Polaroid i-Type Camera Battery Issues - Part 1: The problem with built-in lithium ion cells
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- Опубліковано 2 лют 2024
- My name is Jake and I overhaul and repair instant cameras! Got an i-Type camera with a dead battery? Get in touch!
This episode of The Instant Camera Guy aims to be the first of what will be a multi-part series exploring the built in lithium ion batteries found in modern Impossible Project / Polaroid Originals cameras.
Hidden inside the camera, and replaceable only after a partial dismantling the camera and giving your soldering iron a workout - these lithium ion batteries have a finite lifespan, and will eventually lose the ability to hold charge.
Like what I do? Find this video helpful or entertaining?
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ko-fi.com/theinstantcameraguy
Getting artifacts in the video? For best quality, manually select 1080p quality, as depending on your bandwidth, UA-cam may default to 720p - and UA-cam's 720p compression looks like garbage
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Todays episode covers what I feel is a very important topic.
It broaches on the subject of right-to-repair, and should encourage the watcher to think: "If you cannot change the battery yourself, do you truly OWN a product"?
I would like all watchers of the video to think critically about the subject, and avoid leaving heated, angry, defensive straw-man comments below.
In my opinion, there is simply no excuse for making a camera powered by a battery that the average user cannot replace on their own. Only 20 or so years ago, replaceable batteries were the standard on just about ALL electronic devices. Laptops, phones, cameras all featured batteries that the user could swap themselves - even if the design was proprietary. These devices would feature a door, or a panel whereby the battery could be accessed and swapped.
These days, more and more devices feature batteries hidden within the device itself, requiring disassembly and sometimes soldering to be replaced. The standard set of excuses for such behavior are "well it keeps the device slimmer", "its for waterproofing", "its too dangerous to replace a battery on your own" and many other examples that begin to fall apart quickly under even mild scrutiny.
Lithium ion technology is not new. It is decades old. And decades ago we had batteries we could swap on our own. If you possess the ability to insert a new pack of film into your camera... you likely possess the ability to swap out a battery.
Polaroid Originals / Impossible Project's decision to use non-user-replaceable batteries has left many users with a nothing more than a paper-weight after 2-5 years. My mission is to help revive these cameras and hopefully put a stop to this.
If your i-Type camera has died, please leave a comment below!
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Covered in todays video:
- analysis of the batteries used in the Impossible Project Instant Lab
- repair of an Instant Lab by modifying it to take AAAs
- analysis of the batteries used in the Impossible Project I-1
In future videos I will discuss:
- a user replaceable conversion of the OneStep 2
- the new Polaroid I-2
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Got a Polaroid that needs some love? Hit me up!
/ instantcameraguy
/ theinstantcameraguy
www.theinstantcameraguy.com - Наука та технологія
Great content! I share your sentiment on the built in lith ion battery issue. I have been creating things for Polaroid for about 9 years now, and my second product was an instant back for the 600se and Mamiya Universal Press. I had pretty much the same journey/thought process you did with the rezivot, and did replaceable aaas and a momentary switch. The KISS rule makes these instant backs durable and long lasting. I can't wait to see your other videos!
simplicity is the key to reliability
For years I took apart and studied soviet cameras too, since I had a fascination with them. They were oft-maligned as being inferior clones of their German and Japanese counter-parts, and accused of being overly simple
But you know what? How many Zenits out there still fire their shutters! Just about all of them haha
This is a really interesting and valid critique. As an I-2 owner and someone not interested in creating unnecessary waste, I’ll be keeping up with your work. I have my own critiques of the camera but this is something much more important to be improved by the company in the future. And boy is it disappointing that it wasn’t corrected with the I-2.
I have much more to add to this saga as the weeks continue
@@theinstantcameraguy ruh roh
I’ve only just seen this video! Loved watching this process Jake and thanks heaps for repairing it for me :)
I have one of these backs for an RB. Glad he did this. I feel pretty confident I can do this when the time comes.
Great videos!
You probably already know this but lithium polymer batteries actually do have a standard.
