The Instant Film Society

REVIEW – Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

Posted on April 3, 2013 by The Instant Film Society Posted in 8x10, Impossible Project 5 Comments

Finally. New 8×10 Impossible Project instant color film. Ever since I got into large format photography, I’ve wanted to shoot 8×10 color film. I had scored some Polaroid 809 a while a back, but due to its scarcity, I’ve only shot one frame. When Troy Bradford told me that Impossible had tweeted about an upcoming announcement of their 8×10 color film, I was a little shocked. I had been asking IP for a few months if they were going to try their hand at large format color, and the answer I got was, they were but it was a long ways off. When it was announced earlier than expected, I was more than ready to pounce on the chance to grab some.

A good handful of us in the D/FW area were able to pick up some upon its release and when it arrived, just a couple days later, I was buzzing with excitement. I had many ideas of what I wanted to shoot, but the reality was, I had to be slow and patient with the images to be shot. I spoke with the ones that picked up a box and were going to shoot their 8×10′s and we all agreed to collaborate on a review of this film. Thankfully, now that the IFS has grown over the past few months in the area, I’m now able to enlist the help and expertise of others within our instant community to join in on a comprehensive review. I asked everybody to shoot a handful of frames, write down their experience and document detailed information regarding each image shot.

The following is what we’ve experienced with Impossible’s new 8×10 color film.

____________________________________________________

- Justin Goode -

The first image I shot was at Minter’s Thunderbirds in north Dallas. Amos Minter specializes in restoring 1955-57 Ford Thunderbirds. I’ve been going to Amos’ place for a handful of years now and I’ve been documenting my time there on instant film for the past year. I’m working on a long-term project and I figured it would be the perfect spot to capture the first test image for a review. I set up the Burke & James 8×10 near a cherry yellow T-bird. A while back I had taken an image of a bumperette and I wanted to take the same style shot with this new 8×10 film. It took me a good 30 minutes to set everything up and when I was finally ready to take the photo. I took a deep breath and slowly pressed the shutter release that was attached to the lens. I rated the film at 400 ASA, the scene metered out at f/11 @ 1 second. I shot it around f/8ish due to the bellows extension of the camera. It was 74 degrees inside the showroom.

Minter's Thunderbirds - Impossible Project 8x10 Color Protection Film

Minter’s Thunderbirds – Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

When the image slowly started appearing after it had been processed, my jaw was on the floor. The detail was stunning and the color … oh the color. Finally, a large format color instant film I could shoot. When I got home, I scanned the image, showed it to my wife and raced up to Kinko’s (or whatever its called now) and used their paper cutter to cut the tabs off the film. While I was up there, I started to press out the excess developing paste. That was a mistake. I inadvertently pressed the paste back into the image just on the left side of it. Whoops. It wasn’t that bad, but overnight it creeped into the picture about a centimeter wide and 2 inches in length running up the side of the image. I did remember reading somewhere that these color images would need a little extra care. They weren’t joking. So what do you do when you’ve got this great image but there’s something that’s just bothering the heck out of you .. like this developer paste that was creeping in? You might have guessed it already. You cut the edges off the photo and you transfer that bad boy to a piece of mounting board. Visual distraction solved.

Impossible Project 8x10 Color Protection Emulsion Transfer

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Emulsion Transfer

It was honestly a pretty easy transfer. About 24 hours after I took this photo, I used a paper cutter to cut the edges off the image. I peeled the positive away from the negative and submersed the image in luke warm water in a tray. Within 5-10 minutes, with a little bit of coaxing from my fingers I was able to remove the semi-gelatinous emulsion. It was surprisingly durable and within 20 minutes I had it transferred to piece of mounting board. I used a roller to smooth out the emulsion, something I had seen Noreen Loh Hui Miun do in a video she posted a while back on Facebook. It worked very well.

Another test image I shot was of Jonathon Kimbrell, a screen printer that I’ve recently been in contact with here in Dallas. He made these incredibly cool cards for us a little while ago. I knew that his place, Napkin Art Studios, would be perfect for another test image. I cruised up there, set up the 8×10 and shot one of him using only the ambient light available.

Jonathon Kimbrell - Napkin Art Studios - Impossible Project 8x10 Color Protection Film

Jonathon Kimbrell – Napkin Art Studios – Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

I rated the film again at 400. The scene metered out to be about f/7 @ 1/4 of a second. The ambient temperature was 60 degrees when I developed the film. The light was coming from an open bay door at his studio and a few flourescents that were about 15 feet above him. Something I noticed on this shot that I hadn’t noticed on the other, was the blue line that looks as if it came from in between the pods, assumedly from the paste being thin in that area. You can see it faintly on his shirt and it runs across the length of the film.

The next image I took was at Makeshift Photography‘s studio in Deep Ellum. A handful of us got together on Saturday to test out some more images. I set up a scene with some of Steve Reeves’ toys that he had laying around. We grabbed a wooden figure, a zebra and a Spiderman figure that he had laying around. We used Amanda Potter‘s SX-70 in the image and set up a shot

Impossible Project 8x10 Color Protection Film

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

I used 4 lights for this image. An octabox, a couple of strip boxes and a flash behind the curtain in the back. I was hoping the film would have picked up the wider spread the flash had on the curtain in the back, oh well. The scene metered out to be f/22 @ 1/60th but due to the bellows extension I shot it at f/16. The image developed at 69 degrees and the setup was …

Studio setup for Woody / SX-70 / Spidey / Zebra image

The next image was another picture of “Woody”. The thought I had, was I’d set up some christmas lights behind him in the shape of backwards P and would position his arms so that it looked as if he was holding it up, sort of like a trophy. I spent a good four hours on the set up of this image. Admittedly, I probably wasn’t working the whole time on it, but it did take quite some time for me to position everything before I was finally ready to click the shutter.

