I want to get into peel instant film!

Papapishu · Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 38 Location: Bushwick, Brooklyn

Hi there!

I saw a guy shooting film with a Polaroid Land Camera the other day. He was using FP-3000b instant film, and got some really great looks out of it. High speed, gain-y black and white film. Reminded me of Ilford 3200, another one of my favorite stocks.

I've never used a bellows or land camera before, but I love the idea of 3000 ISO instant film. Does anyone here have any guides to using this kind of film? Any suggestions as to what kind of camera I should get? A polaroid land camera? If so, what's the best kind? Or are there other land cameras out there from other places (russian, japanese, german), that are compatible with that kind of film?

Thanks again.

ludoo · Expire: 2011-12-05

I have been shooting packfilm for a couple of months and am really loving it. As you say, fp-3000b is wonderful, but plain color fp-100c is great too: beautiful colors, a look that I can only describe as movie-like, and you can rescue the negative with a relatively simple process (works also for fp-100b).

The best kind of cameras to use with packfilm are without doubt the Mamiya-made Polaroid 600 (fixed 127mm lens) or 600se (removable lens), or the almost identical Mamiya Universal. There's a nice comparison here

http://filmwasters.com/forum/index.php?topic=779.0

All three have excellent color-corrected Mamiya lenses. The advantage of the 600/600se is that the viewfinder has the exact framelines for the Polaroid format, while on the Mamiya you have a slightly different size. On the other hand, the Mamiya has lots of accessories like roll film backs, etc. But be prepared to spend a bit on them, as they are highly sought after.

Another great option on a similar price level is a Polaroid 180/185/190/195: they share the same body with the other 100 Land Cameras, but have nice Tomioka-made optics with manual controls. Smaller and foldable, but less feature-full than the larger Mamiya made ones (who have better optics imho). There are also similar cameras made by Konica and Fuji which are more rugged and have better optics, but they are rare and cost several hundreds.

If you have a limited budget, one of the 100/200/300 series all automatic Land Cameras can be found for a few tens of euros/dollars. But do your homework first, as some models have plastic lenses and some glass lenses (triplets), some have a Zeiss rangefinder, some do not, etc. The Land List is a great resource.

http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landdcam-pack.htm

Another option is to modify a camera, and here you have lots of choices:

* fit a packfilm back to one of the older rollfilm cameras like the 110b, they are beautiful cameras and mount Rodenstock lenses, but conversion is not easy

* fit a large format lens+shutter to one of the cheap Land Cameras, much easier (rip off the lens/shutter, enlarge the lens hole and fit the new lens) and you get a smaller, lighter camera with a nice lens and fully manual controls; the hardest thing is to find a LF lens+shutter at a low price

* buy an old 9x12 plate camera (usually 20-50 euros/dollars) and fit a Polaroid back; you don't get a rangefinder, but all the rest will work great: they fold to a really small size, often have nice (uncoated) optics, and are beautiful

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

Hmm .. is it Polaroid 100 pack?

There is a large variety of press and view cameras you can add polaroid backs but many of them are not so cheap any more and almost all need some mechanical fixing.

Cheapest and easiest are the Polaroid Land 100 series cameras but not sure if the image quality is very good? I think I read somewhere the lenses are plastic .. ?

http://forum.mflenses.com/polaroid-and-fp-100-t21802,highlight,fp100.html

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

Thank you Ludoo for the more elaborate explanation .. Smile

Forgot one problem with the 100 series: Can't find 4,5 v batteries cheaply any more, you might have to do some sort of conversion there too?

ludoo · Expire: 2011-12-05

ludoo · Expire: 2011-12-05

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

ludoo · Expire: 2011-12-05

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

Fascinating! Smile

Would it be easier to find a suitable folder shutter-lens -assembly?

ludoo · Expire: 2011-12-05

kansalliskala · Expire: 2016-12-30

Yep, and then - if you find a good one why not use it. Wink

I think I'll stay with the 100 - 250 quality. At least the 100 has the historical value of being the "original" 100 ..

Oooh, didn't know this:
"First electronic shutter in a mass-produced camera"
http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landdcam-pack.htm#100

Here is a conversion example. Don't just understand why the seller has so many doubts about his own conversion ..

Click here to see on Ebay

ludoo · Expire: 2011-12-05

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

on lenses: the polaroid 100 series is i believe the only 'cheap' polaroid cameras to have glass lenses, and they are triplets and maximum aperture is only 8.8 so are very slow!!!

for the more ambitious among us, there are on the web simple instructions for converting polaroid highlander, 110a and 110b cameras (originally made for now non existent polaroid roll film) to pack film cameras. these and the 195/180's are the 'best' polaroids from an optical perspective, meaning they have really good 3rd party lenses like rodenstock, wollensak, tokina etc. 110's can be had relatively cheaply; 195/180's average over $300usd. 100's about $50usd or less.

the polaroid 660/mamiya universal are totally different animals, as they are real medium format camera systems that accomodate full frame polaroid pack film with the appropriate backs. they have interchangeable mamiya lenses, which are the fastest available for any polaroid film, the 100mm coming in at 3.5 (the 110's/195/180 i believe are 4.5)

another difference is the cheaper 100/200/300 etc series cameras are NOT manual in any way. they have 'scene selection' which is the only way to influence the aperture/shutter speed. the others i mentioned are fully manual and have no internal meter, so you have to meter the scene otherwise.

the only issue with these medium formats is they are HUGE HUGE HUGE! and i mean huge! without the attachable handle/soft shutter release they weigh 4.5 pounds and are wide and high!

in addition to the films mentioned here, fuji and old expired polaroid 660 etc available on ebay, a company called the impossible project makes their own film, which is very cool, as they have sepia, chocolate, and blue tinted films.

good luck, its lots of fun!

Nesster · Expire: 2014-02-20

A couple of ads

I too got the urge to look into this, to me it seems that some of the 100/200/300 series better models (360 is bandied about a lot) have glass lenses and otherwise seem decent, at least to start.

I found these two sites helpful
http://www.dantestella.com/technical/polaroid.html
http://polaroids.theskeltons.org/intro.htm

ludoo · Expire: 2011-12-05

The 110B is better than the 100A, if I'm not mistaken it has the single-window rangefinder where the A has the two-windows one. I have a 110B, have to find the time to mod it.

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

according to this site:

http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landdcam-pack.htm

i believe that the only cheap polaroids that have glass lenses are the 100-103 series cameras; starting with the 104 they used plastic, and the 200, 300 etc series based on the 104...at least that's how i read it.

Farside · Expire: 2013-12-27

I've been meaning to start modding my 110A for a year, but not got around to it yet.
Then I recalled I can just slip a sheet of 4x5 into it and use it as a one-shot box. Easy to make it more by taking the changing bag along.
There's a slight leak on the bellows, which must be patched first.

Papapishu · Joined: 26 Feb 2010 Posts: 38 Location: Bushwick, Brooklyn

Thanks guys. This is really helpful.

The mamiya looks downright cool. Kind of what I'm looking for, too: adaptable to medium format if instant film runs out, real optics for a cool look, etc. Some of those land cameras look cool too although faster optics would be ideal, since that's part of the reason I love 3k iso film.

Of course, there's also a Holgaroid!

Thanks again. If you think of anything else, particularly a real glass and steel camera, I'm all ears.

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

btw, batteries for the 100 series can be found for $8 at batterymart.com. i believe they are no. 531, 4.5volt.

you can even get flash bulbs for the 100 series at frugalcamera.com. i believe they are m-3 clear and go for about $20 for 12.