Shoot retro with refurbished Polaroid cameras from The Impossible Project

It's hard to imagine a Polaroid model decades older than the first digital camera selling out, but The Impossible Project's refurbished cameras are a hot commodity.

Anticipation over Polaroid’s upcoming instant camera release at CES is building, and while there are innumerable reasons to get excited about a digital camera that instantaneously prints photos, it’s the resurrection of some classic Polaroid products that we’re getting excited about.

The Impossible Project collaborated with Photojojo to rerelease three vintage Polaroid cameras: the company’s very first creation, the SX-70, the Rainbow OneStep, and the Sun 660 Sonar. The devices represent three decades of Polaroid development made available for (limited) purchase.

The Impossible Project is more or less a nostalgic, Polaroid-devoted group that collaborated in 2008 to ensure the future of instant cameras. The group began with a handful of former Polaroid employees and bought the company’s factory in the Netherlands. Since then, the instant devotees have been bringing new life to what’s been a suffering medium since the onslaught of digital photography.

And the cameras aren’t artifacts that must be relegated to high shelves and placed behind “Do Not Touch” signs. They are fully usable models that have been diligently refreshed. Such attention to detail will cost you, of course. The Rainbow OneStep and Sun 660 Sonar will each run you $200 (if it helps they come with a pack of film). The SX-70 will set you back $300, and only 20 were created. Unforunately, we learned from Photojojo that all models have sold out save the Sun 660, which is expected to go quickly as well. But look for these two to team up in the future for a similar promotion seeing how popular the products were with customers.

If you’re intrigued by the personal investment given to the creation of these cameras, but can’t quite indulge in something originally produced before the 90s, you’re in luck. The Impossible Project is currently working on The Impossible Camera, which pays homage to the SX-70 and promises to pay respects to the instant camera. For now, we’re only give a glimpse at a rendering of the future device’s parts, but stay tuned for what’s to come.