Polaroid Originals
Polaroid, previously Polaroid Originals and The Impossible Projectis a Dutch photography company and manufacturer founded in 2008 by Florian Kaps, André Bosman and Marwan Saba. It manufactures its own cameras, the Impossible I-1, the OneStep 2, the OneStep+, modelled on the original Polaroid OneStep Land Camera, the i-Type instant film for its original cameras, and instant film for select Polaroid Corporation instant cameras.
From 2008 to September 11, 2017, the company was called Impossible Project. Polaroid's brand and intellectual property were acquired by Impossible Project's largest shareholder in May 2017. In March 2020, it rebranded again, changing its name to simply Polaroid.
History
The Impossible Project was founded in 2008 after Polaroid announced in February 2008 that it would stop producing film for Polaroid cameras. The founders are Florian Kaps, André Bosman and Marwan Saba. In June 2008, Kaps and Bosman met at the Polaroid factory's closing event and decided to found a company to produce materials for Polaroid cameras. In October 2008, Impossible bought the production machinery from Polaroid for $3.1 million and leased a building, called Building Noord, which was formerly part of the Polaroid plant in Enschede, Netherlands. The company has offices in Vienna, Berlin, New York and Tokyo. It leased the Polaroid production plant and developed new instant film products for use in some existing Polaroid cameras, beginning mass production and sales in 2010. They generated US$270,000 in profit on US$4 million in revenue and sold 500,000+ units.In January 2012, the company announced that it and Polaroid would launch a range of collectible products, called The Polaroid Classic range, that originate from different periods of Polaroid's history. Between six and ten products will be released each year. In July 2013, Florian Kaps announced his 'retirement' from the project and Creed O'Hanlon took over the role as CEO.
In December 2014, The Impossible Project announced that Oskar Smołokowski would be their new CEO and Creed O'Hanlon would become the Executive Chairman of Impossible's management board.
Polaroid has licensed its name to stores in Germany, Spain and London.
In May 2017, Impossible's largest shareholder acquired the brand and intellectual property of the original Polaroid corporation. Impossible Project was renamed Polaroid Originals in September 2017.
In October 2019, the wide-format Image/Spectra/1200i instant film and camera format was discontinued by the manufacturer.
In March 2020, it rebranded again, changing its name to simply Polaroid.
Products
Instant film
Polaroid Originals manufactures films for the Polaroid Corporation SX-70, 600, as well as its own i-Type system. Large format 8x10 film is also made. Unlike the original 8x10 film, the new 8x10 is an integral film with the positive and the negative kept together.The SX-70, 600, and the i-Type all have the same dimensions, a ~3.1 x 3.0 in² approximately square image area and a ~4.2 x 3.5 in² total area. The spectra had a rectangular image area. The integral zinc-chloride battery of the SX-70 and 600 is replaced with a lithium-ion system in Impossible remakes. Current SX-70 films has a film speed of ISO 160; all other lines are ISO 640. Except for the 8x10 film which comes in 10 sheets per box, all films are sold in units of 8 exposures.
In addition to the usual white-framed film, Polaroid BV makes 600 and i-Type films with special frame colors, patterns, and/or shapes. These can be limited in quantity and become discontinued earlier. For the classical SX-70 and 600 series, many earlier "test versions" are listed as well.
| Discontinued | Current |
| Film name | Type | ISO | Release | Discontinued | Characteristics |
| PX 100 Silver Shade First Flush | B&W | 150 | February 2010 | ??? | First flush, B&W, instant film for Polaroid SX 70 cameras. Released first to artists, then to regular customers |
| PX 100 Silver Shade | B&W | 150 | March 2010 | ??? | Second generation film |
| PX 100 Silver Shade Cool | B&W | 150 | September 2012 | ??? | |
| PX 70 Color Shade First Flush | Color | 125 | July 2010 | ??? | First flush, experimental color system |
| PX 70 Color Shade Push! | Color | 100 | December 2010 | ??? | An ongoing chemical reaction makes images taken on the PX 70 PUSH! shift to blue with time. |
| PX 70 Color Shade | Color | 125 | June 2011 | ??? | |
| PX 70 Color Shade Cool | Color | 125 | April 2012 | ??? | |
| PX 70 Color Shade V4B Test Film | Color | 125 | August 2012 | August 2012 | Introduction of an Opacifier |
| PX 70 Color Protection | Color | 125 | ??? | ??? | |
| Color Film for SX70 Gold Frame | Color | 100 | ??? | ??? | |