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Film

I used two strip boxes with grids on either side of the figure. I tested the lights with my D700 and the exposure I came up with was f/8 at 2 seconds. When I was finally ready to pull the trigger, I opened the lens up to its widest aperture, f/6.1 (due to the bellows extension), tripped the shutter with the cable release in one hand and popped in the strobes via a Pocket Wizard with the other. I had the lens open for just over 2 seconds.

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

The image was processed at 72 degrees and took about 45 minutes to appear, as did all the rest. I stowed it away in an open box on my way home and peeked at it carefully when I finally made it through the front door. Stunned .. once again.

The last image I took for this review was a simple available light portrait of my friend’s son, Callum. The last time I photographed Callum was about 2 years ago. I took the image in the same style as the last (of course this one was in color) and set up the same way I had before (butcher’s paper taped to a wall on the side of a building).

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

One of things I noticed off the bat, was the wispy streak across his face. I would love to use this film for this type of portraiture in the future. I can’t being to fathom the challenges Impossible’s chemists have had in creating an integral 8×10 color film but I hope this is corrected before the release this fall. That’s my only issue with this film.

The image is slightly warm. Callum’s hair is blonde and due to the development temperature I assume (79 degrees), the color cast has shifted a little bit towards magenta. This image was metered out as follows: 400 ASA at 1/30th of a second at f/16 and two-thirds. I shot this at just under f/16 due to the bellows extension.

____________________________________________________

- Troy Bradford -

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

Troy’s notes

____________________________________________________

- Steve Reeves -

I must admit that the new color 8×10 instant film from The Impossible Project is a lot better than I expected it to be. I participated in the test group for the Black and White version of the film last year and over the last couple of years I’ve experimented with a number of the films they’ve released. I love the idea of being able to produce an instant analog image and because of that I’ve been a fan and impassioned supporter of their efforts from the beginning. Getting good color from the films, however… Well, it’s been a whole lot of “grinning and bearing it.”

To be fair they’ve come a long way. The current versions of the smaller formats produce color images that are leaps and bounds beyond where they were even a year ago. Bravo for that. I was skeptical that it would prove to be as successful with the 8×10 right out of the gate. It’s test film after all, right?

Well, color me impressed. The stuff looks amazing. In the shots I’ve done the reds and blues really pop. Greens seem to be a bit weak, but otherwise the color is strong and vibrant. I’ve only taken half of my shots so far. Three relatively successful ones. One underexposed and one catastrophic user error that generated a real mess.

Shot #1 “OT SED” and #2 “DES TO”

“If you’re not going to use movements, why shoot big!” I said. Those around me had their doubts and they were right. The giant vignette you see in the two shots of the car are the result of using a 4×5 lens on an 8×10 camera. Oops. Otherwise these two shots show an interesting comparison between the new IP 8×10 color film and a sheet of Polaroid 809 circa 1999. The 809 shot came in a little underexposed and the IP shot came in a little hot. We spot metered the scene and the IP film being fresh and rated at 400 ISO should have come out spot on. It’s close and the error was mine as I didn’t get the camera set to the exact prescribed f-stop. I’d like to think that film with a wider latitude would have protected me in this case but there’s very little of that to be had. When shooting 8×10 you’re already dealing with the added complication of factoring in bellows draw and in this case there’s very little room for error. My advice? Triple-check your meter readings then check them again. This was the first shot of 809 that I’ve taken out of my precious box of the stuff and I was real happy to see an image at all. We rated the film at 64 ASA and it looks like it could have even been pulled to 50. The color has shifted over the years towards green. One other thing worth noting, the old 809 peel-a-part film gives you a correctly-oriented image. If IP is going to stick with integral film then I suppose we’ll have to get used to the “wet plate” look where everything is backwards.

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film

8×10 Polaroid 809 Expired Film

Shot #3, #4 “Necktie Dyed Eggs” (Underexposed)

IP – f/45 @ 1 sec

809 – f/45 @ 32 sec

I “digiroided” this scene in my studio with a Nikon D800. Oh the irony! I forgot to factor in bellows draw and as a result, took the shot one stop lower than I should have. The keen eye might notice that it’s WAY more than one stop too dark. Might light source was a south-facing window. The strength of the light changed with some regularity, but even so I got pretty consistent readings from the Nikon. Alas, way too dark. While I was waiting out the 45 minutes to see how the shot turned out I fired on off onto a sheet of the 809. I gave this one an extra stop (after also adjusting the ISO from 400 down to 64) and the result was also under exposed. I’m chalking this up to reciprocity failure. To get the depth of field I wanted I had the lens closed down to f/45. If I were to guess, I’d say I should have added a few stops to each shot to brighten them up.

