What is a Polaroid camera? Bringing the Polaroid Instant Camera to life. New life for classic Polaroids
Considering people's obsession with making home videos using the latest technology, designer Jung Kim Hyun came up with a conceptual idea that explores the possibility of instantly viewing a film in the same way that cameras allow us to view images "Polaroid".
Camera "Polaroid Movie" prints films on flexible displays that will use the technology "Touch grapheme" in your favor.
Technology "Touch grapheme" is a flat layer of carbon one atom thick that is currently being studied. The concept is a combination of an analog camera "Polaroid" and digital communication technologies with built-in film printer.
With this approach, the user can instantly get a “fingerprint” of the film after it has been captured on camera.
The film device captures sounds that are integrated onto a substrate that simulates a traditional image on paper "Polaroid". The compact size of the movie screen makes it easy to carry in your wallet or pocket. It will be nice to see this technology put to good use in real life.
/
Comments (6)
The choice of a modern analog camera from the Fujifilm Instax Mini series is one of the most available ways embrace the aesthetics of snapshots. Photos taken with Fujifilm cameras are bright, sharp, and large enough to fit in your credit card wallet.
The models of the line themselves are presented in a wide variety of colors and have an important advantage - the availability of components. All cameras are compatible with the Instax Mini cassette format, which can be purchased from the manufacturer at an affordable price.
gizlogic.comThe youngest model in the series at an attractive price and with limited functionality. However, the variety of options is not the reason why people buy instant cameras. Pictures on the Instax Mini 8 are created in three stages: turning on the camera, adjusting the lighting, pressing the main button. To give the skin a more pleasant and natural color, the Hi-Key function is provided, which reduces the contrast of color highlighting.
polaroidwork.com In this model, the developers removed manual setting exposure, but added two new focusing modes: for macro photography and landscape photography. The Hi-Key function remained in place, and the front part of the body acquired a small mirror for selfies.
amazon.com This camera is truly multifunctional: its capabilities are similar to those offered by modern Lomographic film cameras. Double exposure, an abundance of modes, shutter speeds up to 10 seconds and a timer for delayed shooting - these functions turn the camera not only into a tool for taking memorable pictures, but also into a favorite toy for those who like to experiment. The model is available in brown and black colors.
instaxmini.ru The model does not differ from previous Fujifilm cameras in the abundance of functions, but allows you to print pictures twice the size (62 × 99 mm). Such photographs will not only delight friends and decorate the refrigerator, but will also find a place in your home photo album. By the way, special albums for snapshots can also be found in the Fujifilm range.
Lomography Lomo'Instant
blogspot.ru Lomography's instant camera raises the bar on functionality set by the Fujifilm Instax Mini 90. Like many lomo cameras, the Lomo'Instant is compatible with lenses that can be purchased separately: fisheye, portrait and macro lenses. The manual exposure function and color filters for the flash open up a wide scope for experimentation, which the representatives of the lomo community love so much. Lomo’Instant is compatible with Fujifilm Instax Mini cassettes.
polaroid.com Modern digital camera Polaroid not only supports instant printing of 5 × 8 cm pictures, but also saving them to a memory card. The functions include various shooting modes, timer photography and creating a series of six pictures in 10 seconds.
fotosklad.ru Nothing extra. Just a modern analogue Polaroid. The size of the printed image corresponds to the dimensions of Fujifilm Instax Mini photographs, but cassettes will still have to be purchased separately.
polaroid.com Vintage Polaroid with widescreen lens and autofocus function. The Spectra line of devices are inexpensive on Amazon, with many available for over $20. It would cost about the same to buy one cassette.
635CL and 636 are two models produced in the USSR and Russia from 1989 to 1999 under license from Polaroid. You can still very likely find similar cameras in your closet, with friends, or on online flea markets in the post-Soviet space. All 600 series devices are compatible with the Polaroid 600 cassette format.
Edwin Herbert Land (1930s).
In 1883, after the accession of Alexander III to the throne, persecution of Jews began in Russia. It was then that the entire Land family: grandfather Abraham Solomonovich, grandmother Ella, uncles Sam and Louis and his father Harry emigrated from Odessa to America. The enterprising grandfather started own business for the purchase and processing of scrap metal. On May 7, 1909, in Bridgeport (Connecticut), Harry Land and his wife Mathie Goldfagen had a son, the future world-famous inventor, who was named Edwin. The family called the boy Dean because his younger sister Helen could not pronounce Edwina's full name. This short nickname remained with Land for the rest of his life - both friends and business partners called him that way. From a young age, Edwin experimented a lot with light, kaleidoscopes and stereoscopes and often ran to the local library to look at the telescope installed there. And once, in a fit of curiosity, he took apart his father’s phonograph into parts, for which he was spanked by a strict parent. At the age of thirteen, Edwin's parents sent him on summer vacation to a camp near Norwich (Connecticut). There he saw an experiment demonstrating the decomposition of a light beam into a spectral beam using a glass pyramid made of Iceland spar. This event greatly influenced and determined Land's future area of interest. At this age, Edwin first read a textbook on optical physics by the famous scientist Robert Williams Wood, and this book replaced the Bible for him for many years. At school, Edwin gave particular preference to natural sciences. After graduation, the boy’s parents paid for his studies at Harvard University. However, a few months later, Land unexpectedly dropped out of the university. It seemed to him that studying at Harvard only hindered his scientific initiative; Land felt that he was ready to make discoveries - and he knew exactly in what area. Life itself suggested the direction of research. One night, when Edwin was thirteen, he was awakened by a terrible noise. It was a collision between a car and a farmer's van. As an adult, Land thought a lot about this case: how to make headlights powerful, but not blind oncoming drivers? The decision was made: to make polarizing filters, with the help of which it would be possible to “dim” bright light. The problem was the material. After a series of experiments, Land settled on plastic, which, as a result of appropriate processing, acquired the necessary properties. So Edwin Land invented polarizing lenses for car headlights, which illuminated the road without blinding oncoming cars. In 1929, having completed the invention and received his first patent, Edwin Land triumphantly returned to Harvard University. The results of his work so impressed Theodore Lyman, head of the physics department, that he allocated a