You can never have enough Polaroid Land cameras

[silverscape]

I recently got a couple of new toys - a Polaroid Automatic 320, and a Polaroid Automatic 440. Both are in excellent

condition :D<p>

 

<img src="http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/gatewaycityca/FILE0512bsmall.jpg"><p>

 

I just bought the 440 from a thrift shop today. I practically stole it! They were selling it for $7, but there was a

discount on everything today, and I got it for <b>$5.43!</b> I still can't believe that. That's less than a fast food

meal, and for that I got an awesome antique camera! It's in beautiful condition and it even had the original instruction

manual! And there was still a battery inside, and it worked! The shutter seems to be working the way it should. I

can hear the shutter speed changing in different lighting conditions, so the light sensor is working.<p>

 

The 320 came with a flash, and there was a good bulb inside, but for some reason I can't get it to work. I wanted to

test it, without film in the camera, just so I can see what an old style flash bulb looks and sounds like. I've never

fired one before. But I tried to connect it to the 320 and a couple of other Polaroid Land cameras I have and I just

can't get it to work. I assumed the flash used power from the battery in the camera. But is it supposed to have its

own separate battery? Am I doing something wrong, or does anyone have any idea why the flash might not be

working?<p>

 

Even though I can't get the flash to work, I'm really happy with both cameras. I hope I can buy some film soon,

maybe in about a week.

[joseph_c._ohlsen]

<p>Chris, you need a battery in that flash. Open up the screw on the bottom. </p>

<p>And quit calling these things "antiques". I had one as a kid. </p>

<p>The manual says "450". </p>

<p>I have four of these gathering dust. Plan is to convert the back on the better one to a roll film back. </p>

[User_502260]

<p>Where do you find the right batteries for these?</p>

[silverscape]

Thanks, Joseph! I put an AA battery in it, and I just fired a test bulb a few minutes ago. That was very cool. It wasn't the loud and scary pop I thought it was going to be! It was just a quiet kind of fizzling sound. But the flash definitely seems a lot brighter than a modern electronic flash.

 

The manual is for both the 440 and 450.

 

About the "antique" thing...well, it was made before I was even born ;)

 

Jeff, the 440 already had a 3 volt battery, and it was still good. With my other Polaroid Land cameras, I usually just rig up something with AAA batteries, or connect a few lithium and zinc oxide batteries in series to get enough voltage.

 

If anyone is interested, here is a set I have on Flickr for pictures I've taken with instant film...including some from peel-apart film with Polaroid Land cameras like these:

 

 

I just started using cameras like these last summer, and I'm really getting into them.

[paul_wheatland]

<p>Battery for flash may be 15 volt or 22 volt, hard to find, expensive, I'd forget about this. The flash bulbs are not readily available, either.</p>

[mark_medin]

<p>Those M3 flash bulbs may not be available, but I got an even hundred of them in a bag at a thrift store, mostly still in original boxes. 99 cents.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Cool, but a little sad too. I'd like to be able to add my usual "show us the pictures" but....</p>

[leigh_marrin]

Chris, I too just acquired a Polaroid 320, but have not used it yet. My shutter linkage also makes a clicking SOUND, but

checking through the lens shows it is not actually opening; its battery is dead. Evidently the 320 has an electronic shutter,

and I've read that some users have replaced its expensive battery with a couple of AAA cells.

[silverscape]

Leigh, yeah as far as I know, all the Polaroid "Automatic" cameras are like that. They all have electronic shutters. You have to have a battery installed or the shutter won't work.

 

You can modify it to use AAA batteries, or like I mentioned, I've even got them to work by rigging something up with a couple of zinc oxide batteries and lithium batteries connected in series.

[john carter]

<p>Chris, if you get tired of chasing down M-3s. I have my 100 set up for use with electronic flash. I use radio triggers and an old Minolta 320x. I use it on auto setting for fill flash and then have to resort to manual for indoor or low light flash.</p>

[minhnguyen9113]

<p>Here is the Polaroid 250 I convert to 4x5 and used 3AAA batteries. Now it is the LF 4x5 automatic camera with an excellent coupled RF made by Zeiss<br /> <a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i46.tinypic.com/xciyzb.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" /></a></p>

[minhnguyen9113]

<p>Change lens and use roll-film back for panorama pictures <a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/6f2woz.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic" /></a></p>

[chuck_foreman1]

<p>Very Cool! Two new Polaroids. I also got one for nothing many years ago and the battery was still good enough and the Falsh didn't fire, but I did take the screw out and find the battery! There were 2 or 3 bulbs so I shot off some interior shots just for the experience of it. Although I am/was familiar with bulbs as they were de rigeur when I was a little boy. The only drawback with polaroids is the high cost of the film. Meanwhile my exposure battery is dead! I will check out your Flikr Photos!</p>

<p> </p>

[BrianS1664879711]

<p>"And quit calling these things "antiques". I had one as a kid. "</p>

<p>I agree, some of us had these as adults!</p>

[joseph_c._ohlsen]

<p>I think all you Pola-nuts will enjoy this website: </p>

<p><a href="http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landhome.htm">http://www.rwhirled.com/landlist/landhome.htm</a> </p>

 

[photo5]

<p>I had an SX-70 when I was 20 years old, found it at a flea market for $12 including the original leather case. Had a lot of fun with it, shot quite a few packs of film, sold it years later for $30 after it had stopped working so well. Other than that I shot poloroids with my 4x5 camera while in school, hated those. They never told you the real story, they just teased you more than anything else. The Type 665 P/N film was cool though, still have some of those negatives floating around somewhere, that and a jar of Edwal.</p>

[joseph_c._ohlsen]

<p>This reference on what uses what battery as copied from rwhirled.com: </p>

<p>"The autoexposure packfilm cameras can be broken down into three categories according to battery type:<br>

The 100, 101, 102, 220, 225, 230, 240, 250, and 340 use one No. 531 (4.5 volt) alkaline battery.<br>

The 103, 104, 125, 135, 210, 215, 315, 320, 330, 420, 430, 440, M60, and Countdown 70 all use one No. 532 (3 volt) alkaline battery. The 335, 350, 360, 450, M80, and Countdown 90 use two No. 532 batteries, one of which is used for the built-in electronic development timer (and which can be omitted if the development timer feature isn't needed or desired)." </p>

<p>As for battery sources, the original batteries (and other odd photo batteries) are available at <a href="http://www.batterycountry.com/ShopSite/specialtycamera.html">http://www.batterycountry.com/ShopSite/specialtycamera.html</a> at not so bad a price. Also saw them at <a href="http://www.lowcostbatteries.com/product_p/exell-px24-532.htm">http://www.lowcostbatteries.com/product_p/exell-px24-532.htm</a> </p>

 

[jm_valdivia]

<p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v133/Bloodyathame/JMV_6923.jpg" alt="" />I need an image similar to this one, that can inform me where the black cable needs to be... I recently bought this through ebay, the flash wouldn't fire..and I realize this was lose in there ..please help</p>