UPDATE: After reviewing my notes I came to realize that my initial shot was more than one stop lower than my metered shots. Including bellows draw I made that exposure 3 stops too dark. This seems like a reasonable difference without suggesting reciprocity as a contributing factor.

Impossible Project 8x10 Color Film - Underexposed

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film – Underexposed – f/45 @ 1 sec

8x10 Polaroid 809 Expired Film - Underexposed

8×10 Polaroid 809 Expired Film – Underexposed – f/45 @ 32 seconds

Shot #5 “Neck Tie Dyed Eggs”

At this point I adjusted my settings to try and get a brighter image. I upped my time by three stops and let loose with an 8 second exposure using the T mode on my lens. As you can see it’s a lot brighter and there is some pretty good exposure in the mid tones. The highlights, however, are gone. Very very narrow latitude!

A word of caution! Make sure you load your film carrier into your processor correctly. If you get it in backwards where the tab is pointing outwards (an obvious problem to anyone paying attention better than I was…) and press the big white button you will instantly coat your rollers with blue goo. Trust me, don’t do it. The good news is that the negative wasn’t ruined. It was still safely in the carrier. Unfortunately I now have an extra negative and no positive to make a happy IP color sandwich. Anyone out there wanna buy half a shot of IP color film?

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film – f/45 @ 8 seconds

Nikon D800

Shot #6 “Dyed Egg”

At this point I felt like I was more or less dialing it in. After recomposing I found that I could get by with f32. The last image was a little darker than I wanted so I split the difference. The result, as you can see, really demonstrates the narrow latitude of the film. I like the moody dark shadows but man, I sure wish I had more details in the highlights. In the vase below are some pigeon feathers that Annie Donovan’s pigeon shed when she came by the studio last year to shoot her IP 8×10 B&W test film. Unfortunately, that area is too blown out to really notice what’s in the bottom of the vase. I did try to bring it full circle though.

Impossible Project 8×10 Color Protection Film – f/32 @ 6 seconds

Overall, I’m very happy with the film. The color is a lot stronger than I expected and knowing that the light conditions need to be tightly controlled is ok. If I know it, I can plan for it. Being able to hold an original 1st generation 8×10 instant image in my hands is well worth the challenges.

____________________________________________________

Observations

The materials used are of course slightly different than Impossible’s 8×10 black & white film. One of the things that I’ve noticed is that there seems to be some waviness on the back of the negative after the paste has been spread. I think it might be from the moisture and the amount of paste that’s spread in between it that is causing that to happen.

Be VERY careful when handling these images, especially near the top where the excess paste is trapped. The images definitely remain wet for quite some time and are more sensitive to movement after it has been developed, more so than their b&w. You might notice that because of the paste at the very end that’s caught in the ‘trap’, over time the excess will creep back in just a little bit. Troy did mention to me over the phone, that he and Tyler pulled their rollers outside of their processor and have used them to gently roll the excess paste out and away from the trap at the top or side of the image.

____________________________________________________

Conclusion

It’s worth it. It has that unique look and color quality that’s unattainable using any other photographic medium. The colors are rich, it’s about as sharp as a tack and it has those Impossible qualities and quirks that we’ve all grown to love so much.

Thank you Impossible for bringing integral 8×10 color to our door steps!

-Justin

www.instantfilmsociety.com

Peeling / Preserving Impossible Project 8×10 B&W PQ Images

Posted on March 13, 2013 by The Instant Film Society Posted in 8x10, Impossible Project 4 Comments

Peeling an Impossible Project 8x10 PQ Image

Peeling an Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Image

Peeling / Preserving Impossible Project 8×10 B&W PQ Images

A few months ago, I finally got everything I needed in order to shoot Impossible’s 8×10 large format integral black & white instant film. After doing quite a bit of research on this particular format, I knew that there were some key things that needed to be done after the images were taken. Because of the chemical make-up of Impossible’s black and white film, it’s highly sensitive to humidity and moisture. I’ve heard “humidity is the enemy of our silver shade films” from Impossible. For the ones that have used this medium extensively, we all know there are things that need to be done after the image has ejected and/or been processed to help ensure that the image stays stable and doesn’t shift.

With Impossible’s 8×10 B&W film, due to its size and amount of developing paste that’s squeezed in between the negative & the positive, a good amount of moisture gets trapped inside. If you don’t take steps to prevent the moisture from essentially attacking the image, the images will shift, start to crystalize and destroy the art that you’ve created. Considering the cost of the film, it’s not ideal to just sit and watch this happen over the span of days, weeks and months. There are dry-age kits that you can purchase from Impossible in which you store the image inside a packet, for about a month, with silica packs inside to pull moisture out of the image and dry the paste and excess developer goo. I’m just not patient enough to wait a month while an image dries in a dry-age kit. I want to share the image once it’s been taken almost immediately.

Peeling the image, shown by Impossible here, is the best way to prevent tonal shifting. You release the trapped moisture inside the image, arrest any tonal shifting that could occur and quickly the positive and negative side of the image dries out. Images I shot 3 months ago, all of them peeled, haven’t shifted whatsoever. It’s definitely the way to go.

