I deeply hate Fujifilm for killing this format. Not only they stopped production but also refused to sell their kit, thus assuring the end of the format. Also, they kept producing the stuff until analogue photography stared to rump up agin and then decided to stop it? How does this make any sense? I hate Fujifilm.
Agreed. It really pains me that they refused to sell the machinery, I mean, why?? They essentially decided to kill a really advanced technology forever, and not let anybody preserve it.
I used to share the Fujifilm hate too... but I work for a Japanese company and know how they think. My guess would be they would have estimated X number of years of packfilm sales....then made a huge batch....not stamped the boxes with expiry dates....stored in freezer. Then slowly pulled it over the year....adding expiry dates as they shipped. The factory was gone....the equipment...is all gone. When Florian visited them to ask about starting production....or selling the equipment.... they said to him (in my experience) Sorry Mr Florian San....we cannot sell equipment to you....it is...ah...oh...yes...it is against company policy....yes Florian San....Japan law says we cannot...sorry. What that really means is....we no longer have the equipment....we sold it for scrap....the land was sold off t]for top $$ to Amazon for new warehouse....we used money to develop X100 and XPro......at least we didn’t go with Micro43 sensor :) yes....do not tell Fujifilm President we the ONLY huge film manufacturer left....the one left after we destroyed Kodak and Polaroid.....just did NOT see analogue film resurgence....yes we stuffed up....please fire us Mr President.... But in fairness...the time that I claim Fujifilm made the batch run would have been the era before their second wind of winning digital cameras....X series. Before that they were honestly crap and heading to join Kodak in bankruptcy. The money from the packfilm factory probably did pay for the X series....but that means we have Fujifilm slide films....the amazing made in UK Ilford manufactured ne AcrosII...hahaha Personally I don’t support Fujifilm much anymore....like Sony they are no longer true honest Japanese companies....where customer is important. but I still buy Pro400 in 120 because don’t want Fujifilm to have an excuse “ film sales are going down”. They also still make paper....and chemicals for film labs..... as much as I hate to admit....they are still support us. But let’s fins new films.....and shoot them....but we can’t complain when Fujifilm ends all analogue support because is the Fujifilm haters....yep I’m one....but it’s a love hate relationship:) As for which packfilm is best.... I was privileged enough to work as a photographer in 90’s....with my mother in law... no mother in law jokes she is a top lady and amazing photographer to boot. She used the best of everything....her camera collection would make us all green with envy. But she knew what she was doing....had top gear. She had fridges of film....she bought FP100 in cartons...3 or 4 at a time...not packs....cartons of packs. I got some pack film out once - Polaroid brand - she told me to put it back and get the fuji fp100....I asked why...she said it was the best. She has dozens of boxes of polaroid- she just stopped using it once Fujifilm fp100 was easily available here in Australia. She let me waste it....as she didn’t care for it....I shot both on Hasselblad 503 with packfilm back....yep Fujifilm was the best....by huge margin....so even through she said I could have it for free - I still choose to buy fuji fp100 with my own money. Kind of answers the question doesn’t it.... but liking a film I’d a personal and subjective choice..... Doctor Land probably would say I’m an idiot and that Polaroid is better....but what would he know and anyway he lost his own company so there!!!!
@@andrewwilliams4072 That could be the case, although I don't know how much would they have made selling the line for scrap. Maybe, one day, an old retired Fujifilm executive will tell the whole story to the public, but most probably they will not.
@@andrewwilliams4072 -- When you say FP-100C was the best, that probably meant it had the most accurate colors. For a professional shooting products or commercially, that would be important. But for a creative photographer accurate colors aren't always what you're looking for!
Packfilm is one of those things i would love to shoot, but just can't afford to. It would be the one format I'd bring back (yes, spectra was good but I prefer this) because of how high quality the photos were, for just $10 a pack from Fuji.
@@okok72277 I buy camera + film lots solely for the film all the time. Just got a 350 and 8 packs of 100c / 2 packs of 3000b / 2 packs of 100b for $250. About $20usd per pack. These are abnormally good deals, though - like a gateway drug, soon the only option you’ll have is the expensive stuff.
My grams just gave me my late grandfather's old land camera. I looked high and low for info on the camera and the type of film it takes. This video was all the info I needed! Very informative my dude. Now I have to get my hands on a at least one pack to shoot with
Hey Noah, greetings from Holland! Today I went to the only person that still develops Super 8 and we spoke for a while about analog film. I left with a bit of a sad feeling, as I saw that he is basically running a charity organisation, the costs of film and developing are so high, cameras can't get repaired and it's hard to find good ones and the people that still shoot analog film on a regular basis are usually around 70 (here at least) and are also stopping due the high costs. In few words: a dying market. I love your videos and your positive attitude towards analog shooting and I hope more people will get inspired by them. I also saw you video about increased sales of super 8. Let's hope that besides the stills, film will not dissapear or become so costly nobody can't afford it anymore. If you have any idea how we (around the world) can help spread the word please let us know. Keep up the good work man 💪
I can leave you a positive note.... At least in the US there seems to be a reversal.... I hope in Europe it will catch up too: ua-cam.com/video/YotUW5WcOh8/v-deo.html
I was probably around 10 years old when integral film first came out so my memories of Polaroid pack film is limited to when my Uncle would visit with his polaroid. In my teens I liked shooting polaroid when I could afford it, it was much more expensive than shooting a roll of 126 or 110 film as I remember. Around 1980 I did get a square shooter that I'd use once in a while. When I got older I acquired a couple of pack film cameras, this was after Polaroid went bankrupt and I fell in love with Fujifilm pack film. With so many regular films being discontinued I figured that pack film's days were short and I started buying it when it was still cheap and when the FP3000B was discontinued I really started stocking up on the FP100C. I think I probably have a supply for my lifetime, they do keep well when refrigerated, so far my oldest packs still work like new. I did pick up some of the One-Instant in the kickstarter but haven't tried it out yet.