separate laboratory for research to the promising student. And in 1932, Land independently taught seminars on the polarization of light - an unprecedented honor for a person who had not even received a diploma. However, contrary to the persuasion of his colleagues, Land did not aim for a scientific degree, but tried to realize his second talent as an entrepreneur. Teaming up with physics teacher George Wheelwright, he founded the Land-Wheelwright company. Her task was to commercially promote the invention, which by that time had become interested in the research laboratories of such giants as General Motors, General Electric and Eastman Kodak. As for academic degrees, in 1957 Harvard still made Land an honorary doctor. In the 1930s, Edwin Land's collaboration with lawyer Donald Brown began, which lasted more than 40 years. Brown's strong point was patent law, due to which all Land's ideas were surrounded by an indestructible wall of patents, which excluded the possibility of any copying of inventions. In 1934, Kodak became the new company's first customer to use Land's polarizers as filters for cameras. IN next year American Optical Company purchased a license from Land-Wheelwright to manufacture sunglasses. Edwin Land was always creative in promoting his inventions. Being a supporter of personal presentations, to sell his polarizing filters, Land rented a hotel for a meeting with top managers from the American Optical Company, placed an aquarium with a goldfish on the windowsill, and when the guests arrived, he handed each of them a polarizing plate. The trick was that on a sunny day, due to glare goldfish was not visible inside the aquarium, but with the help of a polarizing plate, top managers were able to immediately see it. Impressed guests immediately agreed to invest in this idea. Already in the late 1930s, the first pair of glasses was sold. In 1937, Land was able to use the proceeds to transform his company into the Polaroid Corporation. The term polaroid was first used by Professor Clarence Kennedy in 1934 when he was talking about Land's work on finding a material that polarized light. Land didn't like this word at first. He himself wanted to call the material he invented epibollipol (epibollipol, from the Greek words “flat” and “polarizer”). But Land's colleagues convinced him that the easy-to-pronounce word polaroid was a better fit for his invention. Initially, the Polaroid company did not deal with cameras, producing sunglasses, polarized glasses for various purposes for civilian devices and military equipment. Demand grew, and soon Polaroid products crossed the borders of Europe and Asia. 1939 marked new stage development of a young company. Polaroid received $7 million from the American government to develop homing projectiles. Defense work continued during the Second World War. Polaroid began producing night vision devices, periscopes, binoculars, aerial reconnaissance devices and other similar equipment. In 1944, all military pilots received new Polaroid glasses. The lenses of these glasses, similar to a large windshield, were made of unbreakable plastic. They provided excellent visibility and protected the pilots' eyes from hypothermia and fire outbreaks. In 1944, Land vacationed with his three-year-old daughter Jennifer in Santa Fe, where they took a lot of photographs while walking. And one day a girl asked her father why she couldn’t immediately look at the finished photograph. Within an hour Edwin Land general outline formulated the concept of instant photography.
It took about three years to bring the idea to life. The work to find a new photographic material, which made it possible to obtain a photograph in a few tens of seconds, progressed slowly and was somewhat reminiscent of Edison’s search for a suitable material for an incandescent lamp filament. Edison himself said this: “I didn’t fail. I just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” Land later also recalled that period of research: “When you come up with something, it is important not to be afraid to fail. Scientists make great discoveries only because they put forward hypotheses and conduct experiments. Failure follows failure, but they do not give up until they achieve the results they want. which they need." He achieved that the photosensitive surface acted both as a film and as a photograph. In February 1947, Land demonstrated a prototype of the new camera at a meeting of the American Optical Society. The essence of the invention was as follows: after exposure, the film was rolled between special rollers, with the help of which reagents were applied to it to develop and fix the image. It was removed from the camera ready for printing. Special attention the inventor always paid attention to the ease of use of the device he invented. They say that before launching the next camera model into production, he brought it home and showed it to his wife and children - in order to make sure that even housewives could load the film or cassette on their own and take a normal picture. In 1948, the production of Polaroid Land 95 cameras was launched, which immediately after shooting produced a finished photograph. Additionally, the company also produced special cassettes for them. The cassette contained photographic material or a combination of photographic materials and reagents resulting in a positive photograph on paper. A photo taken with the first Polaroid cameras was expensive - $1. At that time, this was very decent money; for example, a classic hamburger was several times cheaper. And although the time for cheap photographs had not yet come, the implementation of the idea of instant photography brought the company, which has since been nicknamed the “invention factory,” enormous popularity. The Land 95 first went on sale on November 26, 1948 at the Boston Jordan March department store. It cost $89.75. Land deliberately did not exceed the $100 mark. Land considered the main consumer group to be the middle class, which after the war willingly spent money on entertainment and goods of this kind.
The calculation turned out to be correct: the cameras were a huge success on the market. The very next year, Polaroids were sold for more than $9 million, and in 1950, the millionth roll of film was purchased. It was easy to buy a Polaroid; it was sold on almost every corner. Edwin Land's invention greatly changed the style of parties, weddings and other celebrations in America. Now each guest could take away his own set of photographs from the celebration - instead of waiting for weeks, or even months, for the hosts to send him a photo.
In 1958, Polaroid opened its first foreign offices in Canada and West Germany, then branches of the company appeared in the UK, France, Italy, Japan, and in 1989 even in the USSR, isolated by the Iron Curtain. In 1963, the company released the first camera that made it possible to immediately take color photographs. Research into creating a color photo printing system began simultaneously with the start of sales of the very first cameras that produced instant black-and-white photographs, and it was only almost 15 years later that Polaroid employees managed to achieve success. The Polaroid Swinger camera, released in 1965, marked the next stage in the popularity of instant photography. Since the Polaroid Swinger camera cost only $20, it quickly became the company's most commercially successful product. By the mid-1960s, approximately half of American households owned Polaroid cameras.