| Color Film for SX70 Silver Frame | Color | 100 | ??? | ??? | |
| Color Film for SX70 Color Frame | Color | 100 | ??? | ??? | |
| Cyanotype for SX70 | Color | 100 | ??? | ??? | Cyan Color |
| B&W Film For SX70 | B&W | 160 | April 2015 | N/A | |
| B&W Film For SX70 Black Frame | B&W | 160 | ??? | ??? | Black Frame |
| Color Film for SX70 | Color | 160 | October 2013 | N/A | |
| Color Film for SX70 Black Frame | Color | 160 | ??? | ??? | Black Frame |
| Film name | Type | ISO | Release | Discontinued | Characteristics |
| PX 600 Silver Shade First Flush | B&W | 600 | February 2010 | ??? | First flush, first supplied to artists, then to regular customers |
| PX 600 Silver Shade v05 | B&W | 600 | May 2010 | ??? | |
| PX 600 Silver Shade v06 | B&W | 600 | June 2010 | ??? | |
| PX 600 Silver Shade UV+ | B&W | 600 | June 2010 | ??? | UV+ sheet improves the black & white tone; also versions in black, grey, and gold frame. |
| PX 600 Silver Shade Cool | B&W | 600 | June 2010 | ??? | |
| PX 680 Color Shade Beta | Color | 680 | ??? | ??? | |
| PX 680 Color Shade Beta 2 | Color | 680 | ??? | ??? | |
| PX 680 Color Shade First Flush | Color | 680 | ??? | ??? | |
| PX 680 Color Shade Gold Frame | Color | 680 | ??? | ??? | |
| PX 680 Color Shade Cool | Color | 680 | June 2012 | ??? | |
| PX 680 Color Shade Gold Frame | Color | 680 | ??? | ??? | |
| PX 680 Color Shade Block Party | Color | 680 | ??? | ??? | Urban Outfitters Exclusive |
| PX 680 Color Shade V4B Test Film | Color | 600 | July 2012 | July 2012 | |
| PX 680 Color Protection | Color | 600 | ??? | ??? | |
| PX 680 Color Protection American Woods | Color | 680 | ??? | ??? | Features wooden style frame |
| PX 680 Color Protection Gold Edition | Color | 680 | December 2012 | ??? | Gold Frame |
| Ltd Edition Generation 2.0 Color 600 Film | Color | 600 | ??? | ??? | |
| Cyanotype Film for 600 | Color | 600 | January 2015 | ??? | |
| B&W Film for 600 | B&W | 640 | March 2015 | N/A | |
| B&W 2.0 Film for 600 Black Frame | B&W | 600 | March 2015 | ??? | Black Frame |
| B&W Film for 600 Hard Color Frames | B&W | 640 | ??? | N/A | Hard Color Frames |
| B&W 2.0 Film for 600 Round Frame | B&W | 600 | October 2014 | ??? | Round Frame |
| Skateistan B&W 2.0 Film for 600 | B&W | 600 | ??? | ??? | Geometric Afghan Design frame |
| Third Man Records Edition Black & Yellow Film for 600 | B&Y | 600 | ??? | ??? | Black frame, Black and Yellow film |
| Color Film for 600 | Color | 640 | ??? | N/A | |
| Color Film for 600 Black Frame | Color | 640 | ??? | ??? | Black frame |
| Color Film for 600 Color Frames | Color | 640 | ??? | N/A | Assorted colors |
| Color Film for 600 Round Frame | Color | 640 | ??? | ??? | Round frame |
| Color Film for 600 Gold Frame | Color | 600 | ??? | ??? | Gold frame |
| Color Film for 600 Silver Frame | Color | 600 | ??? | ??? | Silver frame |
| Color Film for 600 Ice Cream Pastels Edition | Color | 640 | Summer 2018 | N/A | Ice Cream Pastels colored frame |
| Color Film for 600 Tropics Edition | Color | 640 | Summer 2018 | N/A | Tropics colored frame |
| Color Film for 600 Deep Sea Dive Edition | Color | 640 | Summer 2018 | N/A | Seaweed colored frame |
| Color Film for 600 Gold Frame Edition | Color | 640 | October 2018 | N/A | Gold frame |
| Color Film for 600 Metallic Red Frame Edition | Color | 640 | October 2018 | N/A | Metallic Red frame |
| Color 600 Mickey's 90th Anniversary Edition Film | Color | 640 | November 2018 | N/A | Every pack contains 8 out of 12 total Mickey frames, each based on a singular element of one truly original character |
| Film name | Type | ISO | Release | Discontinued | Characteristics |
| B&W Film | B&W | 600 | October 2013 | January 2015 | "Impossible Hardware", Type-600 film without battery |
| Color Film | Color | 600 | October 2013 | January 2015 | "Impossible Hardware", Type-600 film without battery |
| Color Film for i-Type | Color | 640 | September 2017 | N/A | Type-600 film without battery |
| B&W Film for i-Type | B&W | 640 | September 2017 | N/A | Type-600 film without battery |
| Color i-Type Film Rose Gold Frame Edition | Color | 640 | Summer 2018 | N/A | Rose gold frame |
| Color i-Type Film Gradient Frame Edition | Color | 640 | Summer 2018 | N/A | Gradient frame |
| Color i-Type Film Stranger Things Edition | Color | 640 | Monday, May 6, 2019 | November 2019 | Colorful rames based on Season 3 of Netflix's Stranger Things series |
| Color i-Type Note This Frame Edition | Color | 640 | October 2019 | N/A | Every pack contains 8 out of 10 total notebook styled frames |
| Film name | Type | ISO | Release | Discontinued | Characteristics |
| PZ 600 Silver Shade | Sepia | 600 | ??? | ??? | |
| PZ 600 Silver Shade UV+ | Sepia | 600 | December 2010 | ??? | UV+ sheet improves the black & white tone |
