polaroid transfers - camera info needed!

[charlotte]

i'm interested in doing some polaroid transfers and i need to buy a

camera that can use polaroid 669 film - i haven't got a clue about

this particular area of photography/film/cameras and would be

grateful for any replies! thanx, charlotte

 

www.charlotteaberg.com

[cenelsonfoto]

Try Google - it's your friend.<p/>

 

<a href="http://users.frii.com/uliasz/photoart/polaroid/">http://users.frii.com/uliasz/photoart/polaroid/</a>

<p/>

more search results at <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=polaroid+transfers">http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=polaroid+transfers</a>

[jim_britt1]

another way to do transfers is to use an enlarger and project the film onto 4x5 Polaroid

film in a 4x5 Polaroid holder... project slides etc.

[jay_capodiferro]

Jim, that is a very interesting idea. I had never thought of that.

[twoliver]

Charlotte, best Polaroid for the price that uses 669 film would be any of the metal bodied Polaroid Automatic Land Cameras. I own a 360 with the metal body and Zeiss made rangefinder. You'll probably pay more for the special battery and film then the actual camera, which can be found at very reasonable prices on the 'bay. I also suggesting checking out The Land List (http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landhome.htm)

 

The plastic bodied version are much cheaper and easier to find, if you want to go that route. They also make great pinhole cameras by removing the lens and shutter assembly. these are so cheap many experiments can be done for very little money. Yard sales are another place, I've seen older 104, and 200's going to one buck.

 

Model: 360

Manufacturer: Polaroid Corp.

Manufactured: 1969 - 1971

Style: Instant Rangefinder

Lens: 114mm 3-element glass

Aperture: f/8.8 - 45

Focal Distance: 3 ft - Infinity

DOF Scale: Yes

Shutter Make: Polaroid

Shutter Type: Electronic Plate

Shutter Speed: 10 sec to 1/1200 (auto)

Film Size: 100/660 Series Film

Negative Size: 3? x 4? inch

[watts1]

Charlotte, <br>

Like TW said, the metal bodied pack film folders are very nice. I picked up an Automatic 100 at a yard sale for $3.00 and it was well worth it. These are really great cameras.

<br><br>

I also had a model 420, which didn't even compare in build quality. It was way too plasticy for my taste. I did end up cutting it up and putting a Yashicamat TLR lens and shutter on it just for kicks.

<br><br>

Any pack film camera you find will probably have a dead battery. The way to test one is to put your finger over the automatic sensor to the left of the lens and cock and fire the shutter. Next take your finger off the sensor you should hear a second click. If you only hear one click then the shutter never opened. A battery can still be obtained from polaroid for $7.00 plus shipping. But there were two battery types in use over the production of these cameras and I believe one of the batteries is no longer in production, so I'd consult the "land list" first.

<br><br>

These cameras have automatic exposure that can be adjusted by moving the lighten/darken ring around the lens. This in turn slides a variable neutral density filter over the light sensor.

<br><br>

Now back to transfers...

There is a wonderful PDF document by Holly Dupre that you should read if you haven't yet. <a href=http://www.pacificsites.com/~hdupre/trans.html>http://www.pacificsites.com/~hdupre/trans.html</a>

<br><br>

Another option beside getting a pack film camera is to pick up a vivitar slide printer used off of ebay. Daylab makes one that will do 4x5 or 8x10, for a lot more money. Either allows you to make multiple tries in one sitting. Since you must do the transfer immediately after pulling the film from the camera it is pretty hard to bring all you need with you to do transfers on the fly.

<br><br>

Also, definately try some emulsion lifts, they are easy to do and it's really fun seeing what manual manipulations you can do with them.<br><br>

Good Luck!<br>

Watts

[rich_deferrari1]

Charlotte -I too vote for the metal versions of these classic cameras-my favorites being the 250 and 360 and 450 cameras. I would also check out Kathleen Carrs website and also her book on transfer's. I have appx 50 of these metal cameras which I will be ebaying {$10 each} left over from a project with 4Designs.Email me at RDeFerrari@aol.com if you are interrested. Thank you and good luck! RichD former Polaroid Photog/Tech Spec.

ps -you can't go wrong with a Daylab at around $100 -if you have a lot of slides already!

[charlotte]

thank you so much everybody - this is the kind of information i was looking for - actually it was the holly dupre document that got me interested in trying out polaroid transfers myself - there's a lot of info on the net on the process, but not much on equipment! anyway, as soon as i get my hands on a camera i'll be flying! :)

 

www.charlotteaberg.com

[lee_osborne]

I've tried the Vivitar slide printer route, which is a good way to play around and get started. I've only managed one successful image! It's a very fiddly business, but keep trying and see how you get on.

 

I'd back Holly's advice not to use outdated film, as my cheap outdated 669 film "bargain" produces a horrible blue cast. It is, however, good for printing Agfa Scala black and white slides, and these produce nice sepia Polaroid transfers. :)

[lachaine]

The now antique Polaroid pack film cameras such as those already mentioned often have defective bellows. Even though it may be light tight, there is an inner material which separates from the outer part of the bellows and drops into the light path, obstructing part of the photo. An alternative is a Polaroid Propack, now discontinued but much more current. They are often available on ebay. I have one myself that I don't use.

[charlotte]

would you be interested in selling? if so for how much? i'm going to check out ebay too, so don't worry if you're not interested! tank you, charlotte

[steve_norton]

Hi Charlotte,

 

A couple of basic things to organize your thoughts around this

matter:

 

1. There are two common Polaroid transfer processes: image

transfer and emulsion transfer.

 

With image transfers, one stops the development process of the

film before all the dye has transfered to the positive, and

transfers it to (usually) watercolor paper instead.

 

With emulsion transfers, one separates the emulsion off an

alread-developed positive and transfers it to almost anything.

 

2) While an emulsion transfer can be done using almost any

positive made from peel-apart films (669, e.g.), image transfers

must be done about 15 - 20 seconds after development is

initiated (i.e., after the film is pulled through the rollers). For this

reason, slide printers (Daylab, Vivitar, etc.) are the most common

tool for doing image transfers. One can only do transfers created

in a camera if the image transfer tools are set up at the shoot

site (these would be a tray of 100 degree F water, paper of

choice, a hard flat surface and an ink roller (brayer).

 

Cameras: i recently bought a Polaroid Pathfinder 110A, a

beautiful, sturdy machine with a nice Rodenstock lens, and had

it retrofitted with a Type 600 film back. You can generally do this

whole thing for about $250 - $350. It's a lovely setup.

 

Daylab: mine is the Daylab 35 Plus, and i have both a Type 600

(3 1/4 x 4 1/4) base and a 4 x 5 base for it. Recommended. You

can even go all out (eventually) and get an 8 x 10 base for really

big transfers. Gets expensive, though...

 

/steve