Polaroid 20 (Swinger) (1965)
In 1968, the Japanese company Mikami developed the Speed Magny 100 instant photograph backdrop for the first SLR camera Nikon F series. The long optical path “ate up” about 5 stops of light, so a shutter speed of 1/250s corresponded to 1/8s. The Speed Magny design completely replaced the standard camera back. The device used the standard Polaroid 8.5 x 10.8 cm format, including 669, 665 P/N and 679. Similar devices were developed for almost all popular brands, such as Hasselblad, Mamiya and others. Speed Magny instant photography backs were discontinued in the early eighties.
Ten years later, in 1978, the Polaroid company itself, together with the Japanese Mamiya, launched the production of the Polaroid 600 SE model, developed on the basis of the Mamiya Press model. The Mamiya Press 6x9 medium format camera had a design based on a modular principle: not only the lens, but also the back was replaceable. One of the housing options, equipped with a back for instant photography, was sold on the market under the Polaroid brand.
Edwin Land tried to make the invention of instant photography part of modern art. He convinced famous photographers of his time to use Polaroid cameras. The most famous lover of instant photography was the famous Andy Warhol. True, thanks to Warhol, “Polaroid” photographs became rather notorious - one of Warhol’s hobbies, who was considered a real Polaroid “addict,” was to take photographs in “nude” style of the guests who came to him. The Museum of Modern Art in New York began collecting and exhibiting the famous Polaroid Photography Collection, which currently includes about 20 thousand works. Once instant photography became financially accessible, all efforts were devoted to automating the process. The real breakthrough came in 1972. The Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera was introduced to the world, the first fully “motorized” model. In previous Polaroid cameras the photographer had to remove the negative layer from the photograph himself. Now the entire process of obtaining an image proceeded automatically: after pressing the shutter, the photograph left the camera and was fully developed within a few minutes. The first presentation of the SX-70 took place on April 25, 1972 at the annual meeting of Polaroid shareholders. Edwin Land walked onto the stage and, lighting a pipe, began his speech with the words: “After today, photography will never be the same again.”
In 1972, Land, holding a camera, was photographed on the cover of Life magazine, which featured an article about the release of the new Polaroid SX-70 camera. The article was titled: “Instant Karma: Edwin Land and His ‘Magic...”, which means: “Instant Karma: Edwin Land and His Magic...”. In June of the same year, on the cover of another the most popular magazine- Time. In the issue, in the “Marketing” section, there was an article “Polaroid’s Big Gamble on Small Cameras,” which can be translated as “Polaroid’s Big Game on the Small Camera Market.” The company invited the popular actor Sir Laurence Olivier to advertise the camera. This was his first and last advertising campaign. The model was expected to be a resounding success, to which Wall Street immediately responded: the corporation's shares grew 90-fold over the year, which allowed Polaroid to enter the Nifty Fifty - a rating of the 50 most attractive companies for investors. During the 1970s, Polaroid became one of the most successful companies in the world.
Since then, the number of models has become more and more, the price for them and consumables have become lower and lower. In the 70s and 80s, Polaroid truly became the “people's” camera, remembered with nostalgia throughout America and most of the world. The model became epoch-making, provoking another boom in photography. Land himself commented on the work on creating the Polaroid SX-70: “My main goal was to create a camera that would become a part of you, that would always be with you.” The most famous model of the SX-70 family, developed in 1977, was the 1000 OneStep camera, which was the first to feature a proprietary right button. Built on SX-70 technology and using the same film format, the camera embodied new strategy cost reduction. The company's engineers sought to develop mass-produced products, not a futuristic miracle. The OneStep camera used a fixed-focus lens, which forced the photographer to shoot from a distance of four steps. Instead of the previous natural leather finish, plastic with a cheerful rainbow stripe was used. The design of the series became legendary and formed the basis for the Polaroid image. At the origins of formation corporate identity was the designer Paul Giambarba, who joined the Polaroid team in 1958 to develop a new visual brand. It was necessary to separate Polaroid's products from the Kodak products that filled the shelves. One of the conditions put forward by Edwin Land is the presence of a dominant white color. This is how a simple, beautiful and unique visual language was developed.
Supercolor 1000/Polatronic 1 (1977).
In April 1976, Eastman Kodak attempted to circumvent patent restrictions and introduced its first instant camera, the Kodak EK4. It was an aborted project, caused in part by Kodak's fears. The success of the SX-70 series cameras was so resounding that it could truly define the future of photography. Two years later, an automatic version was released - Kodak EK6. Kodak cameras had a vertically oriented body with a complex optical path using a system of internal mirrors. Then came the Kodak EK 100 version, which had a slightly different body design. The series was also released under a different name: Colorburst. The PLEASER and HANDLE series cameras had a simpler design: now the future image was located in the focal plane. The entry of a competitor into the instant photography market, which had almost single-handedly created Polaroid, ended the halcyon relationship between the companies. Kodak was much bigger than Polaroid. The giant had unlimited resources at its disposal. But Kodak cameras were clunky, unattractive, and heavy. Polaroid cameras weighed almost half as much and had bold designs and innovative technical solutions. Land was not shy about admitting that the patent wall that lawyers built around his inventions made Polaroid a monopoly. Polaroid successfully defended this right to a monopoly for many years in litigation with various plagiarists. So Edwin Land accepted the challenge and, six days after Kodak announced the release of its instant camera, he filed a patent infringement lawsuit, responding with another aphorism: “The only thing that keeps us alive is our exclusivity. And the only thing that protects our exclusivity, - patents". By that time, Kodak had already sued Polaroid for violating antitrust laws. It took five years for Polaroid's lawsuit against Kodak to reach trial. Four years later, a verdict was reached that found Kodak had infringed seven Polaroid patents. Kodak was forced to stop producing its instant cameras. A ban was also imposed on the release of films for already sold Kodak cameras. In July 1991, four months after Land's death, Kodak paid Polaroid $925 million in damages - record amount for these types of claims. Experts estimated the possible amount of compensation from $2 billion to 16 billion.
