1980s Polaroid 35mm

If you weren't aware Polaroid had 35mm cameras, don't worry -- Polaroid doesn't know about them either. This camera is a forgotten gremlin Polaroid locked away in the basement to never be spoken about again except on the abundant ebay listings you'll get when you look up anything about this camera. Polaroid hates this camera so much, they couldn't even give it a distinguishable name-- "Polaroid 35mm" is the only thing written on the camera except for "focus-free red-eye reduction" around the lens, "autoflash" by the internal flashbulb, and "DX Film Sensing" on the back of the camera by the battery pack.

If you are not already clear on my personal feelings about this camera, I hope to make them clear in the next several paragraphs. I have only shot one roll with this camera, and can affirmatively say it will be my last.

Ok. So I'm going to endeavor to provide you with a well-rounded view of this camera, despite my frustrations with it, so that you may hopefully form a valid opinion based on research and examples. Unfortunately, being incredibly difficult to research given its bland name, there's limited information available about this camera that I could find. I am not sure the original price of this camera, but I purchased mine for $9.00.

So to load the camera, you'll first need batteries. There's a battery door on the left side of the camera, and it takes either 2 AAA batteries or 1 CR 123A or DL 123 A battery. Once you put the batteries in, push the small button up on the right side of the camera to pop the back door open.

Here's where I had some trouble. Maybe you'll be more fortunate since you're not going into this blind, but for me, I had a difficult time getting the camera to keep the film on the take-up spool. You're also inserting the film canister on the right side of the camera as opposed to the left, which is a new thing for me. Pull the leader strip over past the take-up spool; you'll see a white sticker of a film piece and an arrow if you look closely. Make sure the film-pullers (not sure the official name, but the black gear-shaped bits inside) are in the film sprockets and close the camera.

Something also frustrating about the back setup is that the cover does not open completely. The battery pack prevents the door from allowing easy access to the take-up spool.

Your film is loaded, the battery is in, and you think you're ready to go! First, check the lights at the top of the camera supposedly, the green light should be on. Next, flip to the front of your camera and make sure your lens cap is slid to the side. As an aside, I do like how the lens cap is not detachable here. It is odd for a camera like this to have one, but it does prevent the batteries from dying too quickly from always having to read the light exposure. Finally, check your film counter beside the shutter button. Mine starts at "S" and counts up to the end of the roll.

I did not actually finish the roll I shot in this camera, and thus begins my frustrations: the auto advance. I prefer manual cameras anyways, so I expected this to be a point of adjustment for me, but after such a smooth experience with my Canon Rebel film camera auto advance, this was a splash of cold water. It only worked half the time, and for several shots, it only advanced halfway giving me a 3-shot collage I didn't ask for. I mean, it is a neat aspect in retrospect, but I feel like that should have been a decision for the photographer, not the camera.

At the very least, you know when the camera is advancing because you hear the mechanisms working inside. Double check your film counter though, because mine exposed several images on the first slide without advancing first. I was able to take around 20 photos with the camera before giving up. And all in all, the photos aren't terrible quality. I cannot tell you the aperture or shutter speed of the camera, butI would say it is comparable with those old disposable cameras everyone used to get developed at those 1 hour stops at CVS and Walgreens. Not great, but decent.

My camera stopped advancing halfway through the roll, so I popped the lid (in dim lighting of course) to make sure nothing was wrong/to prompt an auto advance, but doing so reset the film counter, so out of fear that I would lose everything I had already taken, I stopped for the day and resolved to just develop what I already have. Then came the fun part: removal of the film.

Removing the film was actually too difficult for me to do. I created a completely dark room to work in, and attempted to manually push the film back into the canister. This is hard to do on a normal camera. On this camera, because of the auto advance (presumably), the take-up spool was locked, preventing me from pulling the film out of it by hand. I didn't want to risk ripping the film, so when I took the roll to a lab to be developed, I actually gave them the whole camera and asked that they removed it. I'm not sure what they did to remove the film, but I am grateful I actually got some photos from that day as I was not smart enough to bring a backup camera with me then.

On the bottom of the camera, there is actually a slide button that has a picture of a film strip re-entering the canister, but mine did nothing for me. Perhaps the film developer had magic hands.

Here are some example photos taken with this camera (more here), taken at the BLM protests in Greenville on June 1, 2020:

Overall, this is one of my least favorite cameras I've used. The only saving grace I can give it is that the photos didn't turn out too bad. If you have used this camera and would like to call me out on my blunders, I'd love to understand more about how to use this camera.

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Quick Facts: *edited after reading the similar manual

- Manufactured: ~1984ish?

- Shutter Speed: 1/80

- Focal Length: 35mm?

- Aperture: f/5.6

- Original price: ? (purchased for $9.00)

- Film type: 35mm

- Shots per pack: 24

For more information, check out the closest manual I could find: https://data2.manualslib.com/pdf2/39/3815/381491-polaroid/343_af.pdf?6f6f4ce3cfe38330e9372d80be3838bc

Unfortunately, given the slim information about this camera, I can't include a commercial or vintage advertisements! This is my favorite part about researching these cameras, so I'm sorry to disappoint this week. I'll make sure the next post has plenty of fun historical facts for you!

Have you ever had a camera you hated? Let me know! After all, misery loves company and whatnot.