroid stopped making the film, closed their factories, and sold or junked their machines, their supplies did the same, and so some of the components stopped being manufactured and available for purchase. What’s sold now as Polaroid film was a reinvention of the same idea. And it’s notably not as good. The dwindling stock of unused true Polaroid film is getting absurdly expensive as a result.
The one factory you refer to was the last one, and was purchased by the Impossible Project (now Polaroid BV). So they were able to save one set of machines. But the actual process of making the film was lost. So it’s an old set of machines making a new but similar product.
> The dwindling stock of unused true Polaroid film is getting absurdly expensive as a result. what's the point? ain't all of this stock expired, with photos ending up just blobs or being gamble at best? (even for film stored in freezers)
It’s always a gamble, but no, lots of it is still good. There are many photographers still working with it. Jean-Andre Antoine [1] is one of the more famous; if you’re ever in NY, go see him in SoHo, he’s a super nice guy and a fantastic photographer. And he uses a Speed Graphic!
1: https://www.jeanandreantoine.com/
Yeah I know but it's still incredible that we have something like that in 2026 being produced.
Agreed! The whole film world is on fire right now, it’s pretty cool to see.