The progress of this patent war was followed with particular interest by the Japanese company FujiFilm, since a lawsuit was also brought against them. FujiFilm camera Fotorama largely copied the design of Kodak, and had the same form factor. The Japanese company understood that Polaroid would not sell the license. As a result, an agreement was reached on the exchange of technologies: Polaroid began producing VHS cassettes and Floppy disks, using many years of developments in the field of magnetic media of the Japanese concern, and FujiFilm was able to further develop instant photography technology under own brand. Under the terms of the agreement, FujiFilm products were presented only at Asian market and in certain countries like Canada and Australia, and the largest markets of the USA and Europe were closed to them under the terms of the agreement for the duration of the Polaroid patent. In 1998, Polaroid's US patent expired and FujiFilm introduced its new Instax line of instant photography cameras. After the end of the monopoly on the instant photography market, shares of the American company fell by 44%. There were 3 years left before Polaroid went bankrupt.
In 1978, Polaroid collaborated with Japanese company Mamiya released the Polaroid 600 SE. Such cooperation was beneficial to both parties: the Japanese Mamiya did not pretend to the instant photography market, and Polaroid marked its presence in the professional photography segment.
SX-70 Time-Zero Model 2 (1978). 
Polaroid One Step 600 (1983). 
Polaroid Spirit 600 (1988).
From 1977 to 1979, Polaroid also produced Polavision Super 8 reversal film, and since 1983, Polachrome 35mm reversal film. In the second half of the 1980s, a new family of single-stage photo process cameras was released - the Polaroid Impulse. The line consisted of three models, differing only in focusing (focusing). The Polaroid Impulse was equipped with a hard-wired lens focusing at a hyperfocal distance of 1.2 meters to infinity. The Polaroid Impulse Portrait had the ability to change minimum distance focusing from 0.6 to 1.2 m. When the attachment lens was extended, a frame with a visible oval appeared in the field of view of the viewfinder. When viewing this oval, a person's face was observed. The Portrait inscription was not applied to every camera body, but the distinctive feature was the presence of a button for extending the lens attachment. The Polaroid Impulse Autofocus (Polaroid Impulse AF) camera was equipped with autofocus. After first pressing the shutter button, focusing occurred, which was indicated by light and sound signals, after which, by pressing the button all the way, it was possible to take a sharp photograph. In the USSR, the peak of popularity of instant photography occurred in the 1980-1990s. The production of Polaroid cameras was established at the Svetozar plant. The Polaroid 635 CL and Polaroid 636 Closeup models were produced with a frame size of 78 x 79 mm. The shutter was of the central type. The uncoated lens (14.6/109) was made of optical plastic. Focus was set to hyperfocal distance. Exposure metering is automatic. The built-in flash was located on a rotating bracket. Parallax optical viewfinder. The case material is impact-resistant plastic. The flash was charged after moving from transport position during working hours. A lit light green LED indicated that the camera was ready to operate. Without the flash being fully charged, the photographic shutter would not fire. The automatic frame counter showed the number of shots remaining. For photographs with a format wider than 9.2 x 7.3 cm, there was quite a rare one in the USSR, but still quite famous model- Polaroid Impulse, made not in the form of the usual “clamshell”, but in a single body with a pop-up flash.
Polaroid Impulse Portrait (1988). 
In 1983, the Konica Instant Press camera entered the Japanese market and began being sold outside Japan a year later. This was the first successful copy of the Polaroid 195 model. The Konica Instant Press camera provided decent professional quality and had good commercial success. The camera was equipped with an instant photography backdrop. The film format used was the Polaroid CB103 standard, which provided an image size of 3 ¼ × 4 ¼". The camera was equipped with an excellent Hexanon 110mm f/4.0 lens, the Copal shutter worked from 1 second to 1/500, as well as T-and B, setting exposure was carried out only in manual mode. The minimum distance to the subject was 0.6 m. This is much closer than professional Polaroid models (180, 190, 195), in which this figure was 1.3 m. Also closer than Fuji FOTORAMA FP-. 1 - 0.8 m. The ergonomic design of the Konica Instant Press from the mid-20th century allows the lens to fold into a durable housing.
In the late 1970s, Polaroid tried to make another breakthrough by introducing the Polavision system, a device for creating instant films. The Polavision kit included a camera, an instant film cartridge, and a desktop viewing screen. The result of Polavision's work were silent films two minutes and forty seconds long. The Polavision system was a failure. Just ten years ago this would have been a miracle. But at that time, the technology of video recording on magnetic media turned out to be more promising and interesting for the mass consumer, since it provided the ability to record sound, and the length of the video had no restrictions. Polaroid suffered significant losses and was forced to admit defeat in this market segment. Edwin Land, who turned 68 a couple of weeks after Polavision's unveiling, was a passionate believer in the new technology and hoped to replicate the success of the SX-70. He took his defeat bitterly and did not resist his resignation as president of Polaroid. Land ran the company according to his principles. He did not recognize mergers, which at the end of the 20th century became one of the ways to stay on the market in the context of the development of new technologies, he believed that only earned money should be invested, and not borrowed money, and he didn’t think anything of it. marketing research and had little faith in marketing and advertising. The management style was based on the enormous authority of the inventor. After retiring, Land watched his brainchild without any emotion. The design of the cameras has undergone, as it may seem at first glance, minor changes - the inscription “Land camera” has disappeared. This was a sign of great disrespect for the creator of Polaroid, who, disillusioned with the new management of the company, sold all his shares and even refused to attend the celebration of Polaroid's 50th anniversary in 1987. He never returned to Polaroid. In 1980 he founded the non-profit research institute science "Rowland" (The Rowland Institute for Science), where he began to work after being fired as a research assistant. On March 1, 1991, at the age of 81, Edwin Herbert Land passed away.