Peeling is time sensitive. If you peel too early, you can ruin the image. If you wait too long, you start to pull up the dried white goo that’s stuck on the negative side of the 8×10. I’ve found that peeling 15-20 minutes after you pull the image out of the processor is the best time to peel. If peeled within this time frame, you won’t need to heat the image with a hairdryer (as shown in the Impossible peeling video) and you’ll get a clean peel. You have to peel slow & steady. I prefer to peel from the corner at a consistent speed and it usually takes me about a minute to fully perform the peel. If you peel too fast, you’ll start pulling up the white goo from the negative. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll develop a technique and have no problems drying your images to help preserve the investment.

- THE RATE IN WHICH YOU PEEL IS ABOUT A QUARTER OF THE SPEED SHOWN IN THIS STOP MOTION VIDEO -

Once the images has been peeled, scrape the excess developing paste with a card and wipe any excess off that’s stuck on the ends of the negative & positive. Also, remove the developer packet that is at the base of the film. Once you do that, either lay them out to dry separately in a safe place, or after 5 minutes of dry-time, place a piece of copy paper in between them. I usually either cut the paper tabs off with a paper cutter and tape the bottom & one side of the image, or I slide the paper tabs back together to keep the image together.

Peeled & Dried - Impossible Project 8x10 PQ Silver Shade Image

Peeled & Dried – Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Silver Shade Image

TIP: If you’re out and about shooting and you’ve peeled your images and need to pack up, wait about 15 minutes after the peel, place a piece of copy paper in between the negative & positive layer and the image will be dry enough to carefully transport. I usually place them inside the lid of the 8×10 box the film came in.

If you have any questions about this technique, post it below, tweet us @UseInstantFilm or send us an email: info@instantfilmsociety.com

Happy peeling!

- Justin

Read Impossible Project’s blog post: Dr. Love’s Tips: 8×10 Film – To Peel or Not To Peel

PICK UP SOME OF THIS FANTASTIC 8×10 FILM HERE at Impossible’s website

My journey into the world of 8×10 Instant Photography

Posted on February 19, 2013 by The Instant Film Society Posted in 8x10, Impossible Project Leave a comment

About a year ago, I was surfing the Craigslist photo ads here in Dallas and up came an ad for a free 8×10 view camera. I quickly emailed the person and within 15 minutes I received a message back. A gentlemen was moving out of town who had an old Burke & James Grover 8×10 that he had been meaning to restore & use but had never got around to it. He asked me if I was into large format and stated that he really wanted this camera to go to the right home. I enthusiastically conveyed to him that I was the right person and would eventually make my way up into the world of large format.

: Burke & James Grover 8×10 View Camera

The Burke & James Grover is a utilitarian view camera that is meant to get the job done. It doesn’t have some of the bells & whistles that current 8×10′s have, but it works well, it’s pretty stable and for all intents and purposes, it was just what I had always wanted and needed.

When I arrived at the gentlemen’s home to pick it up, he had a few random camera accessories outside that he later told me was going to throw away on his porch. I looked at them in passing and then rang the door bell. When he greeted me, he was smiling while holding the Burke & James. This was the first time I had seen an 8×10 in person. It’s a pretty unique piece of equipment that’s been used for over a century in the world of photography. I can’t state just how excited I was to simply have the skeleton, if you will, of an 8×10. There was no lens, no 8×10 film holders, a busted lens board and frankly, the camera was pretty dusty. He stated that it had been in his garage for quite some time and he did not have the time to restore or use it. After about 20 minutes of photography small-talk, I thanked him emphatically for contacting me back. He chuckled and said “You know what? There were literally 15 to 20 emails about this 8×10 in 15 minutes. If you ever put “Free 8×10″ in an ad, you’d be surprised at how many respond to it.” I grinned a wide smile. “I bet.” I thanked him one last time and then made my exit.

I was on cloud nine. I had an 8×10. These things aren’t exactly cheap, and granted this thing isn’t the best 8×10 money can buy, but you know what? It was an 8×10 and more importantly, this 8×10 was going to get a lot of use … eventually.

When I got home and showed Synthia the newest acquisition, she was really shocked at the size of this thing and also a little nervous because she knows very well just how into things I can get. “How much is that thing going to cost to get up and running?” she said. ”Ummmm .. well it’s not exactly going to be cheap. But, it’s not something I’m going to do tomorrow baby. It’s going to take some time to piece everything together that I’ll need for this.” This put her at ease a little bit and with the placement of the 8×10 on the top of a bookshelf, the notion of using this thing faded away.

A few months later, The Impossible Project announced that it was going to start making black & white 8×10 instant film. Whoa. At this point, I was shooting a lot of instant film and the dream of shooting instant film on 8×10 was just that .. a dream. There was no way I could get everything lined up to use this with instant film. It cost so much money and some of the required items needed (Polaroid 8×10 holder & the Polaroid 8×10 processor) were starting to go for astronomical prices on Ebay. On top of that, I didn’t have a lens and I still had a busted lens board. Oh well .. one day.

Months went by. My focus was on instant photography and eventually into promoting its use and helping others get into instant via the Instant Film Society. Some of you reading this might know that I’m a pretty persistent person and when I find things that truly strike a chord within me, I obsess over them and learn everything I can about it. That’s happened over the past 9 months with instant film and using Impossible’s film. I love it. In using and promoting this medium, I have come in contact with an amazing network of people that I would have otherwise never tapped into. I’ve met a slew of photographers, educators, enthusiasts and amateurs who all enjoy this form of art.