My first packfilm camera was the Big Swinger 3000 almost 49-50 years ago. Later got different other packfilm cameras from Polaroid. The color type 108 needed a cold-clip when it was rather cold. From the moment the Fuji FP100C became available in the EU I switched to the Fuji pack films. Last year I compared cold stored Polaroid 125i with Instax Wide and Polaroid Originals 600 on the same landscape shot and the winner was from my point of view the packfilm photo. Sharpness, color rendering were the best.
I've seen so many Packfilm shots online and it's crazy to think that their quality was almost comparable to 35mm or 120 film except instant! Too bad I probably won't ever get the chance to shoot some of it
I remember as a kid in the 60s and 70s, anytime we would visit some scenic place, there would always be packfilm waste in the garbage or on the ground. One of the reasons Dr. Land wanted integral film was the waste from packfilm gave Polaroid a bad image as a generator of litter. I converted 5 old rollfilm cameras to packfilm before it was discontinued, what a great feeling when you get a camera with a dead format (roll) working again (pack), then they pull the rug out from under you and kill off packfilm! Thanks a lot, Fuji! Right now I've got 16 packs of Fuji 3000B & 7 of 100C in my fridge's veggie drawer. When that's gone I'm going to have a lot of useless cameras & Polaroid backs!
I used to shoot the Polaroid pack films in the 60s and 70s to document our family. The nice thing was that those pictures survived while the kodak color prints faded badly. Wish the Polaroid pack film was still around, but considering that many of chemicals were used was carcinogenic, unless we get some folks to do serious chemistry we probably won't.
It's probably worth mentioning that if you're interested in Polaroid in general that Rhiannon Adam has a great book on the subject called Polaroid: The Missing Manual
I recall as a little kid in the 60's my parents using the early, bellows, pack-film cameras, pulling out the print/negative and watching their watches, then peeling the print off. And then in the early 70's I remember the Swinger and other molded-plastic pack-film cameras with the little timers built into the side. And eventually my mom getting the various integral film cameras -- and yes, the quality of those photos compared to the pack film was definitely not as good. I still have family albums with B&W and color pack-film prints going back to before I was born (1963) -- so some of those must also be roll film -- and they look a little faded, but in terms of sharpness and grain, they look great. Thanks! It would be fun to still be able to shoot pack-film -- if affordable!!!
This is the best video about pack film. Back In the 60s and Early 70s my great grandad love pack film (and Polaroid in general) and used it alot after stop using 120 film in the early 60s He always take it everywhere he goes. He later brought an sx-70 in the 80s and used it til the late 80s to early 90s when he brought an vhs camcorder.
wow - just wow. I grew up with the pack films (late 60's early 70's) and as a kid they were pure MAGIC.(Also kinda scary -the chemical side). I remember the wonder of having something to hold in your hands at the exact minute it happened. Put this in perspective to our 'normal' cameras your picture was usually about a month away....With regular film you waited to finish the roll, take it to the store (before Photomats) who'd send it out to lab (which took about a week) then go back to the store to pick up your photos. About the fastest you could see your pictures was a week. Given my age I never realized how technical all this was, but looking back, it was the closest thing to real magic I've experienced. Thank you for all your research & some great memories
I’m surprised Fuji didn’t just release smaller quantities but for a higher price because people are obviously willing to pay a premium for this stuff. I’m just really upset because I’m too young to have even have gotten a chance to try it.
Hi, great channel, keep them coming. I used 669 pro colour pack film for 20 urs for fashion and studio work on medium and 5x4 formats. In the late nineties Polaroid released Polacolor 100 practivally to replace 669. 669 was a great standard for pro photographers because it was reliable to see a test of composition and exposure, especially on location where it could be days or longer before you got to see the results of you work on the procesed film. 669 was not particularly great for colour correctness and tended to be greeny or cyan tainted but that was not a problem, as I said exposure and composition of your subject were more important. Polacolor was far warmer and gave more acceptable coulour prints but the supposed speed of 100 asa/iso was totally eratic and we often up ditching whole packs as useless. All polaroid had to be kept cool and in hot locations had to be stored in fridges and carries around in coolboxes, whick worked fine for 669 but didn't help to stabilise Polacolor 100. When the polaroid rep came to see me I mentioned to him how bad Polacolor 100 was. He told me that everyone loved it....to which I replied that I had spoken to a lot of fellow pros around Leeds who also wanted 669 back. I'm not saying my comments made a difference but a few months later 669 reappeared on the market thank goodness so I can only think (and thank) many pros had expressed their feelings to Polaroid. Many thanks for your very informative vids, I am presently re - collecting iconic cameras I used in my working life, Nikon f, Canon F1, Mamiya and Sinar P etc.
Yes, my wife and I bought our Polaroid in the late 90’s and shot it to bits until the end of production. We just recently found out Polaroid is alive again. So we were looking for a new camera and I type film again. We never shot pack film though. Only the instant film.