The Polaroid company, widely known in the 80-90s, could not find its place in the photographic market in new century digital technologies. The company had its own view of the future of digital photography. According to the company, the consumer wanted to get a ready-made photo right away, so the developers focused on improving the printing process rather than on developing the digital cameras. This misconception was based on the fact that the company made most of its profits from selling instant film rather than cameras. Based on this, by 1989, 42 percent of the research and development budget was devoted to photographic printing technology. True, Polaroid managed to shoot one more time - in 1999, almost 10 million copies of the I-Zone digital camera were sold. But the following year, sales fell sharply, the company ended the year with losses, and debts accumulated. In order to pay off, the company had to take out loan after loan, but it failed to catch up with its competitors and take part in the division of the digital photography market.
By 2000, the company could no longer compete with participants in the digital photographic equipment market. The new management of Polaroid, following the principle of “we don’t do electronics” for many years, refused to invest in the development of digital technologies. Express printing laboratories, which were gaining popularity, also played a role, the avalanche growth of which was observed in the photo services market around the world. The driving force behind the widespread spread of express printing was the same Kodak - a former partner, and then a sworn enemy. The benefits of instant photography began to fade away. In a darkroom for automatically developing negative film and printing photographs, an amateur photographer could print his pictures in an hour - the time loss was no longer so significant. The prints were cheaper, higher quality and more durable.
Digital cameras that have gained popularity have finally pushed Polaroid instant cameras out of the market. All that remains from the previous company is just one name - “Polaroid”. Over the previous three years, the company's stock had fallen from nearly $50 per share to 28 cents. In October 2001, having accumulated too many loans, Polaroid declared its first bankruptcy. After this, most of Polaroid's business was sold to Imaging Corporation, which was owned by Bank One. In 2003 the company entered the market consumer electronics and began producing portable DVD players and LCD TVs. In 2004, together with the American company Foveon, originally known as "Foveonics", they announced the release of the x530 digital compact camera. The production of the new product was located at the plant of the Hong Kong company World Wide Licenses Ltd. (a division of The Character Group PLC). The camera, released under the Polaroid brand, was equipped with a 4.5 megapixel Foveon X3 sensor. Before this, Foveon matrices had not been found in amateur devices, appearing only in the D-SLR devices Sigma SD9/SD10 of the Japanese corporation of the same name. By the way, since November 11, 2008, 100% of the shares of Foveon belong to Sigma Corporation. In April 2005, Petters Group Worldwide acquired Polaroid for $426 million from Imaging Corporation. And on December 19, 2008, Polaroid declared bankruptcy for the second time, resorting to Section 11 of US law. The company itself argued that bankruptcy was of a technical nature and Polaroid would continue to operate, and Article 11 would allow the company to carry out financial restructuring. The FBI was investigating CEO Tom Petters, who was accused of fraud in the amount of $2 billion. The investigation had no claims against Polaroid itself. The culprit behind Polaroid's problems federal authorities It was not the financial crisis that was considered, but its own owner. The jury found the former head of the American company Polaroid Tom Petters guilty on 20 counts, including fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. According to prosecutors, Petters is guilty of organizing fraudulent schemes that allowed him to steal $3.5 billion. In early 2008, it was announced that the production of instant photography films would cease. A sticker was placed on the packaging of Polaroid cassettes warning consumers that production was now discontinued. The cameras themselves stopped being produced back in 2007: conveyors at the company’s factories in the USA, Mexico and the Netherlands were stopped. That same year, The Polaroid Book brought the collected photographs to a wider audience for the first time. In addition, the publication became the only detailed technical reference containing an overview of all Polaroid cameras ever released. The book was sold in the original branded light-protective packaging in which Polaroid cassettes were sold.
The book "The Polaroid Book" (2008). 
Packaging of the book "The Polaroid Book". 
The company ceased to exist, but the brand did not die. The new owner of Polaroid is the indirect investment fund Patriarch Partners. Despite the problems and failures that have accompanied Polaroid for many years, the new owner of the company is optimistic about the future. The Patriarch Partners Foundation plans to completely revive the brand and continue releasing digital new products. In January 2009, at the Consumer Electronics Show 2009, the company attempted to revive interest in instant photography in the digital age by introducing the Polaroid PoGo Instant Digital Camera. A distinctive feature of this model is the color printer built into it. In recent years, global corporations, especially large IT companies, are beginning to live by the laws of show business. Collaboration with movie stars and popular music performers allows us to attract the attention of an ever-increasing number of public to our activities. Singer Lady Gaga has become the creative director of a special line of Polaroid cameras. General manager Polaroid company Jamie Salter announced that they chose the famous singer, since Lady Gaga has excellent creative talent, with the help of which the star will be able to breathe new passion into the brand of cameras. In 2011, at the same Consumer Electronics Show, singer Lady Gaga, as the creative director of Polaroid, presented three new products at once: sunglasses with a built-in camera and two 1.4-inch OLED displays, a GL10 mobile printer, and an updated Polaroid camera Gray Label GL30.
Polaroid GL10 (2011). 
In 2012, Polaroid launched new instant cameras - the Polaroid Z340 and Polaroid PIC300, as well as the aforementioned Polaroid GL10 pocket printer. Having accepted new format, Polaroid has not lost its flavor: instant photos have become better quality, cameras are designed taking into account the latest technical innovations, and the design still sets the company's products apart from competitors. It is now possible to pre-edit the image you like: use a filter, add a frame, caption, etc. New technology fast printing ZINK allows you to get your finished photo much faster than traditional Polaroid photography. Also in 2012, Polaroid SC1630 Android HD Smart Camera was introduced - a camera on Android. The device is equipped with a 16-megapixel sensor and 3x optical zoom. The shutter speed is 1/1400, the maximum ISO value is 3200. There is support for geotagging, an image stabilization system and the ability to record video in 720p format.
The popularity of instant photography is still great, despite the rapid development of digital technology. There are many attempts being made to revive instant photography. In 2000, the American manufacturer of instant photography backs, NPC, released the NPC 195 camera, which was a copy of the Polaroid 195. The camera was equipped with the same lens - Tominon 114mm f/4.5 and a Copal 0 shutter operating in the range from 1/500 to 1 second. . In Japan, the camera was sold under the Polaroid brand. The company's main product was the NPC Proback, which used a fiber-optic plate to transfer images from a 35mm camera to Polaroid instant film (one film could hold two pictures). NPC Proback covers are manufactured in all known formats for installation on cameras from most manufacturers.
