No more Holgaroids?

[phule]

It seems that a large number of retailers no longer sell the CB80

Polaroid back's for the Holga, including Polaroid.com. Rumor is that

they're no longer being produced. Has anyone heard anything directly

from Polaroid on this or from any reseller?

 

The only location online that I can find still selling them is

unsaleable.com.

[april_rocha___south_centra]

I went to Freestyle in Hollywood a couple of weeks ago and they informed me that Polaroid is not continuing to make the Holgaroid. The film for this camera will continue to be made however, (except for P/N film which they are discontinuing)

 

They are currently selling on Ebay for $250.00 so thank you for finding unsaleable for me.

 

I'm buying one right now.

[phule]

At those prices, I think I'll put my first-generation non-full-frame Polaroid back up on ebay.

[wickedmartini]

Some of the films have been discontinued too...

[phule]

Type-85 was discontinued as of April 1, 2006 but I believe the other Type-80 films are still (currently) available.

[phule]

Official word from Polaroid: The CB80 has been discontinued.

 

Long Live The Holgaroid!!

[kodax]

No surprise here. Polaroid continues to turn their back on every market that could keep them relevant to photography. Polaroid Corp. should realize that the only market left for them is the artistic photography market. They discontinued SX-70 film which many artsy types used for manipulations. They are discontinuing their positive/negative pack film which was really the only easy way to get large quality blowups of polaroid shots. Other pack films are in danger and they are commonly used for the emulsion tranfers and such. Now the Holgaroid is gone, which may have been the coolest thing they did since the original SX-70 folding camera. If they want to discontinue something... why not the useless Izone and its postage stamp sized film? Sorry for the rant.

[rjacksonphoto]

Mike

 

It may be a rant, but I agree with you completely. I understand corporate philosophy and the bottom line, but couldn't they continue to produce some of these products in small amounts or license them to someone who would?

[wittfoto]

I feel the need to vent, too. I'm a photo teacher and when SX-70 was discontinued, I was

disheartened for myself and my students. I bought a pair of Polaroid backs to be used with

the two dozen Holgas I have for my classes and now I learn that the coolest aspect of using

them (with a medium format negative students could print from) has also been discontinued.

All of my great folding SX70 SLR's are worthless, my Holga Polaroid backs are virtually

useless and I'm bummed to the max. It's very tempting to boycot this company, but that

would probably only hasten the discontinuing of all of their other instant films that much

sooner! Money rules, folks, and Polaroid is certainly proving that! They have totally sold out

to the almighty buck . . . The artists will continue to starve.

[phule]

Scott,

 

So far (a big "if" I guess) Polaroid has only discontinued Type 85. And while I can see how that film would be very useful for a class environment, there's still 84, 87, 88 and 89.

[Spearhead]

<i>They have totally sold out to the almighty buck . . . </i><p>

 

Polaroid is owned by a brand marketing company. They couldn't survive on the business they had. Unless you have some sort of magic way to revive the markets that kept them alive in the past, it seems pointless to make accusations. Nobody here has explained the economics of running a film line and the market for that film. Five or ten people on photo.net desiring a product doesn't mean it's financially feasible.<p>

 

FWIW, Polaroid's decline started when they sunk all their R&D money into Polavision, never bothering to take the video taping equipment seriously.<p>

 

<i>The artists will continue to starve.</i><p>

 

And that is Polaroid's fault? How?

[banoota_bathkoota]

believe it or not, i bought the last piece on FreestylePhoto.biz, i placed my order when i received an email saying that the item may not ship because it has been discontinued.. I was then contacted by a sales agent with a correction of the previous email saying that there's one more piece left in one of their stores and that they're shipping it to me. just got it yesterday, & so happy and excited about it.

[engelgrafik]

Of course money rules. Polaroid has shareholders/stakeholders that have invested THEIR time and money into the actual company. Don't they count? Or do us artists only count?

 

I'm as bummed as everyone else. I've JUST RECENTLY discovered the joy of Polaroids (I now own 3 land cameras and am thinking of buying tons of 8x series film and a Holga back just for kicks).

 

However, I understand that Polaroid needs to continue to EXIST as a company. They filed bankruptcy in 2001. Polaroid, as we remember them, does NOT exist anymore and they simply must get lean. It's simple math: the things that cost the most to support must be eliminated. And unfortunately, the SX-70 stuff, the 8x stuff and yes, eventually the 6xx series will go away. They don't sell cameras that use it, so why pump tons of money into manufacturing, inventory, support (technical and customer) for this legacy stuff that fulfills a small niche (and yes, we ARE a small niche compared to their other lines)?

 

If you were in the position to make a decision on this, you would probably realize why they must do this.

 

It sucks, but employees need to be paid and shareholder responsibility needs to be respected.

[phil_cohen]

Is there any reason why polaroid couldn't or wouldn't sell the formulas and trademarks etc. to another company that is interested in producing this stuff? I would think that if enough of us emailed them they would either do this or start producing it again themselves. Or maybe I am just thinking out loud.

[phule]

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=&pid=1000002288