Slowly, things started falling into place. A friend of mine had some extra large format lenses laying around that weren’t getting any use, so I borrowed one of them and ordered a lens board on Ebay that fit the Burke & James. Also, maybe two months ago, I was buying film at Don’s Used Photo Equipment here in Dallas and on my way out, I noticed a Polaroid 8×10 Land Film Holder sitting on the shelf. I walked passed it and before I got to the door, I thought to myself “This is one of those serendipitous situations”. I walked back over to the 8×10 holder and asked the owner, Todd, what he was selling this for. He said “Man .. I have no idea. Make me an offer.” I gave him a number which he liked and then out of nowhere he said “You know .. I might have some Polaroid 8×10 in the back. Let me go see.” I started to get excited. About 5 minutes later he came back with an unmarked box and was smiling. “Let’s open this thing up and see what’s in it.” A pocket knife flipped open and within a few seconds 15 negatives & positives of Polaroid 809 revealed themselves. I asked him if it had been cold stored. It hadn’t, but I knew that he kept his place at a decent temperature for storage. After some debate and negotiating, we made a deal that I was very happy with. When I got back home, I was curious if the pods that held the developer paste had dried up in storage (always a risk with expired instant film). I opened up the cartridge that held the 15 positives and gently touched a pod. They were soft to the touch. The magical goop hadn’t hardened at all.

There was still one key thing needed; an 8×10 Polaroid processor. In order to develop Polaroid 8×10 film, you need a machine that runs the positive and negative side of the film through these giant rollers (either electronically or manually) to spread the developing paste in between them so the development process starts. Polaroid checked out of the instant market in 2008 and these machines hadn’t been made in years. Sure they are out there, but they are expensive. These processors are in high demand. When Impossible Project announced they were going to start making 8×10 instant film, the price of the processors skyrocketed during the following months, from under $100 on average to $500-1000+. Yikes. Not exactly cheap. When I got back home from Don’s, I started looking at instant images shot on 8×10 cameras and I stumbled upon a girl in town who had shot Impossible’s 8×10 test film. I messaged her up and told her about my interest in 8×10 and asked if she had access to a Polaroid processor. Annie was in school in Florida, and she did have a working processor, but wasn’t going to be back until Christmas.

Some time went by and I continually scoured the internet, looking for something that I could possibly pick up. Nothing. Everything was out of my budget and it seemed like the 8×10 instant photography dream would just have to wait. Then one day, while searching online, I found a guy in Kansas that was selling one. I emailed him, told him a little about myself and what I was doing here in Texas to promote instant film with the Instant Film Society. I asked if he would be interested in donating the processor so I could use it to help teach others about instant photography and help spread the love of instant. He messaged me back, told me that he wished that he could donate to such a worthy cause, but he really needed the money for it. Totally understandable. It was worth a shot. He did say however, that he was willing to work with me on it and would like to come to some sort of an agreement that was beneficial for both us. After some quick negotiating a happy medium was met and within a few days he shipped off the processor. I had him send it to my friend’s camera repair shop, just in case I wasn’t home to receive it, and when I got the call that it had arrived, I raced up there to go pick it up and test it out.

I ran inside and picked up the box. Uh oh. I could hear what sounded like small bits of plastic moving around. I opened up the box, which was packaged to perfection I might add, and pulled out the 8×10 Polaroid Processor. I flipped the cover open, turned some tabs and removed the rollers. Oh boy. Sitting before me were two rollers that were completely detached and busted from the roller assembly that holds them in place. This is not good. I called the gentlemen that I had purchased it from on the phone and within a few minutes we were discussing how this could have happened and what we were going to do. Well, at least I had a processor. Not a functional one at this moment, but I knew with a little bit of work, things would be OK. I called my friend Steve (who was introduced to me by Annie actually and also has an 8×10 processor) on the phone and he and I started brainstorming on what we could possibly do. He stated that I probably shouldn’t repackage it up and ship it back, because at this point, a) I had a processor b) I might be able to find a non-working processor to repair this one and have extra parts for later .. good point .. and c) maybe .. just maybe we could get some parts printed with a 3D printer or have them created from a mold made from parts out of his. Challenging but possible. I assume these processors haven’t had replacement parts made for them in YEARS. My options were limited.

After a little bit of time, it was looking like creating a 3D print was going to be the best place to start. Steve got in contact with some friends at Dallas Maker Space, an organization he’s involved with in town and started sharing some of the images of the broken part via email . The feedback he got was positive so we met on a Thursday night and enlisted the help from one of its members to create a 3D model and print. Mike was all about it. He jumped right to it, set up his 3D printer, a Maker Bot I believe and began taking measurements, creating a model on his computer and eventually, after about 4-5 hours of work, began printing the part that was needed. His level of expertise and knowledge were greatly appreciated. This sort of thing just doesn’t happen. Serendipity is a wonderful thing. Mike ended up working late in the evening on this, but after some time, he told us he needed to clean up the 3D model a little more. He worked on it over the weekend and suggested we have the part printed up professionally once the model was finished. At this point in time, I’m in limbo and hope that this works. *my fingers are crossed*