In 2009, one of the closed factories, located in the city of Enschede, Holland, where cassette tapes were produced, was bought by a group of former enthusiastic employees who single-handedly decided to continue this business. They founded their own company called The Impossible Project and within a few months the production of instant photography cassettes was resumed, but using a new proprietary technology. Cassettes were produced taking into account full compatibility with old-style cameras. So that all Polaroid fans can capture moments just like before. Enthusiasts, together with engineers who lost their jobs at that time, repeatedly tried to restore production consumables, but were constantly faced with the lack of certain chemicals. The new type of consumables will still be able to provide retro quality, an effect similar to what pre-war photographers were able to achieve with the help of silver chloride.
Impossible Project Black & White Film. 
Impossible Project Instant Film. 
FUJI FP-1 Professional (1995).
In 2013, Polaroid introduced a new app, Polamatic. The new application allows you to edit and share photos. If you wish, you can stylize your photos as photos from the famous Polaroid - the application also includes the famous branded “white frame”. Polamatic also allows you to send photos via email, post them on social networks - such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Flickr. In 2014, a prototype was developed called Instagram Socialmatic Camera. The concept camera has two lenses, one for regular shooting and the other for 3D filters. In addition, the camera has an application with which it can become a webcam, and an application for capturing and recognizing QR codes. Socialmatic will run on the Android operating system. The photo you just took can be processed on your Instagram Socialmatic Camera in the same way as using Instagram on mobile phone. After processing, you can immediately post the result on Facebook. The difference is that Instagram Socialmatic Camera is equipped with better optics than mobile phone optics.
Polaroid camera pillow.
The legendary design - a cheerful rainbow stripe on a white background, formed the basis for the image of the Polaroid company, which is still associated with something unusual, fashionable and creative. 
Components trademark. 
Polaroid Electronic Imaging logo. 
New logo Gray Label "G Pixel".
Stories about the Polaroid brand are quite fascinating, but not very funny stories about business from those who have experienced both ups and downs in their business. Today, this topic is not discussed as actively as it was before, but still the brand and products of this type have not lost their popularity.
Story
Now everyone knows that Polaroid is an American company engaged in the production of photographic equipment, sunglasses, and consumer electronics. But not everyone knows the history of this brand, although this information is important for product lovers.
The founder of the company was an American named Edwin Land, who was born in 1909 in the city of Bridgeport. His parents originally lived in the Russian Empire (in the territory of modern Ukraine), but due to unknown circumstances they were forced to emigrate to America.
Edwin Land did not know what poverty was, since his parents always had enough money to support the child and decent education. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that a boy who is interested in optics, as a child, had his first thoughts about creating things that would surprise the whole world.
At the age of 17, the young man came up with the idea of creating new polarizing lenses designed for car headlights. In his opinion, this could improve the illumination of the road at night, without at the same time blinding oncoming cars. After dropping out of university and moving to New York State, Land devoted himself entirely to creating
Edwin Land is the first person in the world to use the principles of polarization, which are now actively used in the creation of table lamps, three-dimensional reality glasses, and so on.
Startup
Only in 1937 did Edwin's works find commercial application. It was in this year that the well-known company Polaroid was created. At first, this production was not involved in the creation and production of cameras, and the very first products were sunglasses, as well as polarized glasses, which had various purposes for military equipment and other devices.
The creator did not think about how much Polaroid is worth as a brand, since he had more important tasks. The production website says that this company was directly involved in the release of a lot of X-ray film and so on. It is not at all difficult to believe this statement, because throughout his life Land managed to patent a considerable number of inventions (more than 500). Modern historians argue that only Thomas Edison created more innovations.
Contributed to incredible success scientific achievements and an ironclad business acumen. Edwin managed the company for 43 years.
Photo in a minute
According to legend, the creation was the idea of the daughter of the company’s founder, who pushed him to such an accomplishment when he was practically an infant. The little girl just asked her father a question about why people can’t receive ready-made photographs immediately after taking the photo. At that very moment, Land began to think seriously about this question, and then his employees had to think too.
In 1948, the company introduced the first camera that takes snapshots. Each photo cost 1 dollar, which was enough at that time a large amount, because Polaroid cartridges were made using more complex technology, significantly different from today’s.
Even though high cost, the products of this brand were in great demand. Already in 1963, Land was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Rise of an Empire
In 1972 appeared new model Polaroid cameras. The camera was the first fully “motorized” model that took color photos and did not require precise aiming at all.
Since then, the number of models has become more and more, and their cost has become less and less. Already closer to the 80s, Polaroid cameras (old version and new modifications) became a popular means of creating photographs. Even to this day, this production is remembered with nostalgia not only by all of America, but also by most other countries.
Towards the end of the 70s, clouds began to gather, as Kodak production was able to surpass Polaroid (camera). New company announced its camera, also designed for snapshots. But Land was not stupid, so he managed to file a lawsuit in court for copyright infringement. The trial lasted about ten years, and in the end Kodak was obliged to pay the victim more than $600 million.
Soon the Kodak production itself fell, and glory returned to the Polaroid company. The snapshot was once again popular, but this time it failed to make a huge difference.
Decline of the Empire
As we know, even great people can make mistakes, and in this case Edwin Land was no exception. His main mistake was that in the 80s his production already had prototypes of digital cameras, but he decided that the company would not deal with electronics.
Already in 1996, the company released its first digital camera, but it was too late. Young companies different countries managed to seize the initiative much earlier and were ahead of American production.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Polaroid could not adequately withstand competition with other manufacturers of photographic equipment, so in 2001 a period of bankruptcy began.
How much is Polaroid worth today?
Today, the price of modern snapshot cameras reaches 3000-5000 rubles. Cartridges for Polaroid, although they are created using simpler technology, still have a considerable cost - 1000-2000 rubles.