Thought of my earliest memory of packfilm. Around ‘72 my Mom borrowed one from somebody. The thing i remember is ALOT of stress around timing for the peel. The pix were indoors and didn’t turn out well. She returned the camera and went back to her Kodak 304 (126 Instamatic) much cheaper and more predictable. We didn’t have a Polaroid again until my grandfather gave my brother and I a Sonar in the late 70s/early 80s. Wish she had tried a little more.
I remember shooting pack film when I was ten years old in 1987. I brought a camera and pack to the anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate bridge. Being ten, no pictures showed up. BUT I had so much fun. Unfortunately, my Dad was determined I was going to be an engineer. So he smashed up that camera and threw it into the trash. Which is ironic, considering what a brilliant person E. Land was. But my dad thought math was the only skill I needed for engineering. So fun was out. And so were non mathy things...
I do have some photo taken in the 70s with a polaroid pack film square film, they are Just amazing photo, very good color and good resolution, of course 35mm film would have given better resoult, but back then it was not as confourtable to use, i think that without polaroid pack film some beautyfull photos of my family Could have just never exsisted, and this video explains it very well, good joob👍
Packfilm actually dates it’s origins to Kodak (originally Premo) Film packs, which operate in a very similar manner, but was large format sheet film, which you have to develop like normal. Kodak discontinued it sometime after most press cameras stopped being medium and large format. Essentially it’s a two compartment steel box, with a light side and a dark side, a spring pressure plate, and a septum between those two halves. They have backing paper pull tabs like the Polaroid packfilm, with a thick dark slide paper, and 12-16 exposures of sheet film loaded into the light slide. You’d stick this in a film pack adapter that also had a dark slide, which enabled you to change films mid roll or compose on the ground glass etc. After taking an exposure, you pull the tab to advance to the next frame. When fully done, the spring loaded septum closed the film pack, and in the darkroom you pried the latch on the sheet metal box apart to get your film out and threw it in a development tank. As Noah alludes to, it was a very technically complicated film packaging, which was pretty difficult to automate as well.
Great video, as always. Anyone grabbing an old packfilm camera should be aware of needing to hear 2 clicks from shutter. Only 1 click means batteries dead or shutter shot. This only applies to ones that use batteries with an electric shutter. One click may sound normal but you’ll have some expensive black frames.
As far as I've learned, japanese businesses rarely keep up with western culture and are usually like 10 years behind any sort of modern business practices that we would consider normal here. I'm sure when the impossible project reached out to Fujifilm to try to reach a deal on Packfilm they were probably like "Why should we? Instax is the most profitable format." what's sad is that within the next 10 years Packfilm will slowly cease to exist altogether as well. Makes me appreciate Kodak, Ilford, and other companies still keeping 120, 4x5,and super 8 alive as well.
From what I've heard about attempts to save it it is almost certain that they converted the machinery into use for more instax production. It's no accident that the monochrome and square stuff came out around the time of its demise.
We should start a boycott campaign against Fujifilm for their behavior in the affair. They should not get away with that. And Instax square is so different that most of the tools and machinery could never have been converted.
Giacinto Boccia it’s all the same width of material. Compare a wide a mini and a square and the height dimension is the same. They just needed a factory that was set up for light free manufacturing.
@@iNerdier I agree that mini, square and wide are similar, I don't see how this relates to Fujifilm refusing to sell the machinery for FP-100C that is completely different.
@@giacintoboccia9386 Why would it be completely different? It's making a positive and a negative in a lightproof environment. Japan also has a culture of this sort of thing, something that's far too complex to talk about in youtube comments. It was their technology, they didn't want to, end of story.
I started to stock up on it when Fuji discontinued. I have about 60 boxes in the fridge of fp100c and fp3000b. I shoot fuji fp1, Konica instant press, RB67 and the 600SE the GOOSE :)
Have an old Swinger 20. Tried a conversion to 120 film, worked but results not good. Won’t part with it though. Also had Kodak Ektaflex for making color prints (still have it). Great for low volume printing because activator lasted 1 year! Died when Kodak settled lawsuit with Polaroid in 1990. Too bad. A future video? Love what you’re doing.
I have a 104 camera just like that one. I got it from a friend who found it in the attic of a house he bought. The camera seems to be in working condition but of course the film is not available any more.
Great stuff, love the show. I used polaroid film, pack, roll, 35 slide and 5x4 for many years on many cameras. Really wish it could be manufactured again. Just one comment, please don't peel holding the goopy end of the backing....hold it at the pointy end, the goop is caustic and is not good to get on your fingers and then any where you touch....eyes! Arrrrgh! If I ever become disgustingly rich overnight I will set up a research and manufacturing plant 😊. Excellent videos, thanks.
@@AnalogResurgence i hope that too :) your videos have amazing quality, effects, and research. Not too mention very educational, ive learned alot about film and Polaroids thanks to you and i think film is an artform that deserves more attention again. I do deerly hope you are going to be able to keep this up as you clearly love doing it :D Cheers to one day becoming overrated :)
I have a Polaroid Bigshot and an old passport camera and I'm extremely disappointed that fujifilm discontinued fp100c. I only got to shoot one pack with my bigshot and never got to run anything through the passport camera. I loved the images I got with the bigshot. Such a shame.
I'm new to pack film. I have so many photos that were passed down to me from relatives. I'm the family archivist. I really want to start using the land camera. What is the difference between Polaroid model 210, 220, 104, and 215 cameras? I know it's an expensive undertaking when starting this hobby BUT I just can't wait to take my own packfilm pictures. I will only take this camera out for special occasions. Thank you so much for your help.
