The Death & Rebirth of Polaroid Through An Impossible Project
The Polaroid company has had turbulent times in the past few decades. It went from a peak revenue of $3 Billion in 1991, to filing for bankruptcy and selling off its brand and assets just 10 years later in 2001. The digital age of photography was beginning to take over, and people were getting their "instant photo" fix electronically. And then, in 2008, the "new" Polaroid that formed after the 2001 bankruptcy found itself in the same situation, at which time the largest shareholder of the company Impossible Project began producing films for Polaroid cameras, and even produced some new cameras with the "Impossible Project" logo on them which used the same film.
According to Wikipedia:
The Impossible Project was founded in 2008 after Polaroid announced in February 2008 that it would stop producing film for Polaroid cameras.
As it would turn out, The Impossible Project would keep the pilot light on for what would be the return of the once-giant that was Polaroid. Though digital did become the dominant force in the photographic industry, many people found they still had a desire for something organic, something unique and unable to be reproduced. These are the folks who would prove to the industry that there is a demographic for it; there is a need.
During their 9-year run, Impossible released some great new products:
Such as the Impossible I-1:
They also made a point to keep alive the Polaroid line of cameras by prominently offering classic refurbished cameras that everyone who grew up with them knew and loved.
Like the Sun 600:
The One Step:
The Spectra:
And of course, the SLR 680 (this was Leonard's camera in "Memento")
One of the things they came out with, which I kind of wish I'd gotten before they were no longer available, is the Impossilbe Instant Lab. It's a camera that has a stand for a mobile device with a high-res screen so you can create Polaroids out of your cell phone images.
Then in September 2017, an announcement was made that the Polaroid brand was to be resurrected as "Polaroid Originals".
They even released a brand new camera: The One Step 2.
This camera was to be updated from the original One Step in such a way that not only does it have its own built-in flash (no more flash bar), it no longer requires batteries supplied by the film pack, but instead has its own built-in, rechargeable battery. The new battery-less film is called "I-Type", which is a huge improvement over the former 600 style film which has batteries in each film back, was designed as such to be less of an environmental impact. However, if 600 is all ya got, it'll shoot that too. ;-)
I myself have a nice little Polaroid camera collection, including a Sun 600, a 230 Land, and a very old Model 80A, as well.
However, I'm considering expanding that collection to include the new offering of the One Step 2, just because.
And I hope the Polaroid name will stick around for a while this time.