If I have a battery that says 103450 it means 10mm x 34mm x 50mm. In the case of the doubled up packs though, I don't know if that has a standard.
I haven't gotten into repairing Polaroid specifically so I have some stuff to learn, but part of me wonders how many amps the motors pull, because I'm wondering how long two 2032 cells would last.
what's your opinion on those polastudio declarable sx-70 batteries?
The Polastudio batteries use a similar battery type to the ones used in current i-Type cameras
They are beautiful, sleek, and look/perform great
But... if you put a new skin on the bottom of the back... you will be removing it in a few years time and completely dismantling the bottom panel in a few years once the battery ceased to hold charge
As such, I don't recommend them
After viewing the comparison video between the i2 and The Button, I couldn’t discern a significant difference in image quality that would justify the £600 price gap. Initially, I was quite excited about the i2, but considering the non-replaceable battery’s impact on the camera’s longevity, I’ve decided to continue using my trusty Autofocus 660. It’s reliable and I expect it to serve me well long after all the i2 models have gone to a landfill. It’s a bit disappointing, to say the least
I for sure thought I posted something in regards to the proper battery replacement specs for the I-2. Now its gone. Was it removed?
I don't think I can actually remove comments on UA-cam. Feel free to post the specs!
@@theinstantcameraguy So, as with every other I-1 owner, the battery was toast, so the hunt was on. I found a slightly smaller (dimensionally) 750 mAh lithium battery and soldered it in (also found a 900mAh that fits). The trick with the I-2 is that most of the time it still wont turn on. So fully charge the camera and new battery, then with all the switches and dial in the off position. open the film bay door and depress the reset button to the left of the door shut micro switch. Use a pen etc. Then back on the charger for a half hour or so. This method worked on both of my I-1's. Attached are the two ASIN numbers (item numbers) for the batteries on Amazon. Seems youtube does link links.
750mAh is : B0CP26Y5QC
900mAh is : B089N7SZFD
Hope it helps
@@sicarius66 I did actually toy with the idea of swapping the battery for just a single larger one. I'll have a look!
Another excellent video Jake and your criticisms about non friendly battery replacement are perfectly justified. Let's not be coy about it, it's simply a form of built in obsolescence.
And for a company that makes a point that its current cameras are made from 40% recycled materials having non replaceable batteries, where most owners/users are concerned is hypocritical/counter productive. People that have criticised you for making this point are talking bollocks. As you say a replaceable battery behind a door/flap secured by a screw and a security screw if necessary would make them child proof.
All of Fuji Instant cameras take replaceable batteries of one kind or another. My Instax Wide 300 uses AA cells and my Mini 90 Neo Classic uses a lithium-ion battery which sits behind a door/flap in the back of the camera.
My Polaroid Now Gen 2 when the battery fails on that which it will do at some time will just end up at my local recycling centre as even if i could find someone to replace it, with the cost of the battery and labour for doing it, it would be just as costly as buying another new camera.
Regards,Patrick
After I publicly criticized the I-2 after its launched - and was met with a prickly reception from Polaroid super-fans I feel I must make disclaimers at the start of my videos now
It seems there is an element of buyers remorse, or owner-bias when it comes to doing critical reviews, with owners of i-Type cameras feeling personally insulted when I point out their camera is flawed.
My intention is not to insult anyone, but to point out how ridiculous it is to have to completely dismantle the camera (and crack out a soldering iron!) just to swap out your battery every 2-5 years
The I-2 in my opinion is way over priced @ £599 here in the UK and from some of the reviews i've seen it appears to have one or two issues which at that price it shouldn't have. Admittedly it gives you a lot more control over the picture taking if your a dedicated Polaroid fan user but £600 is too expensive.@@theinstantcameraguy
I was looking into this recently; do you think it'd be possible to replace the battery in the i-1 with an external 18650? Is there any way it could be done without modifying the exterior of the camera?
Currently mine only works when connected to an external power supply, which is _ridiculous_. The battery seems to drain without being used within a few days too even when turned off.