@@AnalogResurgence Thank you! What model is your 4×5 camera? Which film do you use to get the bigger images? I know any available film will be expired. I love your channel.
Great overview, Noah! I started shooting instant film around 2012 and decided pack film looked the most interesting. At that time you could still get FP-3000B, FP-100C, and expired Polaroid film for around $10 a pack. I've only gotten deeper into the format and other types of instant film since then. I was lucky enough to stock up when Fuji announced that they were discontinuing pack film so I'm still shooting it now, just more selectively. I backed the OneInstant KickStarter, but haven't decided on what to even shoot with it yet-- I haven't been able to get out of the house much recently! You can see my photos on Instagram or Flickr: instagram.com/monodistortion/ www.flickr.com/photos/nmarshall/albums
You gotta review this cheap Chinese 35mm called "My Heart". It's very cheap to buy it online from China and there is no review of it on UA-cam. I'd make an interesting video
If you travel to Johannesburg in 21 , bring your pack film camera with , and give me a call, I will give you a working pack film for your analogue photo vacation.
I have a land camera just like the one your holding and I've been trying to figure out how to turn it into a tintype camera. I'm thinking it could be pretty easy. Anyone have any ideas?
8:15 I didn't know that there was a 190 model, but here's the earlier one: www.thephoblographer.com/2016/03/08/vintage-camera-review-polaroid-180-instant-film-camera/ And the last one: camera-wiki.org/wiki/Polaroid_Land_Camera_195 Then there's the "Frankenstax": ua-cam.com/video/g7KtKyH7fg0/v-deo.html
Pack film cant be that difficult to reproduce. The fact that Polaroid could fully modify their integral film chemistry to do this. Fujifilm instax is basically the same concept just with a semipermeable positive layer instead.
Nothing is or will ever beat pack film 😔 I have a few left expired put away that I bought in 2014 ...But did you see??? Lomography has a 4x5 back for instant wide film back coming out in April! I just found out yesterday! What do you think about it?! I could be wrong but I think you can use it for land cameras! Check it out!!! And if that is the case, it is really great. But to me, it won't be the same feel.
The lomography Instax Wide back looks great! It is however only for use with 4x5 cameras which allow you to swap out different backs for film. These Pack Film land cameras aren't able to do that so the lomography back does not work with it.
@@AnalogResurgence Thank you for clearing that up! I had a feeling, but I was not finding anything to crystal clear on it. Sighhh... one can only dream. I am glad I had my experience and time with pack film. When I was 18 in 2013, I literally was aproved for a credit card and the next day I bought a tonnnn of pack film and settled on a polaroid 420 from etsy. I did a little traveling in 2014 and got some amazing shots and memories with it. I really wish I could keep shooting with it. The result is so beautiful. I think with a little patience and hope we will be close to a recreation of some kind because pack film is so special 😊
One Instant is the only option currently, but it is quite different from Polaroid and Fuji pack film of the past ua-cam.com/video/BHnKwF3KeTg/v-deo.html
Its kind of disappointing Kodak was sued for their instant film. I have some family snapshots on Kodak instant film from way back and the quality always seemed way better than Polaroid SX-70/600/Spectra. The image was flush with the frame and didnt have a plasticky border that could peel up.
My mom had a Kodak instant camera and I agree the pictures looked better than the Polaroid Integral pics. It was a bummer when Kodak had to stop making the film & cameras.
Well not so much anymore! Expired Polaroid prices are highly inflated and Fuji's FP100C being out of production has pushed the price of that to about $90 a box or much more.
Probably because of the negative connotation of the number 666. If there was actually a 666 pack film, it would of most likely been a marketing disaster.
What happened to them , just like Kodak they didn't want to embrace digital it's a shame all these formats are still around today people are using them but 90% of the people want to take digital pictures which is not all that great to begin with I still have slide film with me and my two sisters and it's 56 years old , you try keeping a digital picture 56 years from now
My mans literally blew a $100 pack of film for this demo. You're doing god's work there, bless your heart.
I deeply hate Fujifilm for killing this format. Not only they stopped production but also refused to sell their kit, thus assuring the end of the format. Also, they kept producing the stuff until analogue photography stared to rump up agin and then decided to stop it? How does this make any sense? I hate Fujifilm.
Adding insult to injury they still have FP-100C on their website: www.fujifilm.com/products/instant_photo/films/fp_100c/
Agreed. It really pains me that they refused to sell the machinery, I mean, why?? They essentially decided to kill a really advanced technology forever, and not let anybody preserve it.
I used to share the Fujifilm hate too... but I work for a Japanese company and know how they think.
My guess would be they would have estimated X number of years of packfilm sales....then made a huge batch....not stamped the boxes with expiry dates....stored in freezer. Then slowly pulled it over the year....adding expiry dates as they shipped.
The factory was gone....the equipment...is all gone. When Florian visited them to ask about starting production....or selling the equipment.... they said to him (in my experience) Sorry Mr Florian San....we cannot sell equipment to you....it is...ah...oh...yes...it is against company policy....yes Florian San....Japan law says we cannot...sorry.
What that really means is....we no longer have the equipment....we sold it for scrap....the land was sold off t]for top $$ to Amazon for new warehouse....we used money to develop X100 and XPro......at least we didn’t go with Micro43 sensor :) yes....do not tell Fujifilm President we the ONLY huge film manufacturer left....the one left after we destroyed Kodak and Polaroid.....just did NOT see analogue film resurgence....yes we stuffed up....please fire us Mr President....
