Retro Tech: Polaroid SX-70

Polaroid SX-70

All kids of the 1970s thought the Polaroid camera was magic. At the press of a button it made an exciting noise and spat out a photo.

Although the first Polaroid camera went on sale in 1948, the 1972 SX-70 was the first to use Polaroid’s new SX-70 integral print film, which developed automatically in daylight.

You needed no technical training beyond the ability to wave the photo about until the picture developed. And the camera folded down into a neat compact when not in use.

Instant camera popularity continued into the 1980s, and prices came down. By the 1990s they were a novelty item – there was even a Barbie edition.

This year Polaroid pulled the plug on its instant film cameras to concentrate on digital cameras. However, a Dutch company called the Impossible Project – made up of former Polaroid employees – has bought the film manufacturing equipment from Polaroid and leased the company’s former factory in Holland.

Next year it hopes to have created new versions of film that will work with Polaroid cameras.

Posted on November 14, 2009 | Filed Under Tech