I had booked a shoot with Sarah Sellers that upcoming weekend and I can’t tell you how excited I was to finally shoot this stuff. Even with the shipping mishap, luckily Annie (who left to go back to school for the semester) left her processor with Steve & I so we could use it while she was away. If you’re reading this Annie .. THANK YOU AGAIN. I picked up the processor and knew I had to test out a shot or two before Sarah’s shoot. Friday rolled around and I decided to cruise up to my friend’s studio to test out an image (probably a good idea right?). I set up a handful of strobes with stripboxes and an octabox. I framed Synthia holding a camera, loaded the negative into the Polaroid 81-06 holder, double checked my focus with a loupe on the 8×10, slid the holder into place, removed the dark slide and tripped the shutter. I gently slid the darkslide back into the holder and removed it from the 8×10. Nervously, I placed a positive sheet (which has the developer pods at the top) into the 81-09 tray, slid the Polaroid negative holder into place and pressed the button. The processor grabbed the negative & the positive and smeared developer paste between the two as they whirred through the rollers. Now the longest four minute wait of my life …

: Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film – Burke & James Grover

Whoa …

I was practically jumping up and down freaking out! I was in awe of just how incredible this looked! After my excitement wore off (really it never did) I messaged Sarah up telling her how excited and anxious I was about her shoot. It was going to be, for lack of a better word, epic. Epic beyond belief. 8×10 …

Saturday rolled around and my brother Josh, who’s worked extensively with Sarah over the past year producing new songs with her with his engineering parter Brad, opened up the music studio they work out of and we shot a handful of images there. For all of these images, I used a three light setup with Alien Bees. If you’re interested in heavy technical details I can give them to you. Just send a message my way to info@goodephotography.biz and I’ll be happy to pass the info along.

I shot 3 images in 3 hours and frankly, I don’t ever want to create images in any other form or fashion again. I feel that using this 8×10 camera has spoiled me. There’s absolutely nothing like large format photography. I’m hooked …

: Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film – Burke & James Grover

: Photo: Synthia Goode – 9/11 EXPIRED PZ680

: Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film – Burke & James Grover

: Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film – Burke & James Grover

Following Saturday’s shoot, we met back up on Sunday at a photography studio in Richardson to shoot some more material. This time around I wanted to capture a really good close-up of Sarah, a full length shot and of course anything else that came to mind. When she arrived, I set up a beauty dish and a couple of strip boxes and set the 8×10 up.

: Photo: Synthia Goode – 9/11 EXPIRED PZ680

This time around, because of how close I had to focus, the bellows was extended waaaaay out. I think the bellows extension factor ended up being about a stop and a half if not a little more (thanks for the tip Mat Marrash). Nervously, I slipped the holder into place, held my breath, hoped that Sarah hadn’t rocked too far back or forward and tripped the shutter.

: Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film – Burke & James Grover

Sweet! Another successful image. Phew! Shooting this stuff isn’t exactly easy and it definitely makes you think about everything .. i mean EVERYTHING when shooting each image. It’s just a little bit stressful, but I’m OK with that. I set up the lights for a full length shot and Sarah got changed into another outfit. Admittedly, the first image I took in this scene was about a stop under-exposed (I had a hunch but didn’t listen to myself .. I’ll listen next time). I loaded up another image and tried one more time. Bam.

: Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film – Burke & James Grover

By this time, we had probably spent a good 2-3 hours in the studio setting up lights and arranging things so they were just right. Out of all the images taken, I had yet to take an image outdoors. Synthia had a great idea and asked what it would look like if Sarah held the close up we had taken earlier in front of her face for an image. Brilliant. I am a fan of picture in picture images. Why not take a picture in picture with Impossible’s 8×10 PQ?

We set up outdoors in the alleyway (it was so cold!) and I snapped this image of Sarah ..

: Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film – Burke & James Grover

It was getting close to sunset, so we decided to take a break and would meet back up in an hour to take another image. For this image, which ended up being the final one of the day, I wanted to shoot a silhouette of Sarah’s profile using a two light setup. I set up a speedlight behind her with a reflector around it to create a circular shape on the wall and then set up a strobe with a stripbox to shine a little bit of light on her face. Once it was metered out and she was in the right position, you guessed it, I did the 8×10 Polaroid shuffle and waited with Sarah as the image developed.

: Impossible Project 8×10 PQ Film – Burke & James Grover

My thoughts on this film? Challenging, elegant and unforgiving. There are so many variables that you have to think of and be aware of when shooting 8×10 instant film. It really tests your skills. This stuff isn’t child’s play. I can’t stress enough just how stressful it can be to shoot, but are the results worth it? Absolutely. The experience of shooting Impossible’s 8×10 instant film are unlike any other that you will have. It creates a special bond between the photographer and the person being shot. You know that all of the work put into each image will create something unique .. something beautiful. When you shoot 8×10 instant film, you’re not just creating a photograph .. you’re creating a tangible, analog work of art.

What’s next in my journey with 8×10? Sharing this experience with others. On January 26th, I’m hosting a PolaWalk in Dallas, TX with the Instant Film Society. If you’re in the area and would like to witness this process in action, you’re more than welcome to join us. We’ll be shooting 8×10 instant images of the participants of the walk at the cost of film (hopefully we’ll have enough). If you’d like more information, click here.

Thank you Impossible for bringing back this legendary film format. Keep doing what you’re doing …

PS - Sarah Sellers, thank you for trusting me to shoot these images with you. Synthia and I had such a great time. It was a weekend we will NEVER forget.