But in fairness...the time that I claim Fujifilm made the batch run would have been the era before their second wind of winning digital cameras....X series. Before that they were honestly crap and heading to join Kodak in bankruptcy. The money from the packfilm factory probably did pay for the X series....but that means we have Fujifilm slide films....the amazing made in UK Ilford manufactured ne AcrosII...hahaha
Personally I don’t support Fujifilm much anymore....like Sony they are no longer true honest Japanese companies....where customer is important. but I still buy Pro400 in 120 because don’t want Fujifilm to have an excuse “ film sales are going down”. They also still make paper....and chemicals for film labs..... as much as I hate to admit....they are still support us. But let’s fins new films.....and shoot them....but we can’t complain when Fujifilm ends all analogue support because is the Fujifilm haters....yep I’m one....but it’s a love hate relationship:)
As for which packfilm is best.... I was privileged enough to work as a photographer in 90’s....with my mother in law... no mother in law jokes she is a top lady and amazing photographer to boot. She used the best of everything....her camera collection would make us all green with envy. But she knew what she was doing....had top gear. She had fridges of film....she bought FP100 in cartons...3 or 4 at a time...not packs....cartons of packs. I got some pack film out once - Polaroid brand - she told me to put it back and get the fuji fp100....I asked why...she said it was the best. She has dozens of boxes of polaroid- she just stopped using it once Fujifilm fp100 was easily available here in Australia. She let me waste it....as she didn’t care for it....I shot both on Hasselblad 503 with packfilm back....yep Fujifilm was the best....by huge margin....so even through she said I could have it for free - I still choose to buy fuji fp100 with my own money. Kind of answers the question doesn’t it.... but liking a film I’d a personal and subjective choice..... Doctor Land probably would say I’m an idiot and that Polaroid is better....but what would he know and anyway he lost his own company so there!!!!
@@andrewwilliams4072 That could be the case, although I don't know how much would they have made selling the line for scrap. Maybe, one day, an old retired Fujifilm executive will tell the whole story to the public, but most probably they will not.
@@andrewwilliams4072 -- When you say FP-100C was the best, that probably meant it had the most accurate colors. For a professional shooting products or commercially, that would be important. But for a creative photographer accurate colors aren't always what you're looking for!
Packfilm is one of those things i would love to shoot, but just can't afford to. It would be the one format I'd bring back (yes, spectra was good but I prefer this) because of how high quality the photos were, for just $10 a pack from Fuji.
Update: I just bought a polaroid 210 with a flash for $5!
@@akin4536 the camera is the cheapest part
@@nicholaswoltersdorf118 just bought a pack of fp100c with the camera for £20 lol
@@okok72277 I buy camera + film lots solely for the film all the time. Just got a 350 and 8 packs of 100c / 2 packs of 3000b / 2 packs of 100b for $250. About $20usd per pack.
These are abnormally good deals, though - like a gateway drug, soon the only option you’ll have is the expensive stuff.
My grams just gave me my late grandfather's old land camera. I looked high and low for info on the camera and the type of film it takes. This video was all the info I needed! Very informative my dude. Now I have to get my hands on a at least one pack to shoot with
Hey Noah, greetings from Holland! Today I went to the only person that still develops Super 8 and we spoke for a while about analog film. I left with a bit of a sad feeling, as I saw that he is basically running a charity organisation, the costs of film and developing are so high, cameras can't get repaired and it's hard to find good ones and the people that still shoot analog film on a regular basis are usually around 70 (here at least) and are also stopping due the high costs. In few words: a dying market. I love your videos and your positive attitude towards analog shooting and I hope more people will get inspired by them. I also saw you video about increased sales of super 8. Let's hope that besides the stills, film will not dissapear or become so costly nobody can't afford it anymore. If you have any idea how we (around the world) can help spread the word please let us know. Keep up the good work man 💪
I can leave you a positive note.... At least in the US there seems to be a reversal.... I hope in Europe it will catch up too:
ua-cam.com/video/YotUW5WcOh8/v-deo.html
I was probably around 10 years old when integral film first came out so my memories of Polaroid pack film is limited to when my Uncle would visit with his polaroid. In my teens I liked shooting polaroid when I could afford it, it was much more expensive than shooting a roll of 126 or 110 film as I remember. Around 1980 I did get a square shooter that I'd use once in a while. When I got older I acquired a couple of pack film cameras, this was after Polaroid went bankrupt and I fell in love with Fujifilm pack film. With so many regular films being discontinued I figured that pack film's days were short and I started buying it when it was still cheap and when the FP3000B was discontinued I really started stocking up on the FP100C. I think I probably have a supply for my lifetime, they do keep well when refrigerated, so far my oldest packs still work like new. I did pick up some of the One-Instant in the kickstarter but haven't tried it out yet.
My first packfilm camera was the Big Swinger 3000 almost 49-50 years ago. Later got different other packfilm cameras from Polaroid. The color type 108 needed a cold-clip when it was rather cold. From the moment the Fuji FP100C became available in the EU I switched to the Fuji pack films. Last year I compared cold stored Polaroid 125i with Instax Wide and Polaroid Originals 600 on the same landscape shot and the winner was from my point of view the packfilm photo. Sharpness, color rendering were the best.
