People who shoot Polaroid, especially SX-70, what are some tips? I’m finding that Polaroid 600 film (I converted mine to use it) seems quite hard to work with, at least compared to Instax.
I’ve got splotchy film, film that has half an exposure (left and right side seem to be darker / brighter), and I don’t really love.. the colors so far. Any videos or advice you can recommend?
I’m still on my first roll but likely user error!
@skinnylatte I find the dev time for instax to be just short enough you can correct as you go. For Polaroid it’s less practical.
@Billthoo @skinnylatte Every SX-70 I have performs different (regardless of SLA or modification); not all film packs will perform the same either (though IMHO the 600 is generally more stable performer then SX-70 film). General rule of thumb: spare light not in your scene that hits the camera/ELS will mess with your exposure.
The rough exposure guide from http://www.sx2pc.com/sxfaq.html#link06 is a good start point, but testing is key (example: my own is here with an f/8 mod https://justinribeiro.com/chronicle/2021/12/16/applying-the-f/8-flash-modification-to-a-polaroid-sx-70-and-building-a-flash-table-for-the-godox-tt600/)
@skinnylatte @Billthoo the other things I sorta live by is check the rollers regularly (goo build will lead to uneven outcomes and sometimes jams) and keep an empty pack to run the camera if it's been sitting a long time before loading with new film (less required with a good CLA). But importantly don't let the initial inconsistentancy get you down; the SX-70 (and film) can be finicky, but once you find your groove, soo hard to give up.
I haven't shot on this since I was a kid, but I would get splotches and uneven colors when the rollers weren't totally clean because the chemicals wouldn't spread evenly inside the film. I had an incident where one photo leaked on the rollers and that camera was never right again.
@skinnylatte@hachyderm.io