so I wanted to see what would happen if I put 35mm film in a polaroid camera... and https://twitter.com/sickfootfour was nice enough to model. So here, ilford delta 400 shot in an SX-70 sonar
as you might be able to tell, 35mm film is not supposed to be shot in a polaroid, so to take that shot I taped three strips of film to a polaroid dark slide that I had cut the corner of, re-loaded it into the pack, put that into my sx-70 and then took the shot. After which I had to open the camera in a dark bag, remove the slide from the cassette, un-tape the film, and then develop it normally
this is... fun, and produces interesting and honestly really nice looking results. the depth of field is really thin, the lens would be sharp if the film managed to stay flat (and some parts are very sharp... but some others are really not), and it's cool to get results out of a polaroid camera that are not an instant photo! but it's not really practical. you can only take one shot, and then you need to unload in a dark bag, so it can't be used in the field, and it's also a pain to set up. Plus the film is scratched in places, from when I re-loaded it into the cassette. I may use it again for portraits bc it's a nice novelty though
it works in color too, but the edge markings are a bit too distracting (also, light leak and my development wasn't as good on that one)
but that is an incredibly bad idea so instead I will reply to the funniest ones here:
- Why not use 120 film, and shoot 6x9 and buy a 120 developing tank - much simpler, IMO Babe you think i never heard of 120? I have a 6x9 camera, and a 6x6, and a 6x7 that can also do 645. also every developing tank I've ever seen can do 120, and every reel i've ever seen can do both 35mm and 120 at least. "much simpler" the point is not to do something simple!! if I wanted to do something "much simpler" I would use a digital camera!
- Would it be possible to trim off the sprockets and make a continuous sheet? Yes, however to trim off the sprockets off of 35mm film in a dark bag and keep the cuts straight? maybe you can do it but I for sure can't. But also I feel like the sprockets and edge markings are a big part of the charm, without them you would just have a square picture that's not sharp (bc of film curl) and uneven scans
- Does this guy know 4x5 is 15 times bigger than 35mm? Not a guy, but yes I do and a) this is not 35mm, it's multiple strips of 35mm, with the full image size being 80mm x 80mm (as opposed to full frame 24mm x 36mm, which is thus about 7.5 times smaller), but also b) I said I was thinking about doing 4x5, not that this was a substitute to 4x5.
- In the past, I did my fair share of useless things. Never made it to dpr or even a local photography magazine though. sucks to suck I guess