I've seen so many Packfilm shots online and it's crazy to think that their quality was almost comparable to 35mm or 120 film except instant! Too bad I probably won't ever get the chance to shoot some of it
I remember as a kid in the 60s and 70s, anytime we would visit some scenic place, there would always be packfilm waste in the garbage or on the ground. One of the reasons Dr. Land wanted integral film was the waste from packfilm gave Polaroid a bad image as a generator of litter. I converted 5 old rollfilm cameras to packfilm before it was discontinued, what a great feeling when you get a camera with a dead format (roll) working again (pack), then they pull the rug out from under you and kill off packfilm! Thanks a lot, Fuji! Right now I've got 16 packs of Fuji 3000B & 7 of 100C in my fridge's veggie drawer. When that's gone I'm going to have a lot of useless cameras & Polaroid backs!
I used to shoot the Polaroid pack films in the 60s and 70s to document our family. The nice thing was that those pictures survived while the kodak color prints faded badly. Wish the Polaroid pack film was still around, but considering that many of chemicals were used was carcinogenic, unless we get some folks to do serious chemistry we probably won't.
It's probably worth mentioning that if you're interested in Polaroid in general that Rhiannon Adam has a great book on the subject called Polaroid: The Missing Manual
I recall as a little kid in the 60's my parents using the early, bellows, pack-film cameras, pulling out the print/negative and watching their watches, then peeling the print off. And then in the early 70's I remember the Swinger and other molded-plastic pack-film cameras with the little timers built into the side. And eventually my mom getting the various integral film cameras -- and yes, the quality of those photos compared to the pack film was definitely not as good. I still have family albums with B&W and color pack-film prints going back to before I was born (1963) -- so some of those must also be roll film -- and they look a little faded, but in terms of sharpness and grain, they look great. Thanks! It would be fun to still be able to shoot pack-film -- if affordable!!!
This is the best video about pack film. Back In the 60s and Early 70s my great grandad love pack film (and Polaroid in general) and used it alot after stop using 120 film in the early 60s He always take it everywhere he goes. He later brought an sx-70 in the 80s and used it til the late 80s to early 90s when he brought an vhs camcorder.
Love how you talk with passion about polaroid!
wow - just wow. I grew up with the pack films (late 60's early 70's) and as a kid they were pure MAGIC.(Also kinda scary -the chemical side). I remember the wonder of having something to hold in your hands at the exact minute it happened. Put this in perspective to our 'normal' cameras your picture was usually about a month away....With regular film you waited to finish the roll, take it to the store (before Photomats) who'd send it out to lab (which took about a week) then go back to the store to pick up your photos. About the fastest you could see your pictures was a week. Given my age I never realized how technical all this was, but looking back, it was the closest thing to real magic I've experienced. Thank you for all your research & some great memories
I’m surprised Fuji didn’t just release smaller quantities but for a higher price because people are obviously willing to pay a premium for this stuff. I’m just really upset because I’m too young to have even have gotten a chance to try it.
I've just been rewatching that magic trick in the beginning lmaooooo
Hi, great channel, keep them coming. I used 669 pro colour pack film for 20 urs for fashion and studio work on medium and 5x4 formats.
In the late nineties Polaroid released Polacolor 100 practivally to replace 669.
669 was a great standard for pro photographers because it was reliable to see a test of composition and exposure, especially on location where it could be days or longer before you got to see the results of you work on the procesed film.
669 was not particularly great for colour correctness and tended to be greeny or cyan tainted but that was not a problem, as I said exposure and composition of your subject were more important. Polacolor was far warmer and gave more acceptable coulour prints but the supposed speed of 100 asa/iso was totally eratic and we often up ditching whole packs as useless. All polaroid had to be kept cool and in hot locations had to be stored in fridges and carries around in coolboxes, whick worked fine for 669 but didn't help to stabilise Polacolor 100.
When the polaroid rep came to see me I mentioned to him how bad Polacolor 100 was. He told me that everyone loved it....to which I replied that I had spoken to a lot of fellow pros around Leeds who also wanted 669 back.
I'm not saying my comments made a difference but a few months later 669 reappeared on the market thank goodness so I can only think (and thank) many pros had expressed their feelings to Polaroid.
Many thanks for your very informative vids, I am presently re - collecting iconic cameras I used in my working life, Nikon f, Canon F1, Mamiya and Sinar P etc.
Yes, my wife and I bought our Polaroid in the late 90’s and shot it to bits until the end of production.
We just recently found out Polaroid is alive again. So we were looking for a new camera and I type film again.
We never shot pack film though. Only the instant film.
Thought of my earliest memory of packfilm. Around ‘72 my Mom borrowed one from somebody. The thing i remember is ALOT of stress around timing for the peel. The pix were indoors and didn’t turn out well. She returned the camera and went back to her Kodak 304 (126 Instamatic) much cheaper and more predictable. We didn’t have a Polaroid again until my grandfather gave my brother and I a Sonar in the late 70s/early 80s. Wish she had tried a little more.
I remember shooting pack film when I was ten years old in 1987. I brought a camera and pack to the anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate bridge. Being ten, no pictures showed up. BUT I had so much fun. Unfortunately, my Dad was determined I was going to be an engineer. So he smashed up that camera and threw it into the trash. Which is ironic, considering what a brilliant person E. Land was. But my dad thought math was the only skill I needed for engineering. So fun was out. And so were non mathy things...
