Polaroid Land Cameras

Bringing Polaroid into sharper focus

Chris Knight (CK): The UK used to be our largest market, but it did slip, so we have been rebuilding the brand since 2006/07. We’ve really put building the brand back up first before rebuilding sales. We have to do that to get the right type of distribution [through retailers]. So now we have built it up through the website - that really got us out in the market again. This year, we are happy to be back in retailer John Lewis. It’s mostly our core collection which is about a dozen men’s and women’s classic styles of sunglasses. It’s at a good price point too - it has mid-market appeal.

I want to see Polaroid come back as a major brand in the UK, as it was in the 1970s and early 1980s. And I think it can get back there.

CK: People don’t understand it in detail but we have a lenses tester and train people in stores to explain. But I don’t think people really get it until they wear the glasses and then it’s almost like a drug. Once you have started wearing polarised lenses you don’t give up.

Other brands have polarising lenses, but sell them at a higher price point, such as Ray-Ban and Oakley. Apparently [those brands putting in polarising technology] was consumer-driven. That’s good for us, as it provides interest in the sector; we have a very good value-for-money positioning as well.

CK: The highest brand tracking scores are in Russia. Maybe that is because we are one of the few companies that did brand advertising there early on. It’s a name that goes back to Communist times - when no one could get hold of a Polaroid camera - so it has a kind of magic connotation. Most of our advertising is outdoor, a lot on the subway, at point of sale, press and online.

American scientist Edwin Land patented polarising technology in the 1930s, inventing polarising celluloid, a synthetic substance that cuts out glare. The Polaroid Corporation was founded in 1937.

During World War Two, polarising technology was used by military personnel, such as in aviator goggles. After the war, Land was on a beach with his daughter, who asked why she couldn’t print out photographs from a camera, so he turned his attention to producing a product that could. This led to the creation of the Polaroid instant camera.

Polaroid Land Camera - Battery Conversion Mod - dianacamera.com ...

You need to make room for the battery holder. If the battery clip screwed in, remove it with a small phillips screwdriver. If the battery clip is molded into the same plastic as the camera, you will have to remove it by nibbling at it with a pair of small needle nose pliers. 

Note: A photograph will be added later, after I shoot the clip removal for the how-to video.

The battery compartment is metal, but it's aluminum, so it can be cut by using the cutting edge of the utility knife to scrape a notch into the metal. Scrape the metal to remove it, by applying pressure, and dragging the blade perpindicular to the compartment edge (in the direction of the arrow). Once you get a slight divot going, it gets easier to cut down into the metal. Little shavings will come off as you cut into the metal.

The battery pack can be attached to the camera with glue or industrial velcro applied to the battery pack and to the camera body.

To come: 4.5 volt mod, Version 2.

There is a more elegant solution for the 4.5 volt mod, but it involves modifying a 4-cell holder so that it holds 3 batteries. This is a lot of work, but the advantage is that the battery holder will fit inside the battery compartment.

I will post this 4-cell battery holder to 3-cell battery holder later, as I need to improve my light set-up, so that you can see what is being done to modify the battery holder.

Tydings' Polaroid Land camera guide

Basic photo

Focal encyclopedia of photography, digital imaging, theory and applications, history, and science

LIFE

Encyclopedia of 20th century photography