It wasn’t really extreme, but it was fun!
After shooting two packs of 600 color film in this nice, but unassuming, regular, generic, average, and kinda “normal” Polaroid camera, I found myself wondering:
- Was it the bright orange color of its handle, shutter release, viewfinder collar, lens rim, and graphics on the flash housing, which made it an “extreme” camera? Seems unlikely…
- Was it feature(s) which were “extremely” different from similar Polaroid cameras? Not that I could discern after careful examination and comparison to others…
- Was it a more robust body build, with thicker plastic, to withstand “extreme” instant photography activities? Well, its size, weight, and heft seemed about the same as similar cameras…
- Was it a British humor (mfg. in UK) thing, or simply a branding misstep using lowercase letters for the word “extreme” on the front? No clue, and no way to find (I tried) at this point…
So, forget the name! It was yet another great pop-up/box Polaroid instant camera to shoot with, even though its bright orange strap was broken and useless. 🙂
THE CAMERA:
THE PHOTOS:
Shooting on a cold, sunny November afternoon, the first two shots in this vintage Polaroid 600 extreme camera produced interesting and unexpected results! Each was what I call a “fabulous fail” photo, complete with vertical striping, undeveloped patches, and flash flares.
OBSERVATIONS:
Unique, random results of glitches and accidents can sometimes be more interesting (better?) than what the photographer had in mind! What do you think?
After the first two #FabFail photos, the remaining six shots from the pack of 600 Color Instant Film came out pretty normal (not extreme), as I started figuring out how the camera worked…
MORE OBSERVATIONS:
- Wreath on red door — I took two shots of a wreath on the garage (first pair in the gallery above), from a distance of roughly 4 feet, lit by indirect afternoon light and built-in flash, with and without the closeup lens in place.
- Since both shots are at the transition point between close-up and normal lens (1.2 meters or 3.94 feet), they are pretty similar…
- BUT, it seems the closeup lens shot (first/top left) is a little brighter and more sharply focused, while…
- The normal shot without closeup lens (second/top right) is darker and softer focus…
- Conclusion: for anything closer than 5 feet (1.5 meters), use the closeup lens!
- Overexposed — The camera’s always-on flash blew out highlights in bright sunlight, or when too close to a light-colored subject, so you have to cover the flash when close to a well-lit subject to normalize the exposure. For example, look at the porch items in sunlight and dragon sculpture photos above (second pair in the gallery).
- Porch items — areas in shade look normal, but anything in sunlight is blown out, and there is a “flash flare” at the top of the shot from too much light going on in the air for the camera and/or the film to handle it…
- Dragon sculpture — a light grey concrete sculpture blown out by the flash, and I forgot to use the closeup lens for the ground-level shot, so it’s blurry while the shrub behind it is in focus… 😦
- Dappled light — my shot of the rusted metal dog’s head on a fence post (bottom left) with the flash on was closer to a proper exposure due to the partial, dappled afternoon light, but still had a “flash flare” at the top, from too much light in the air…
- Afternoon light — for the column shot (bottom right), I decided to cover the flash with my hand, so it did not ruin the contrast and detail of the shadows vs. light. It was late afternoon, with the golden-orange light waning fast, so the background dropped off into darkness and the shadows on the column were perfectly exposed (IMHO).
THE VIDEO:
Check out the gallery of photos made with Polaroid 600 extreme cameras and various films, on the Lomography site: lomography.com/cameras/polaroid-600-extreme/photos
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