Polaroid’s Comeback

Many of us can remember taking photos with the family on special occasions when we were younger. The bulky camera would get pulled out and everyone would give their best smiles. Suddenly there would be a flash and out would come the picture. You would take the photo and blow or fan it out until it developed. Instant film was a great photography phenomenon before the digital camera. As digital photography become more popular and accessible, amateur analog photography lost its appeal to the consumer. As the market declined for Polaroid instant film, the prices increased. The Polaroid Company discontinued Polaroid instant film production in June 2008. The components became pricey or were unattainable due to the fact that demand for the product was not high enough. The final expiration date on the last pack of film was recently in October this year. So does this mean Polaroid is gone forever?

A team of dedicated photographers have started the campaign known as The Impossible Project. Their aim is simple, to create a compatible and quality instant film to replace Polaroid’s instant film. They have recently purchased the old instant film factory and machinery with plans to recreate the assembly process in order to make production cheaper and the quality better as well. A large problem that Polaroid was faced with is that some of the film cartridge components were no longer made. The Impossible Project has recreated the cartridge. Polaroid has been so impressed with the project that the company has announced that it is going to make Polaroid instant film cameras again. The first packs of this new film are coming to shelves in black and white at the beginning of next year. Following soon after, color film will make its debut in the middle of 2010. Be ready to see instant film photography make a comeback.