Blog | 52 - Waste Not Want Not
| Freelance Photographer in St Ives Cambridgeshire: Food & Drink Photography; Commercial Photography, Product Photography & Packshot Photography; Event Photography; Portrait Photography; Corporate Photography & PR Photography; Engagement Photography & Wedding Photography and Photography Training Courses in Cambridge, Huntingdon, Peterborough, Bedford, Ely, St Neots, St Ives and London. Professional Photography Services in St Ives, St Neots, Huntingdon, Bedford, Peterborough, Ely & Cambridge. | |||
 
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Alistair Grant Freelance Photographer Cambridge & London |
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bokeh photographic: Blog No: 52 → TIP: Click any image to view in LightBox |
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Waste Not Want Not In addition to occasionally receiving kit from friends who are having a spring clean I’ve acquired a selection of old ‘consumer’ cameras whilst clearing out respective parents houses. Some are old, some are rare and some like this Polaroid 6-3-6 Close Up were so popular they defined the mid-1980s & 1990s when millions of 600 series units were sold. Despite the fact that most people have one tucked away somewhere the numbers around don’t seem to have affected the price of vintage Polaroids. Second-hand 6-3-6 Close Up cameras are currently £129.99 on Polaroid’s website! This is probably because whilst quirky the 600 series was well built. Additionally, mirroring the upsurge in vinyl records, there’s the revival of instant-print cameras. Although Polaroid film was expensive relative to 35mm consumer film at a time when high production volume kept prices low (although not as expensive as the professional film I aspired to when starting out in photography) Polaroid captured the fun photography market due to the instant print feature. Of course this was also attractive to those who didn’t want to wait for their processed film to be returned from the mail-order laboratory in addition to those who couldn’t be bothered to drop their film in at a high-street chemist despite the lower-quality instant prints. A helpful note for any millennials is that whilst the first digital cameras were launched in the early 1990s digital technology wasn’t widely available until much later and unlike a memory card where you can delete images, you only had one chance at each of the 24 or 36 exposures in the 35mm film cartridge. Oh and you were locked into whatever ISO film speed you had bought! The 6-3-6 Close Up build quality is signified by the fact that the camera remains in full working order including the inbuilt flash meaning that the internal battery is still good to go. Dating from c.1993 the model features a 116mm f/11 single-element lens with an electronic shutter range of ¼ to 1/200sec. Note the focal adjustment slider under the logo with a macro function of 2-4ft (so not that close up!) and the classic Exposure Compensation slider under the lens: towards the dark arrow for negative EC and towards the white arrow for positive EC - adjustment of course only coming after noticing one of the precious 600 film pack exposures had been irretrievably messed up. Given the popularity of vintage cameras Polaroid have launched new 'OneStep' instant print cameras. Other manufacturers have joined in e.g. Fujifilm’s Instax range. What is particularly noticeable is the high cost of film given it is now a minority consumable. A pack of Polaroid Originals 600 colour film retails at £17.99 for just 8 iconic white border 3.1” x 3.1” window images. The price of Polaroid film may actually prove to be a good thing. Faced with the possibility of wasting a £2.25 exposure people may actually slow down and think about taking each shot. Although this is likely to result in better photographs it is somewhat at odds with the ‘one shot, easy to snap, instant fun’ marketing strapline of modern Polaroids as well as the take/delete/retake/repeat culture of digital selfies where the only real cost is opportunity cost. As I was resolutely in the 35mm camp when younger I haven’t ever shot Polaroid. However, I’ve recently returned to 35mm monochrome film and Polaroid 600 film is next on the list. |
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Call Alistair Grant on 07775 365507, Email [email protected] or click Booking Enquiries if you have any questions or would like to make a booking. |
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bokeh: "the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens" Freelance Photographer offering Food & Drink Photography Cambridge; Commercial Photography Cambridge, Product Photography Cambridge & Packshot Photography Cambridge; Event Photography Cambridge; Portrait Photography Cambridge; Corporate Photography Cambridge & PR Photography Cambridge; Engagement Photography Cambridge & Wedding Photography Cambridge and Photography Training Courses in Cambridge. Also covering: Huntingdon, St. Ives, Ramsey, St. Neots, Peterborough, Bedford, Stamford, Newmarket, Sawtry, Alconbury Weston, Brampton, Hartford, Warboys, Houghton, Wyton, Godmanchester, Hilton, Hemingford Grey, Hemingford Abbots, Fenstanton, Whittesley, Yaxley, Needingworth, Somersham, Chatteris, Ely, Bar Hill, Grafham and Buckden. |
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bokeh photographic - Alistair Grant | Freelance Photographer | Cambridge, London, UK Food & Drink Photography | Commercial Photography & Product Photography | Corporate Photography & PR Photography | Portrait Photography (inc. 'Active Portraiture', 'Naturally You' & 'Poptraits') | Event Photography | Engagement & Wedding Photography | Photography Training Courses & Camera Tuition | Videography & Film Production Tel: 07775 365507 | Email: [email protected] |
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