I love this format and wish it would return more than anything else
I do have some photo taken in the 70s with a polaroid pack film square film, they are Just amazing photo, very good color and good resolution, of course 35mm film would have given better resoult, but back then it was not as confourtable to use, i think that without polaroid pack film some beautyfull photos of my family Could have just never exsisted, and this video explains it very well, good joob👍
And, Oh yeah thanks alot for putting a spotlight onto this format
Packfilm actually dates it’s origins to Kodak (originally Premo) Film packs, which operate in a very similar manner, but was large format sheet film, which you have to develop like normal. Kodak discontinued it sometime after most press cameras stopped being medium and large format. Essentially it’s a two compartment steel box, with a light side and a dark side, a spring pressure plate, and a septum between those two halves. They have backing paper pull tabs like the Polaroid packfilm, with a thick dark slide paper, and 12-16 exposures of sheet film loaded into the light slide. You’d stick this in a film pack adapter that also had a dark slide, which enabled you to change films mid roll or compose on the ground glass etc. After taking an exposure, you pull the tab to advance to the next frame. When fully done, the spring loaded septum closed the film pack, and in the darkroom you pried the latch on the sheet metal box apart to get your film out and threw it in a development tank. As Noah alludes to, it was a very technically complicated film packaging, which was pretty difficult to automate as well.
I'm glad I stumbled across this video as I recently bought a Acmel License 4 model and didn't know what film type it used.
Great video, as always. Anyone grabbing an old packfilm camera should be aware of needing to hear 2 clicks from shutter. Only 1 click means batteries dead or shutter shot. This only applies to ones that use batteries with an electric shutter. One click may sound normal but you’ll have some expensive black frames.
As far as I've learned, japanese businesses rarely keep up with western culture and are usually like 10 years behind any sort of modern business practices that we would consider normal here. I'm sure when the impossible project reached out to Fujifilm to try to reach a deal on Packfilm they were probably like "Why should we? Instax is the most profitable format." what's sad is that within the next 10 years Packfilm will slowly cease to exist altogether as well. Makes me appreciate Kodak, Ilford, and other companies still keeping 120, 4x5,and super 8 alive as well.
From what I've heard about attempts to save it it is almost certain that they converted the machinery into use for more instax production. It's no accident that the monochrome and square stuff came out around the time of its demise.
We should start a boycott campaign against Fujifilm for their behavior in the affair. They should not get away with that.
And Instax square is so different that most of the tools and machinery could never have been converted.
Giacinto Boccia it’s all the same width of material. Compare a wide a mini and a square and the height dimension is the same. They just needed a factory that was set up for light free manufacturing.
@@iNerdier I agree that mini, square and wide are similar, I don't see how this relates to Fujifilm refusing to sell the machinery for FP-100C that is completely different.
@@giacintoboccia9386 Why would it be completely different? It's making a positive and a negative in a lightproof environment. Japan also has a culture of this sort of thing, something that's far too complex to talk about in youtube comments. It was their technology, they didn't want to, end of story.
I started to stock up on it when Fuji discontinued. I have about 60 boxes in the fridge of fp100c and fp3000b. I shoot fuji fp1, Konica instant press, RB67 and the 600SE the GOOSE :)
Have an old Swinger 20. Tried a conversion to 120 film, worked but results not good. Won’t part with it though. Also had Kodak Ektaflex for making color prints (still have it). Great for low volume printing because activator lasted 1 year! Died when Kodak settled lawsuit with Polaroid in 1990. Too bad. A future video? Love what you’re doing.
This is a REALLY amazing video I can tell you put a lot of work into it and care a lot. Packfilm is a sad subject and I'm glad this video exists. :)
The models with bellows do make a cool shelf piece.
Great minds think alike, I posted my pack film camera guide the same day!
I have a 104 camera just like that one. I got it from a friend who found it in the attic of a house he bought. The camera seems to be in working condition but of course the film is not available any more.
Great stuff, love the show. I used polaroid film, pack, roll, 35 slide and 5x4 for many years on many cameras. Really wish it could be manufactured again. Just one comment, please don't peel holding the goopy end of the backing....hold it at the pointy end, the goop is caustic and is not good to get on your fingers and then any where you touch....eyes! Arrrrgh!
If I ever become disgustingly rich overnight I will set up a research and manufacturing plant 😊.
Excellent videos, thanks.
New55 is another great, but expensive format! what a shame pack film is no longer accessible!
Suuuper underrated channel!!
Hoping someday I get to being overrated
@@AnalogResurgence i hope that too :) your videos have amazing quality, effects, and research. Not too mention very educational, ive learned alot about film and Polaroids thanks to you and i think film is an artform that deserves more attention again. I do deerly hope you are going to be able to keep this up as you clearly love doing it :D
Cheers to one day becoming overrated :)
I have a Polaroid Bigshot and an old passport camera and I'm extremely disappointed that fujifilm discontinued fp100c. I only got to shoot one pack with my bigshot and never got to run anything through the passport camera. I loved the images I got with the bigshot. Such a shame.
I'm new to pack film. I have so many photos that were passed down to me from relatives. I'm the family archivist. I really want to start using the land camera. What is the difference between Polaroid model 210, 220, 104, and 215 cameras? I know it's an expensive undertaking when starting this hobby BUT I just can't wait to take my own packfilm pictures. I will only take this camera out for special occasions. Thank you so much for your help.
Those 4 models are pretty much the same camera with almost no difference between them so really which ever one you can get your hands on!
@@AnalogResurgence Thank you! What model is your 4×5 camera? Which film do you use to get the bigger images? I know any available film will be expired. I love your channel.
Also there is a 4x5 instant film available from Famous Format but b&w only
Hi. Is it not possible to get the negative from any of the Polaroid 80 series film?
