film for polaroid color swinger. Please help

<p>Hi, i found a polaroid camera in my grans attic today, polaroid colour swinger, and I have found out it takes a 'type 80' squared film. After some research of trying to find this film, I have seen that polaroid is discontinuing this type of film and was wondering whether there is an alternative?<br>

I really don't know anything about cameras so please make your answer as uncomplicated as possible!<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>Fun camera, I had a couple like that, used 'em a lot during the '80s. The auto exposure mechanism was surprisingly accurate even for long nighttime exposures. The tricky bit was keeping the camera steady to avoid motion blur.</p>

<p>As far as I know, Type 80-series Polaroid film is long gone and there are no plans to include it among the films revived by the <a href="http://www.the-impossible-project.com/"><strong>Impossible Project</strong></a>.</p>

<p>You might consider keeping it to modify for pinhole use. I kept one for just such a project, but never got around to it and finally threw away the camera a few years ago.</p>

<p>Of no use whatsoever except for landfill, unless it has sentimental value for you. No film for them, and never will be, since it wouldn't be worth producing them. They aren't really worth modifying for anything either, since they were pretty much the cheapest of the cheap, plastic, totally unadjustable point & shoot Polaroids. They became obsolete the minute the SX-70 came out, even if they did continue on the market.</p>

<p>Most teenagers who got these as Christmas or birthday presents ended up never using them much, simply because while it may have produced instant pictures of extremely marginal quality, the cost per picture was pretty high when it came to using Polaroid film of any kind. Even the cheapest Kodak Pocket Instamatic made much better pictures at much lower cost. That's why old closets are full of these to this day.</p>

<p>The Polaroid swinger was an extremely successfull camera; many many many millions were sold.</p>

<p>Ali MacGraw was the model, actress in some of the TV adverts.</p>

<p>The camera was a *TOTAL* blockbuster of a camera; it seemed everybody got swinger fever in the USA.</p>

<p>The shutter speed is about 1/200 second; thus it quashed handholding blur. The lens is a 100mm F17 lens of fixed focus. You varied the red knob to have the camera say YES (part of the jingle) and this was adjusting the fstop really. Film is no longer made for these. This camera was an extreme blockbuster of a camera; for many folks their first instant rig. It gets very little respect from folks. It will nerver be worth alot since so many (millions) were made. 10,000 years from now folks will be finding these things too. </p>

<p>The "Meet the Swinger" jingle is etched deeply into our brains plus seeling Ali MacGraw walking on the beach with one too.<br>

****When you bought a Swinger; you were a "hip swinger too" like Ali MacGraw at the beach. This camera was made in volumes one thousand times more than some film/35mm cameras that spend endless debates about subtle variants here on Photo.net.<br>

The swinger was bought be all sorts of folks; kids; GI's in Vietnam, old folks in homes; hippies, old beatniks, groupies following Beatles invasion bands; college profs with scientifics studies; Law enforcement, crime scene stuff; folks going on vacation in long station wagons; etc.</p>

<p>It was a massive part of the 1960's; often it introduced folks like law enforcement to their first instant cameras; thus the bought a better Polaroid and upgraded. In a way it was like an iPod; a radical new gizmo for the masses.<br>

The jingle of the swinger is so deeply etched that somebody can be so old and bad off that they forget all their relatives names; or who they are; but can sing the Swinger jingle in a few seconds. Nineteen dollars and ninety five; ....up pull it.. it says YES ,,,,</p>

<p>This may not answer your question directly, but this blog has some of the best Polaroid-related references I've seen. Includes some posts showing step-by-step modifications of different types, and examples of different films used with the cameras: <br /> http://moominsean.blogspot.com/</p>

<p>This reference outlines some pretty good sets of Polaroid cameras: http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landdcam-roll.htm#20<br /> This "Type 20" roll film, that went in the Swinger, was kind of like roll film and kind of like pack film, apparently. Yet, it pulls out of the camera like pack film. </p>

<p>I don't think you are going to find this type of film (long discontinued). Maybe you can find a way to load something in there and make some kind of photo, but I think it's going to be mostly a memento.</p>

<p>The search terms for this stuff were "moominstuff Polaroid" and "Land List".</p>

<p>Maybe loading a sheet film in there, one at a time, could help you make -a- picture, but I suspect the Swinger is destined for good memories on the bookshelf. </p>

<p>If you're into the camera, things may not work out too well for you. If you're interested in instant films, there are plenty of people out there who use modified SX-70s and old Packfilm cameras to make some photos with packfilm. That will be more do-able. You will want to read up on the cameras and film so that you can set yourself up with a more workable combination.</p>

<p>For under $100, you could pick up an old packfilm camera, clean it up, check it out, load up a couple of packs of film and have fun on the weekends or something. That moominsean blog has a lot of that. I think there are several Flickr groups that post photos of this; and, there's the alternative photography forum here at Photo.net with some people who like this.</p>

<p>Packfilm is fun enough to play around with that it's one of those types of photography that pretty much everyone could benefit from trying for a little while. Many large format photographers used those materials (the packfilms) for some time. It was their on-site feedback to check calculations and compositions with. </p>

The rather dry <I>McKeown's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras</I> has this for the Polaroid Swinger:<P>

 

"Current value $5 per truckload, delivered."

<p>Curse you, Flanigan! Now that damned song is stuck in my head! Gotta find another ear worm to replace it...</p>

<p>

<p>Thanks everyone for their replies. Looks like it'll have to go in the bin unless i was to keep it for decoration. I found it boxed with instructions and all. Does anyone know of a site where i can find cheap polaroid cameras (with film still being produced!) Preferably in £ rather than $. cheers</p>