-Justin Goode

www.instantfilmsociety.com

CLICK HERE to learn more about the Impossible Project

Exposing Slides onto Impossible Project Film

Posted on February 13, 2013 by The Instant Film Society Posted in Impossible Project 6 Comments

A couple weeks ago, I saw an ad from A&A Studios in Chicago promoting an upcoming event they are having demoing Impossible’s 8×10 film. Stated near the bottom of the ad was “Bonus! Learn how to expose 35mm on 8×10 instant film!” My wheels started turning.

I’ve been experimenting lately at my friend’s studio, MakeShift Photography, in Deep Ellum on various projects/ideas. Steve has a darkroom and I’ve been messing around with traditional black & white prints over the past few weeks along with some other things. When I saw A&A’s flyer, I assumed that they must be using an enlarger to expose the negatives onto the 8×10′s. If you guys are reading this and you’re using another method, please email me or comment below. I’d love to know what you’re doing.

I had a few packs of Impossible’s PZ-680 9/11 expired film laying around so I decided to use some of it for experimentation. If I used a B&W negative, I would expose a negative image onto the expired Spectra film, so I chose to use some slides (positives) I had laying around. One was a Kodachrome image from a trip I took back in 2010 to visit Dwayne’s Photo in Kansas and others were images that I shot in Turks & Caicos the same year.

Once I had the image inside the carrier, I put inside the enlarger and flipped on the light. I used a test image that was shot a few days earlier to orientate where the image would be exposed and could focus at the proper distance on the enlarger.

I used a piece of cardboard butted up against the left side of the frame to hold it in place.

The challenge when exposing slide film onto instant film, is that while you are extracting the image from the camera, placing it underneath the enlarger, fliping the timer to expose it, sliding it back into the film cartridge and inserting it back into the camera, there can be NO lights on during this process. You must be working completely in the dark. Unlike when you’re exposing paper in a darkroom, the negative is sensitive to all spectrums of light and will be accidentally exposed if you have the safe lights on.

After a couple of test images, it was apparent that the output from the enlarger needed to be VERY low when exposing this film. I actually had to go back and retry it once I had picked up a ND4 filter from my house the following day.

When I got back to the studio and set everything back up, I cranked the output all the way down on the enlarger, stopped the 50mm Nikon enlarger lens down to f/16 and exposed the film for 1 second.

I held the ND4 filter in front of the lens to reduce the amount of light that was hitting the negative material. When you’re doing this, you’ll notice that the output of light that is hitting the film is VERY LOW. It’s surprisingly low. You might not think anything has been exposed, but within 10-20 minutes it’s apparent that it actually did expose the film.

I tested out a couple more frames while I was in the studio. One on the expired PZ-680 film I had been using (top image in post) and another on some PX-70 COOL film that I happened to have loaded in my SX-70. The COOL film turned out pretty orange (the image directly above) which I kind of like.

Now with this method, it’s apparent that you’re not going to replicate the color & saturation that you see on your slides, however it does work. It also needs to be noted, that I tested this out with expired film. This would probably work better with Impossible’s CP film.

If you have any questions or comments about this method please post a comment or send me an email at info@instantfilmsociety.com.

Thanks for reading.

-Justin

www.instantfilmsociety.com

The LIFT IT Brush Set

Posted on February 11, 2013 by The Instant Film Society Posted in Impossible Project Leave a comment

I’ve recently started using Impossible’s LIFT IT! brush set for emulsion transfers. Included in the set are four brushes, varying in size, which aide in the removal, positioning & manipulation of the gelatinous emulsion during transfers. In the past, I was using regular watercolor brushes to remove the emulsion from the mylar surface of instant images. That had been working OK, but since I’ve gotten these, I’m never turning back …

: Impossible Project’s LIFT IT Brush Set

I’ve heard, “Aren’t these the same as brushes that I can pick up at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby?” At first, I assumed they might be. Not quite the case. When I would use other brushes, the bristles would flare out and I’d end up using the base of the bristles to push off & remove the emulsion. Sometimes I would end up tearing the emulsion while I was removing it, because invariably I was using the metal/wood portion at the base of the bristles. The LIFT IT brushes are designed well. The brushes that need to stay ridged and/or soft deliver. The #1 brush for instance, stays ridged while you use the soft bristles of the brush to remove the emulsion. This helps the user remove it without the heightened risk of tearing it. When you’re dealing with a gelatinous material, being as careful as you can is key.

Since I’ve started using the LIFT IT kit, I’ve made a handful of transfers for family & friends. I made a couple more this evening for this blog post to walk you through the steps. The steps might vary from person to person. This is one of the methods I use. I used three images to make two emulsion transfers. One will be dried & stowed away in the “another random transfer” file & the other will end up being a card for my grandmother.

: Images for emulsion transfers

: Using a sharp knife, splice the edges of the film …

: Run the knife around all four sides …

: Run the knife around all four sides …

: Keep going ..

: Carefully peel back the layers …

: Discard the bottom portion …

: I repeated the process on the remaining two images …

: The three peeled images

: Pour hot water into a tray/bowl

: I submerged the three images …

Brush #3 was made to shape, distort and to remove contortions after the transfer, however, I found that it also served well as a tool to wipe away the developer residue from the backside of the emulsion. The brush is super soft and the fine bristles worked really well at this task.

