Type 87 polaroid b&w film, Alternative?

I have a really old Polaroid Land Camera and it says in the manual that it take type 87 b&w film and type

88 colour film. I cannot find type 87 b&w film anywhere and all site are saying its discontinued. Is there an

alternative I can use? What does the 87/88 stand for? The black and white polaroids look so good when

they come out it would be a shame not to take anymore!

 

I'm a beginner at photography so dont know as much as the rest. Thanks, Charlotte

Pack film costs a fortune. The 87/88 was a particular emulsion. it is no longer available

 

Replacements include:

 

664

 

672

 

667

 

690 - color

 

669 - color

 

http://www.polaroid.com/us/index.jsp

 

You can also call Polaroid directly and they will e-mail you instructions on cameras, emulsion transfers, available packfilms, etc...Excellent support considering the age of the cameras and technology.

 

You can also check http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landhome.htm for lots of info. Have fun.

Careful. The 87 and 88 films are the rather unusual nearly-square 3-1/4" x 3-3/8" pack film format. The 600 series films Christopher has listed are in the conventional rectangular format, and will not fit your camera.

 

They were discontinued once and then resurrected. They were discontinued again in the end of 2006, and they are almost certainly gone for good.

 

Your are another proud owner of a Polaroid "film orphan".

 

The good news is that Polaroid cameras are dirt cheap. Yard sales or eBay. Buy another one if you're willing to pay over $1 for instant B&W or color photographs. Just be sure you get one that takes rectangular pack films. Any of the 200 or 300 series, which mostly have rangefinders, take good pictures. They do use a moderately hard to find battery, and won't work if the battery is dead. The Reporter, EE100, and ProPack are a lot newer, use common AA batteries, but lack a coupled rangefinder. (Just guess focusing.)

I have 88 and 84 type film for sale. $15 for 10 exp. PM if you are interested. Your camera will work with both.

 

The other source for this size film is www.unsaleable.com. They did a custom run of a 'chocolate' colored film from Polaroid. It is the correct size to work in your camera and is about $2.50 a shot.

 

Other than that, it has been discontinued.

 

As for Polaroid film's cost, that is up to the individual user. Personally, I find the per shot cost makes it more worthwhile to pre-visualize the image I am trying to create rather than taking 50 digi-shots which all have some sort of flaw.

As for

Thank you so much for all your answers. I did try that website unsaleable.com which is where

I used to get the black and white film from before. But it is showing as discontinued on there

now. So there are no alternatives then for my polaroid? It will probably benefit me then to just

pick up another.

 

What does the 87/88 mean though, is that just literally the type it is, like its name, or does

the number have some relevance, to the size of the image or something?

 

Thank you all again!

It literally is the model number of the film. There is a 'sort of' system that Polaroid uses to denote the type of film based on the number but it is irrelevant to your problem. You need square format film and it is discontinued. The only place you'll find it is on the secondhand market.

John is absoutely right, my bad.