Great overview, Noah! I started shooting instant film around 2012 and decided pack film looked the most interesting. At that time you could still get FP-3000B, FP-100C, and expired Polaroid film for around $10 a pack. I've only gotten deeper into the format and other types of instant film since then. I was lucky enough to stock up when Fuji announced that they were discontinuing pack film so I'm still shooting it now, just more selectively. I backed the OneInstant KickStarter, but haven't decided on what to even shoot with it yet-- I haven't been able to get out of the house much recently!
You can see my photos on Instagram or Flickr:
instagram.com/monodistortion/
www.flickr.com/photos/nmarshall/albums
Where can one purchase the Packfilm for the older Polaroid cameras? Thank you D
I happen to have a 667 3000 iso cartridge, how long should I develop t and peel apart? :)
You gotta review this cheap Chinese 35mm called "My Heart". It's very cheap to buy it online from China and there is no review of it on UA-cam. I'd make an interesting video
What film does my poleroid 340 use? just want to make sure im new to this
If you travel to Johannesburg in 21 , bring your pack film camera with , and give me a call, I will give you a working pack film for your analogue photo vacation.
where do i buy the film. yours came out good
This film is long expired and hard to find. I was lucky to have some that had been stored well in a fridge since its expiration.
Ive been waiting for this video since I found a film pack polaroid in the trash lmao
I have a land camera just like the one your holding and I've been trying to figure out how to turn it into a tintype camera. I'm thinking it could be pretty easy. Anyone have any ideas?
8:15 I didn't know that there was a 190 model, but here's the earlier one:
www.thephoblographer.com/2016/03/08/vintage-camera-review-polaroid-180-instant-film-camera/
And the last one: camera-wiki.org/wiki/Polaroid_Land_Camera_195
Then there's the "Frankenstax": ua-cam.com/video/g7KtKyH7fg0/v-deo.html
Do they still make polaroid 3000 film?
Pack film cant be that difficult to reproduce. The fact that Polaroid could fully modify their integral film chemistry to do this. Fujifilm instax is basically the same concept just with a semipermeable positive layer instead.
How long does it take for the film to fully develop?
Anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute or so. Depends on the type of fim
Nothing is or will ever beat pack film 😔 I have a few left expired put away that I bought in 2014 ...But did you see??? Lomography has a 4x5 back for instant wide film back coming out in April! I just found out yesterday! What do you think about it?! I could be wrong but I think you can use it for land cameras! Check it out!!! And if that is the case, it is really great. But to me, it won't be the same feel.
The lomography Instax Wide back looks great! It is however only for use with 4x5 cameras which allow you to swap out different backs for film. These Pack Film land cameras aren't able to do that so the lomography back does not work with it.
@@AnalogResurgence Thank you for clearing that up! I had a feeling, but I was not finding anything to crystal clear on it. Sighhh... one can only dream. I am glad I had my experience and time with pack film. When I was 18 in 2013, I literally was aproved for a credit card and the next day I bought a tonnnn of pack film and settled on a polaroid 420 from etsy. I did a little traveling in 2014 and got some amazing shots and memories with it. I really wish I could keep shooting with it. The result is so beautiful. I think with a little patience and hope we will be close to a recreation of some kind because pack film is so special 😊
hey, how do we send fan mail, with like camera accessories and film and stuff
The address for the P.O. Box of the Channel can be found in the description of the videos!
everyone shuld watch the film Time ZEro it's on amazon i believe it tells a great story of the saving /reviving of sx70 type film
Bringing back pack film is like asking Apple to make Apple II s again.
Polaroid 805, 891 & 879 !
Will you talk about 35mm instant film?
Eventually once I get some!
Hi butla
@@handwriting8804 good evening pismo ręczne
Is there a company that still makes packfilm?
One Instant is the only option currently, but it is quite different from Polaroid and Fuji pack film of the past
ua-cam.com/video/BHnKwF3KeTg/v-deo.html
Its kind of disappointing Kodak was sued for their instant film. I have some family snapshots on Kodak instant film from way back and the quality always seemed way better than Polaroid SX-70/600/Spectra. The image was flush with the frame and didnt have a plasticky border that could peel up.
That's because Kodak was the film manufacturer for Polaroid for a very long time, up until the SX-70 and the lawsuit. The Polaroid got on their own.
Kodak violated numerous Polaroid patents and was rightfully punished.
My mom had a Kodak instant camera and I agree the pictures looked better than the Polaroid Integral pics. It was a bummer when Kodak had to stop making the film & cameras.
I loved sepia
It should be brought back.
I have several pack Polaroids and I thought the images they produced were far superior to those integral cameras produce.
Meanwhile: MEET THE SWING-AH, POL-LUH-ROID SWING-AH
Shooting Polaroid film is great because you can get expired film for around $5/box and Fuji makes fp100c for $12/box !
Well not so much anymore! Expired Polaroid prices are highly inflated and Fuji's FP100C being out of production has pushed the price of that to about $90 a box or much more.
Was there a 666 pack film?
Haha no there wasn’t, looks like they skipped from 665 to 667
@@AnalogResurgence Lol I wonder why?
Probably because of the negative connotation of the number 666. If there was actually a 666 pack film, it would of most likely been a marketing disaster.
What happened to them , just like Kodak they didn't want to embrace digital it's a shame all these formats are still around today people are using them but 90% of the people want to take digital pictures which is not all that great to begin with I still have slide film with me and my two sisters and it's 56 years old , you try keeping a digital picture 56 years from now
If fuji isn't going to make it anymore they should at least sell their patents so someone else can bring it back!
It's basicly a dead format. Unless someone can figure out how to make the stuff.
Fujifilm is such a clown for killing this format
Makes me depressed because it's a dead format