[Etsy via Obsolete]

It’s an incredibly easy process – you simply head to Rollip.com and start the process, select just how blown out you want your photo to be, select a frame style and add text, then upload the photo you want polaroided. Results are fairly decent, even if the process does suck the resolution out of your pic. But considering the service is free (although the developers do ask you to buy them a beer at the end there, which is really just the polite thing to do) and the fact that Polaroid isn’t exactly cutting edge tech anyway, do you really need that resolution anyway?

Another problem is with portrait shots – you can’t determine which part of the shot will fit the Polaroid’s smaller size, so with a polaroided shot of my dog, the top of his head was lopped off:

Here’s the original Harbour Bridge shot that I uploaded (although I’ve shrunk the resolution for posting. I uploaded the full size version):

[Rollip]

Only 700 of these limited-edition camera-film sets will be sold at Urban Outfitters, and we’ve got to admit we really want one: Unless The Impossible Project can get production up and running again, these are the last in a proud lineage of instant developing. Keep in mind, those 700 sets are spread throughout the US and UK, so if you see one, make sure to grab it and hold it tight. [Crunchgear]

Multiple models followed the original SX-70, adding features like a rangefinder autofocus system. In the 1980s, the original SX-70 film was replaced by the “Time Zero” variant, which developed much faster. Time Zero film for the SX-70 went out of production in 2005.

The sentimentality for analogue photographs (or anything, really) rooted in fetishisms of authenticity and physicality, is perversely self-destructive: analogue media age and degrade, they die, like our bodies. The idea of the “original” is somewhat warped as well, since in the process of aging, the photo itself changes. In a way, the original photo ceases to exist a second after it’s created. The long set time for the SX-70’s film was particularly interesting in this regard—there was a 2-3 day window where you could manipulate it with temperature.

The bits that make up a digital photograph don’t age. They will be the same 30 years from year now that they are today. And unlike a scan or reprint of an analogue photograph, copies are of digital photos are literal clones—the bits are the exact same. The “original” is preserved forever, even as digital wholly obliterates the concept of the original.

Bits can lie, though. That’s why people don’t trust them. Plastic and paper are real. You can touch them. They bare scars when you change them. A faded photo has been places, seen things. It’s lived. Maybe longer than you have. Material inscription guarantees authenticity. Which is important when so much else is not genuine.

These are some photos taken with the SX-70 I found poking around on Flickr. There are a lot more in this Flickr pool.

Is it just me, or does it always seems like summer in old Polaroid photos?

Images: sandys2, Angus柒, asalexander, clspeace, clspeace, kwanz, dejvicka, antiparticle, kaidominato, @Maco, justephens, justephens, Davide Rascone

Polaroid SX-70 Photos: The Artster, TimmyToucan

Gizmodo ‘79 is a week-long celebration of gadgets and geekdom 30 years ago, as the analogue age gave way to the digital, and most of our favourite toys were just being born.

There’s definitely other software that’ll do this kind of thing, but AnalogColor lets you create faux-Polaroids by degrading your current photos in several different ways, including those fun streaks that resulted from light leaks. It’s available for $US10 on OS X and Windows. [Pentacom via Wired]

The NYT just visited the Impossible Project, a group of Polaroid lovers (which include Dutch scientists), who dedicate their time in bringing back Polaroid film.

Last time we saw these people, they leased a Polaroid factory and are trying to not just re-invent Polaroid film, but something slightly better.

What’s interesting is that the “Project” was able to get ahold of vital pieces of technology because the man who held Polaroid’s assets was arrested by the US. Polaroid’s assets (including its name and IP) were sold off this month. [NYT]

Sure, the new Polaroid PoGo Instant Digital Camera can print 2 x 3-inch photos in 60 seconds. That’s moreless what it took for the Instamatic images to appear. And like the Instamatic, the PoGo doesn’t use ink for the images, and can print with and without “fun” borders in sticky-backed paper. It’s also smaller than the Instamatic, at 285 grams and 12cm wide by 7.6cm tall. And you can review the images before printing them out.

OK, so it’s more convenient and probably has better quality. But still, no analogue charm (hopefully, they will add an Instamatic filter mode at one point).

Polaroid Introduces the Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Digital Camera

Digital version of the company’s iconic instant camera

LAS VEGAS (January 8, 2009) – Today Polaroid announces the launch of the Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Digital Camera, the first digital camera and instant printer combination available in the US and Europe that is portable enough to take anywhere. With the push of a button, consumers can select from among the digital photos on the camera, crop or edit them and in less than 60 seconds, print full-colour, 2×3-inch prints – all with a single device.

“This is the digital version of our traditional instant camera, which consumers have loved since the 70s,” says Jon Pollock, vice president and general manager, Digital Imaging. “With this product, Polaroid will bring the magic of instant photography to a whole new generation. It’s what consumers have told us they want – a fun, easy way to use a digital camera to print photos and share their memories instantly.”

The Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Digital Camera is the second product in the Polaroid PoGo™ family of products. Like the Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Mobile Printer, which hit store shelves in July 2008, the Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Digital Camera uses the same ZINK Paper™ and ZINK™ Zero Ink™ Printing Technology from ZINK Imaging. ZINK is an ink-free printing technology which replaces ink cartridges or ribbons with ZINK Paper™ – a composite material that has embedded, heat-activated dye crystals. Before printing, ZINK Paper appears white like regular photo paper. Once the pictures are printed, they are immediately dry to the touch, durable and smudge and water resistant.

The Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Digital Camera offers a full-feature digital camera with 100 percent inkless printing, 2×3-inch sticky-backed photos with or without fun borders and the advantage of reviewing the captured photos on a three-inch colour LCD screen before printing. The instant digital camera measures 4.7-inches wide by 3-inches tall and weighs only 10 ounces.

“Unlike traditional instant film, photos from the Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Digital Camera emerge fully developed,” Pollock says. “While many of our most passionate customers tell us “shaking” a Polaroid photo is part of the fun, with any Polaroid photo, the “shake” is totally optional.”

The Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Digital Camera will be available beginning in March 2009 at major retailers for a suggested retail price of $199. Ten-packs of ZINK Photo Paper™, which can be used in both the Instant Digital Camera and the Instant Mobile Printer, retail for $4.99 and 30-packs for $12.99, and widely available at national retailers everywhere.

[Polaroid]

The Tomy Xiao TIP-521 is smaller than the original Zink camera and has a five megapixel CMOS sensor. Unfortunately to whoever wants it, it’s coming in Japan only for now. I will keep waiting for a real camera that gives me a real Polaroid, or just keep using the old real one. [Zink]