| PZ 600 UV+ Black Frame | Sepia | 600 | ??? | ??? | |
| PZ 600 silver Shade Cool | Sepia | 600 | ??? | ??? | |
| PZ 680 Color Shade | Color | 680 | ??? | ??? | |
| PZ 680 Color Protection | Color | 600 | December 2012 | ??? | |
| Color Film Black Frame | Color | 600 | ??? | ??? | Black Frame |
| B&W 2.0 Film Black Frame | B&W | 600 | 2015 | ??? | Black Frame |
| Color Film | Color | 640 | September 2017 | October 2019 | |
| B&W Film for Spectra | B&W | 640 | September 2017 | October 2019 |
| Film name | Type | ISO | Release | Discontinued | Characteristics |
| PQ Silver Shade | B&W | 640 | August 2012 | Late 2013 | |
| PQ Silver Shade | B&W | 640 | Late 2013 | Late 2013 | Second generation |
| B&W 8x10 Film | B&W | 640 | July 2014 | ??? | Third Generation |
| B&W 2.0 Film for 8x10 | B&W | 640 | ??? | Out of stock | |
| Color Film for 8x10 | Color | 640 | ??? | Out of stock |
Future and other formats
The Impossible Project has stated that they will not manufacture packfilm "in the foreseeable future", due to the investment required, and cannot produce 4x5, Type 100, or Type 80 films, Polaroid 500 film and I-Zone film as they do not have the production machinery. These were disassembled along with the factories that used to produce the film when Polaroid filed for Chapter 11.Impossible founder Florian Kaps left the company in July 2013 and later founded a coffee house and photo studio in Vienna called SUPERSENSE. Kaps revealed through a series of blog posts and interviews in 2016 that he had personally approached Fuji about acquiring their machinery in an attempt to rescue their soon-to-be discontinued FP3000b and FP100b packfilm products. Kaps was unsuccessful in this pursuit, but motivated by his disappointment in Fuji's decision, he established the Analogue Product Institute with the goal of "developing a NEW generation of analog instant packfilm Establishing a rich network of new suppliers, manufacturers and financiers from all over the world".
Hardware
Polaroid Originals produces its own hardware and refurbishes Polaroid Corporation cameras.Instant Lab
The Instant Lab is a device that exposes digital images from a smartphone onto analog instant film, using the light produced by the screen.The first generation of the Instant Lab was introduced in October 2013. It supports the iPhone 4, 4s, 5, 5c and 5s, as well as the iPod Touch. The device was produced after a successful crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter.
Impossible Project introduced a new battery-less film cartridge design for use with the Instant Lab. The system, now known as the i-Type system, is a Polaroid 600-type cartridge stripped of the battery. The Instant Lab is internally-powered and does not rely on the battery to work. It works with all Polaroid square film formats, that is the original 600, the battery-less i-Type, and the less sensitive SX-70.
A "universal cradle" is later released for Instant Lab 1.0 to accommodate different screen sizes on the iPhone 6 and various Android phones. It turns the device into the newer Instant Lab Universal, a new generation announced at Photokina 2014.
Instant cameras
Impossible I-1
In 2016, Impossible started manufacturing its own instant camera, the Impossible I-1. It is a part of the company's original i-Type system, which uses its new i-Type film and 600 film. It features Bluetooth connectivity for remote control, double-exposure, advanced manual settings, among other features. It was designed by Teenage Engineering.Polaroid OneStep 2
In September 2017, Polaroid Originals announced the Polaroid OneStep 2 instant film camera that uses its i-Type film and 600 film. In the first version of this camera, framing is done by looking through a window on the back of the camera. Later in 2018, the company released a version with a built-in viewfinder that makes framing more accurate, the OneStep 2 Viewfinder. The Polaroid Now was released in March 2020 around the same time as the second rebranding from POG to simply "Polaroid"Polaroid OneStep+
In September 2018, Polaroid Originals introduced the Polaroid OneStep+ instant film camera that uses i-Type film and 600 film. The OneStep+ has built-in Bluetooth wireless technology that allows the camera to be paired with the Polaroid Originals app on an iOS or Android smartphone or tablet. This enables six new features: remote trigger, double exposure, light painting, self timer, manual mode and noise trigger.The OneStep+ has an additional portrait lens, with minimum focusing distance of 30 cm. A slide toggle on the top of the camera switches between the two lenses.
The camera also includes a higher-capacity battery, a built-in flash, and a viewfinder.