There’s little that sums up the spirit of instant point and shoot film photography more than the name Polaroid. For years it was the main brand of instant film camera and instant film products. Now owned by The Impossible Project, who revived the tradition of producing instant films for vintage cameras some time ago, Polaroid cameras and instant photographic films are back.
Under the brand of Polaroid Originals, this now includes a brand new camera, called the OneStep 2 i-Type Camera, and a new range of instant photo films known as i-Type Instant Film. Unlike Fujifilm’s Instax SQUARE SQ10 camera, or Kodak’s recent PRINTOMATIC Instant Print Camera, the new Polaroid films use a true analogue film-photo development process.
Polaroid OneStep 2 i-Type Camera
The OneStep 2 i-Type Camera is inspired by Polaroid’s original OneStep camera, from 1977, but has been redesigned with, amongst other features, a USB rechargeable lithium-ion battery and a built-in strobe flash. The camera lens is fixed focus, focussing as close as 0.6m up to infinity, with a focal length of 106 mm.
The OneStep 2 i-Type Camera comes in two colours, white and graphite. As well as the new i-Type film, the OneStep 2 cameras can also use Polaroid 600 film, which the Impossible Project has been producing for some time for older instant camera models, but is now sold under the Polaroid brand.
According to their website, the estimated release date for the OneStep 2 camera is October 16, 2017.
Polaroid i-Type Instant Film
There are both colour and black and white film options for the new i-Type instant film which, unlike some instant films, doesn’t use batteries. There are 8 photographs per pack and the formats, according to the Polaroid website, are 4.2″ x 3.5″ (107 mm x 88 mm), with an image area of 3.1″ x 3.1″ (79 mm x 79 mm). The development time for the colour film ranges from 10-15 minutes, and 5-10 minutes for the black and white version of the i-Type instant film.
It’s been an exciting time recently for film photography in general, with new 35mm films released and even more promised. Now, there is more good news for point and shoot film shutterbugs. And this time it’s ‘instant’.
