What can I do with Polaroid Type 600 Film and a "The Handle" Kodak instant camera?
October 4, 2010 1:30 PM Subscribe
I have an old "The Handle" Kodak instant camera and recently acquired 3 packs of Polaroid Type 600 film. It is my understanding that these two are incompatible, that I need Kodak PR-10 film, which Kodak no longer makes. If this is true, are there replacements for Kodak PR-10 film or what can I do with the Polaroid Type 600 film (Recommended resources to get an old compatible polaroid camera or other uses)?
Best answer: eBay always seems to have compatible Polaroid (these would be the Spectra/Captiva series) cameras, that's probably your best shot. Craigslist might have some as well. Now that the Impossible Project is actually making film, these should be even easier to find.
Please note that while Type 600 will fit into SX-70 cameras, it requires some work to get to work correctly.
kanemano is right about the lawsuit, I think Kodak might have had to destroy the tooling. The film hasn't been available for a long, long time and no one will ever create an "Impossible Project" for PR-10.
posted by tommasz at 1:57 PM on October 4, 2010
Please note that while Type 600 will fit into SX-70 cameras, it requires some work to get to work correctly.
kanemano is right about the lawsuit, I think Kodak might have had to destroy the tooling. The film hasn't been available for a long, long time and no one will ever create an "Impossible Project" for PR-10.
posted by tommasz at 1:57 PM on October 4, 2010
Best answer: 600 film won't work, largely due to how the cameras worked (Polaroids exposed the front of the film, Kodaks exposed the back). However, Fuji has a line of mostly Japan-only instant cameras, one of which took film that is very similar to the Kodak PR-10 instant film. Here's a page in Japanese on converting Fuji FI-800GT instant film to fit the Kodak cameras. It involves snipping off a plastic tab and placing a neutral density filter over the lens to compensate for the different film speeds. There's some discussion on the Flickr Polaroid group about this hack. Unfortunately, Fuji discontinued FI-800GT in June, so you'll have to find some old stock that may still be around. The site Japan Exposures used to sell it, but they are out.
Good luck!
posted by zsazsa at 2:15 PM on October 4, 2010
Good luck!
posted by zsazsa at 2:15 PM on October 4, 2010
Hmm. From this discussion: You could load a single sheet of 600 Spectra film in your Kodak if you have an empty cartridge. Dial two steps to brighten for correct exposure. Put the sheet back in the Polaroid cartridge to eject/develop (in the dark). Check if the camera responds to light changes with longer/shorter exposure. Kodak cameras use Batteries.
A recent blog post discussing the Kodak and Fuji films has some more info and discussion.
posted by zsazsa at 2:35 PM on October 4, 2010
A recent blog post discussing the Kodak and Fuji films has some more info and discussion.
posted by zsazsa at 2:35 PM on October 4, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for all the great answers!
Zsazsa, yeah the single sheet loading seems like too much work.
I'll keep "The Handle" on display and buy a Polaroid 600 compatible camera; they don't seem to be prohibitively expensive.
posted by sir_rubixalot at 3:12 PM on October 4, 2010
Zsazsa, yeah the single sheet loading seems like too much work.
I'll keep "The Handle" on display and buy a Polaroid 600 compatible camera; they don't seem to be prohibitively expensive.
posted by sir_rubixalot at 3:12 PM on October 4, 2010
Another possible solution! sir_rubixalot, if you want to sell that Polaroid 600 film, please drop me a Mefimail. I have an old Polaroid and can't find film.
posted by misha at 4:49 PM on October 4, 2010
posted by misha at 4:49 PM on October 4, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by kanemano at 1:34 PM on October 4, 2010