Anyone can purchase a camera, since many online stores stock these products.
Modern Polaroid Snap
The most popular model today is the Polaroid Snap, which costs up to $100. It is a 10-megapixel camera with a built-in popular Zink printer, which produces a photo card with dimensions of 7.6 x 5 centimeters immediately after taking a picture. In addition to the fact that the device produces a finished photo, it also saves the image in electronic form.
Construction and design
The camera itself is housed in a rectangular plastic housing. The device has dimensions of 122 x 76 x 28, and its weight reaches 400 grams. The camera is quite comfortable to hold even in a small hand when shooting. But still, to prevent the device from falling, it is best to use the special strap that comes with the kit.
Initially, the camera was created taking into account all the convenience and maximum ease of use, so there are quite a few control elements in it.
On the left side there is a slot for a memory card, as well as a port for a charger. It is worth noting that the built-in memory is only enough to take and print one image, so you will still have to purchase an additional memory card.
On the back there is a tray that can hold 10 sheets of photo paper. The prints come out on their own from a specially designed slot located on the right side of the camera. And above the door itself there are three light indicators showing the status of the battery, memory card and paper. Thanks to these qualities, modern users can have no doubt about the quality and convenience of the camera.
On June 17, 1970, Edwin Land patented his landmark camera, the first fully automated Polaroid SX-70. We will tell you the most interesting facts about Polaroid cameras and their inventor Edwin Land.
Edwin Land's parents lived in Russia before emigrating to the USA
Edwin Land, the founder of Polaroid, was born in 1909 in Bridgeport (Connecticut, USA) into a family of Odessa residents who emigrated to America at the end of the 19th century - a turbulent time for Jews living in Russia. Edwin's grandfather, Abraham Solomonovich, started his own business in America buying and processing scrap metal and succeeded in it. This business was later continued by Edwin's father.
Edwin Land, founder of Polaroid and famous American inventor:
Edwin has been interested in technology since his youth. Especially optics
Edwin was a very curious child from childhood. History records that one day his father whipped him when he saw that the boy had dismantled his phonograph. Edwin was especially interested in optics. In 1926, he became a student at Harvard University, but soon dropped out. Land had a burning desire to invent, but his studies prevented him from doing so. All efforts were devoted to inventions, and soon it paid off. First, Edwin invented polarizing lenses for car headlights, which illuminated the road without blinding oncoming cars. Later he created the world's first polarized sunglasses.
The inventor's contemporaries say that he always showed a creative approach when promoting his inventions. For example, when he wanted to sell his polarizing filters for use in sunglasses to top executives from the American Optical Company, he rented a hotel for the meeting, placed a goldfish aquarium on the windowsill, and when the guests arrived, he gave each of them a polarizing plate. The trick was that on a sunny day, due to the glare, the goldfish inside the aquarium was not visible, but with the help of a polarizing plate, top managers were able to see it immediately.
Inventor Edwin Land and future president of Polaroid, 1958:
Having thus impressed his guests, Land immediately announced that from now on sunglasses should be made from polarized glass, and they almost immediately agreed to invest in this idea. Surprisingly, in 1929, Land, at the age of 20, returned to Harvard to continue his research. And the head of the Harvard physics laboratory, Theodore Lyman, meets halfway and puts the laboratory at his disposal. The professor was so impressed by the achievements of the 20-year-old dropout student.
Polaroid is a word that Land didn't like at first.
In 1937 already successful entrepreneur Edwin Land founded the Polaroid company, specializing in optical technology. The term polaroid was first used by Professor Clarence Kennedy in 1934 when he was talking about Land's work in finding a material that polarized light. Land didn't like this word at first. He himself wanted to call the material he invented epibollipol (from the Greek words “flat” and “polarizer”). But Land's colleagues convinced him that K. Kennedy's easy-to-pronounce word was better suited for his invention.
During World War II, Polaroid became a major supplier of optics to the military, supplying the troops with binoculars, night vision devices, periscopes and many other devices. Land also participated in the development of complex military equipment. So, during the war, his company received a $7 million contract from the American government to develop a guidance system for infrared radiation for self-guided aircraft projectiles. By the way, the American military command appreciated Land's developments. So, in 1944, all American pilots had Polaroid glasses, similar to a snorkeling mask, which provided excellent visibility.
Land's famous camera was inspired by a question from his daughter.
After the end of the war, Land was finally able to devote himself entirely to what he had long wanted - the development of a camera that would combine the processes of photography and image processing. Edwina's invention was inspired by his three-year-old daughter while on vacation in Santa Fe in 1943. Land took a photograph of her, and the girl was upset to learn that her father could not show her the resulting photograph right now. Why? Instead of explaining to his daughter why this was impossible, Land asked himself the same question and very soon realized that his daughter’s claim was absolutely correct. It is possible to create a camera that takes instant pictures.
The development of such a camera took at least three years - at first there were many military orders, and the work itself on finding new photographic material that made it possible to obtain a photograph in a few tens of seconds progressed slowly. That work was somewhat reminiscent of Edison’s search for a suitable material for an incandescent lamp filament. Remember Edison's famous quote about this: “I have never failed. I just found 10,000 ways that don't work." Land later also recalled that period of searching: “When coming up with something, it is important not to be afraid to fail. Scientists make great discoveries only because they formulate hypotheses and conduct experiments. Failure follows failure, but they don’t give up until they get the results they want.”
By the way, among inventors in terms of the number of registered patents, only Thomas Edison is ahead of Edwin Land - Edwin had about 600 of them.
Everything worked out for Edwin. He achieved that the photosensitive surface in his camera simultaneously acted as both film and photography. Land first demonstrated his “instant” camera in February 1947 at a meeting of the Optical Society of America. Those present were delighted. And on November 26, 1948, Land's revolutionary cameras went on sale under the name Polaroid Land Camera Model 95 and priced at $90. This was a lot of money for that time, but the first batch was sold out on the same day.