Not easily
I did just do another video on how to replace the battery and make it easier to swap in the future
What’s up with the cold shoe on the i-type viewfinder in the begging?
this is a OneStep 2 that I have modified. I had a custom 3D printed 37mm filter holder made up so that I could mount a fisheye lens to it... that part is in storage somewhere after my move
I added the cold shoe so I could mount a fisheye viewfinder
In addition, the camera has had its side panel cut out, and an aluminium plate installed to act as an access door to the battery. I also added a plug on the leads to make it easy to install a replacement. I did this to prove that a battery door could be easily added without adding a significant increase in the cameras size.
Excellent! Now where the hell is part deux?
👀 all in good time
36:53
Why wouldn't it need balancing? They're connected in parallel so how would the charge circuit know when both batteries are charged? One can be flat while the other is still 20% charged. There definitely needs to be a board to monitor both cells. For the i1 I would just source a single cell instead of using 2 in parallel.
If you were to use off-the shelf cells - each individual cell would have its own standard 3.7v BMS to monitor voltage. Wiring them in parallel shouldn't alter charging in the I-1
Whereas the Instant Lab has a unique custom BMS to handle the combined 7.4V output. It's not a standard part. And hooking up 3.7v BMS units pos to neg seems so sketchy to me
Off the shelf double cells work fine for the I-1, but you are correct - I now use a single 900mHa cell instead of two. It's much simpler. I actually made a follow up video to this demonstrating it.
But the I-1 I modified to the 900mHa cell had film ejection issues - totally seperate to the battery lol
So they video never saw the light of day. Next I-1 I do... I'll cover it
Please make a video on the now+ i recently got one and i'm quite worried about this :/
you have every right to be worried. Eventually the battery will cease to hold a charge. Batteries all die eventually
The "Now" series are too new to have failed yet in any great numbers, given that they are only a few years old. My next video will feature the Onestep2 - the precursor to the 'now'.
Feel free to contact Polaroid and express your concerns. As far as I am aware, there is no factory support for spares
@@theinstantcameraguyis the one step 2 the same as the one step+ .
@@art1386 its similar
At the end of the day it doesn't really matter
ALL current i-Type cameras, from the Go to the I-2 use the same kind of batteries
Making the film packs cheaper and more environmentally friendly is the only reasoning could see for doing this but it doesn't explain making the batteries irreplaceable which is so stupid. I was thinking about picking up a Polaroid go for cheaper film but after seeing this I might just stick with my one step sx70
I will be following this thread very closely! I wasn’t able to afford the I-1 when it first came out because I was a broke college student at the time. Nowadays i was able to afford them and bought one of eBay not knowing anything about the shelf life of the battery and was super bummed when it didn’t work.
Then I bought a second one on eBay and it had the exact same faulty battery problem as the first. Double bummed. So if you have a way of fixing these I would be STOKED
I can fix them now. I have a supplier of new cells to adapt to them :)
@@theinstantcameraguy excellent! I sent you an email earlier this morning! Stoked to be working with you soon!
@@McCoyFromSpace answered!
Love Polaroid but the non-replaceable batteries in their itype cameras is 😢😮 my one step plus is dead 💀 and in the uk I can pay 30% more to get the battery replaced than the cost of the camera when new. I have purchased 50 year old Polaroids for less than £15, and they work. So I won’t buy a new itype camera now until they charge this stupid junking of their new cameras, so we buy the next new model. But, it’s so dumb because the cameras are mostly cheap anyway so getting another model is fine for a keen Polaroid enthusiast. So it just doesn’t make any sense to me. I hope more people complain (and I have to Polaroid) so it changes.
I have a one-step plus which for me is still working battery holds a charge for quite some time. For some reason the Polaroid Now cameras are notorious for overexposing the image.
I say the same thing with todays cars, engineered to fail and be difficult to repair so they can make money off replacements
As someone who grew up restoring classic cars with their father (and who restored a 1971 VW Beetle for my first car) I have to agree with much of this.
I do believe (with exception of certain safety features) that cars are often overloaded with 'bloat' electronics that over-complicate things
At least car companies have safety standards to use as an excuse - requiring crumple zones, plastic bumpers etc
KISS is an oft-forgotten principle I think