What happens when your old Polaroid runs out of film? Mod it to use Fujifilm’s instead

By Chase Melvin May 22, 2014

photographer uses modified polaroid with fuji instant film bird 1 — In this screenshot, photographer Alastair Bird conducts a shoot with a Polaroid camera modified to use instant film. Credit: Alistair Bird/YouTube

Analog photography is a term that probably makes some of today’s shooters cringe a bit, but the medium is still very much alive, even if most photo-related companies now focus solely on digital. Professional photographer Alastair Bird managed to get his hands on a modified Polaroid camera, so he decided to give it a whirl in one of his photo shoots.

In the video below, Bird uses a Polaroid 110B that he believes was originally invented in the 1960s, but film has not been readily available for the camera for at least 25 years. As a solution, the camera was modded to use 4 x 5 instant film from Fujifilm. The camera was also fitted with a hot shoe-to-PC adapter, allowing Bird to put his studio lights to use with this little experiment.

As you can see, the camera works exactly like the one you may have stumbled across if you’ve ever had to clean out the attic of a parent or grandparent. The camera folds out and has to be fully extended for its rangefinder to work, but even then, Bird mentions, it is challenging to get your shot focused and framed the way you want it. Bird also says that one of the main problems with Polaroid is that you sometimes end up with a shot that’s over- or underexposed, so you need to keep a close eye on your metering

You can check out finished images from Bird’s Polaroid shoot, including ones he wasn’t too thrilled about, at the The Phoblographer.

(Via The Phoblographer)

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Chase Melvin is a writer and native New Yorker. He graduated from LIU Brooklyn where he spent 3 years as the News and Photo…

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