Here it is, the first Polaroid - Land Camera Model 95:
Land made Americans fall in love with the art of photography
The first photographs taken with Land's camera were inferior in quality to photographs created in the traditional way. And the cost of taking the picture was higher, but that didn’t stop the Americans. Already in 1950, the millionth roll of film was sold. At the same time, Land continuously improved his cameras and films. They say that he was especially concerned about ease of use, and he brought all the new experimental models home and saw how convenient it was for his wife and children to take photographs with them, load the film, and receive a finished photograph.
Land's contribution to the field of photography cannot be overstated. These days, thanks to the popular Instagram app, millions of people around the world have become interested in mobile photography, and back then Polaroid cameras were such a catalyst. Many of those who discovered the world of photography with the help of Polaroid later switched to professional cameras and became professional photographers. Almost every party and wedding in those days in the States was accompanied by photography, and departing guests were given photo cards as souvenirs. For those born in the USSR, this is not difficult to imagine. We had the same boom in instant photography, only much later. In the USSR, official sales of Polaroid cameras began in 1989.
In the 1960s, Polaroid taught how to take color photos and reduced the price of the camera to $20
In fact, work on color photographs began immediately after sales of the very first camera models began. But the period of trial and error took almost 15 years.
Another breakthrough product of that time was the Polaroid Swinger camera - it cost only $20, thanks to which, apparently, it became the company's most commercially successful product. By the mid-1960s, approximately half of American households owned a Polaroid camera.
Polaroid Swinger:
The landmark, fully automatic Polaroid SX-70 went on sale in 1972
The real breakthrough came in 1972, when the Polaroid SX-70 camera was introduced to the world, the same one for which Land received a patent in the summer of 1970. This was the first fully automated pocket camera. All the photographer had to do was load the cassette, aim the lens and press the button. A minute later the photo was ready. If we compare, we can say that it was the iPhone of its time - the most convenient camera.
Polaroid SX-70:
In previous Polaroid models, the photographer had to remove the negative layer from the photo himself. Now the entire process of obtaining an image proceeded automatically: after pressing the shutter, the photograph left the camera and was fully developed within a few minutes. It was precisely these automatic models that became widespread in the USSR in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Land himself commented on that model: “My main goal was to create a camera that would become a part of you, that would always be with you.” The model has become epoch-making. Excellent sales, another boom in photography in the USA, rapid growth in the value of the company's shares. In the 1970s, Polaroid was one of the most successful companies in the world, and Edwin Land and his camera even appeared on the cover of Time magazine.
In the 1970s, Polaroid becomes an "aesthetic" event
Land tried to promote his products not only to the masses, but also among artists. He said: “...The invention of instant photography is also an aesthetic event: it allowed people who see artistic value in the everyday world around them to gain a new medium for self-expression.” Consider how this resonates strongly with the philosophy of photographic social Instagram networks! In those years, exhibitions of Polaroids taken by celebrities were organized. Andy Warhol, Helmut Newton shoot on Polaroid...
Edwin Land was Steve Jobs' idol
This seems unsurprising. After all, Land has always strived to create the most convenient products for users, and periodically created completely new products. Jobs followed the same philosophy. It is known that technical innovators knew each other and communicated. Steve Jobs especially remembered the phrase his idol said at a meeting with him: “The world is like fertile soil waiting to be cultivated. It is necessary to plant seeds and harvest, which is what I do.”
In 1982, Edwin Land was forced to resign from the company he created.
Polaroid's top managers and shareholders were not happy with the way their boss was running his business and complained that he was using totalitarian methods and making all key decisions himself. According to other Polaroid executives, Land was holding back the company's development: he refused to merge with other companies, always had a negative attitude toward raising debt, did not value market research at all, and had little faith in marketing and advertising. As a result, under pressure from shareholders, Land was removed from the post of president of the company in 1975, then deprived of the post of chairman of the board of directors, and in 1982, 73-year-old Land was forced to resign.
Interestingly, in 1985 Steve Jobs during one of his speeches he stated: “Dr. Edwin Land was a real rebel. He got kicked out of Harvard and founded Polaroid. Not only was he one of the greatest inventors of his time. More importantly, he was able to see the intersection of art and science with business and created an organization in which this philosophy was embodied. Polaroid succeeded for several years, but subsequently Dr. Land, one of the brilliant rebels, was forced to leave his own company. And this is one of the biggest stupidities I've ever heard in my life." In 1985, Jobs himself was asked to leave the company he created.
In 1985, Polaroid received a then-record payout from Kodak.
The lawsuit between the two photo industry giants began after Eastman Kodak began developing its instant photography system in 1975. Then Polaroid's lawyers filed a claim for infringement of the patent owner's rights. The trial lasted about a decade, but in the end, Kodak's behavior was found to be unlawful by the Supreme Court of Appeal. The company had to curtail all its developments in the field of instant photography and, in addition, pay Polaroid $925 million. Nowadays, something similar happened between Apple and Samsung, which again brings Land and Jobs closer together. Although by the time the trial was completed, Land had not worked at Polaroid for a long time.
The grand celebration of Polaroid's 50th anniversary took place in 1987 without company founder E. Land
Land never returned to Polaroid. At that time, Ph.D. Land continued to work as researcher at the institute, and on March 1, 1991, at the age of 81, he passed away.
Polaroid itself outlived its founder by only a decade. The new management did not invest in the developing digital photography. Soon many people preferred digital cameras to Polaroid instant cameras. Express printing laboratories, which were gaining popularity, also played a role. People preferred to save money: printing photographs in a laboratory was cheaper, the pictures turned out better and more durable, and the time loss was no longer so significant. Having accumulated too many loans, Polaroid declared bankruptcy in October 2001.
Despite bankruptcy famous brand continued to exist
That company ceased to exist, but the brand did not die. Early 2009 new company Polaroid introduced a digital camera equipped with a built-in color printer, the Polaroid PoGo Instant Digital Camera. And in 2012 the company returned to Russian market- with digital instant cameras and pocket printer. Let's hope that the famous brand, which made the world fall in love with the art of photography in the middle of the last century, will have a successful revival.