: Using brush #3, I gently wiped the developer residue away

: Using brush #3, I gently wiped the developer residue away

: Using brush #3, I gently wiped the developer residue away

: Using brush #1, I began removing the emulsions from the mylar

: Using brush #1, I began removing the emulsions from the mylar

: I gently moved the emulsions into a tray/bowl of cold water

: Once all three emulsions were in the cold tray …

: I slid a piece of card stock under one of the emulsions

: I then placed another emulsion on top of the other to help frame it

: Once I had maneuvered it around to my liking …

: I gently slid a brush under the middle and lifted it out of the water

At this point, I used brush #4 to brush away some of the creases. After a little bit of brushing the creases grew on me; I decided to leave it alone and let it dry.

: For the last emulsion, I slid a card into the water …

: Moved the emulsion on top of the submerged paper ..

: Positioned it how I liked it using brush #1 & #2 and gently removed it

Positioning these onto paper can be a little difficult. It’s best to use small delicate motions with the brushes to move it around. Once the emulsion is spread out, I’ve found you can position the paper underneath, and use gentle side-to-side motions to carefully make water movement push the image around. It takes a little bit of practice. Once I get the image where I want it, I slide a brush underneath the paper and gently push up from the middle to bring it out of the water.

: Using brush #4, I added some tears around the edges

: Using brush #4, I added some tears around the edges

: Using brush #4, I added some tears around the edges

About halfway through this process, brush #4 was a little gunked up with the gelatinous goo. Nothing a quick dip in cold water couldn’t fix; it was as good as new.

When I was finished transferring the emulsions, I used the soap provided in the LIFT IT kit and thoroughly cleaned the bristles. They were clean within a matter of seconds and I set them aside to dry.

- The Transfers –

: Example #1

: Example #2

Should you buy it? Of course. Why? For a couple of reasons .. the main one is they really do work well and if cared for properly, these brushes should last you many, many, many transfers (years!). #2 – Do I really have to say it? You’ll be supporting one of the only instant photography companies by purchasing it. Buying their products empowers them to keep providing us with great analog materials to create art. It’s a no brainer!

Help keep instant alive!

-Justin

Polaroid Macro 5 SLR + Impossible’s PZ680

Posted on February 11, 2013 by The Instant Film Society Posted in Impossible Project Leave a comment

Last weekend, Synthia and I went to the ranch to photograph Erica Perry’s bridal & promo photos. When we were finished, we headed up to Synthia’s parents house to celebrate her niece’s b-day. While we were visiting, her mom told us that she had an old 35mm camera at the dentist office that she wanted to give us. The three of us cruised up the road and rummaged around the attic and found the camera; a Yashica inter-oral macro camera. The lens has an inner ring flash and is fixed to the body (pretty cool, needs an odd battery). While we were up there, Synthia’s mom mentioned that they might have an old Polaroid too. She went searching through some boxes and dug up a Polaroid Macro 5 SLR. I quickly figured out that this could use Impossible’s Spectra film.

: Polaroid Macro 5 SLR

The excitement was buzzing through me! Macros with a Polaroid??? I’d probably seen one of these in the past, but I’d never realized what it could do. With a SX-70, the closest you can focus is 10 inches. Being able to focus closer, provides a whole new realm of creativity to dive into.

When I got back home, I searched online and found the Polaroid Macro 5′s manual. There are 5 different distances in which you can focus the camera; 52, 26, 10, 5 and 3 inches. You press the shutter down 1/2 way and it emits two dots of light from the camera. As you bring the image into focus, the dots intersect and overlap each other; a dual-light rangefinder. There are two flashes on either side of the lens (which you can toggle on & off separately) and there’s also an external PC port on the camera, so you can slave flashes off-camera.

For those that are going to try any off-camera flash photography, you’ll find the following chart useful. You should note, that the Polaroid Macro 5 has a fixed shutter speed of 1/50th. For proper exposures using off-camera flash, you’ll need to use a handheld flash meter to figure out the right output for your strobes/flashes.

: Polaroid Macro 5 SLR Camera Specifications

The first image I shot, cliche yes, was of Synthia’s eye. I wanted to get a feel for just how close this thing could focus. I set the Macro 5 to focus at its closest distance (3 inches), kept the exposure at neutral with the flashes on, and snapped the photo.

: Polaroid Macro 5 SLR – Impossible Project PZ680 Old Generation

Later on, I went to Archinal Camera to show my friend Robert the newest acquisition. He’s got a TON of old cameras on a shelf above his desk. I grabbed an old Kodak camera and snapped another macro for the blog.

: Polaroid Macro 5 SLR – Impossible Project PZ680 Old Generation

Afterwards, I went to my brother’s house and snapped a photo of Edie (my niece). She was hanging out under the kitchen table. I set the focus to 26 inches and started rocking back & forth until she was in focus. She wasn’t too fond of the focusing lights. When the image developed, I noticed a time stamp on top of the photo. I pressed the Mode button on the back until “– — —-” showed up, hoping it would turn off that feature. It did.

: Polaroid Macro 5 SLR – Impossible Project PZ680 Old Generation

What about its off camera flash capabilities?? I set up a Nikon SB-600, set at 1/16th power, about 3 inches away from a dead fly I found. I figured, why not? I set the camera to its closest focusing distance (3 inches) and hooked up some Pocket Wizards. I turned the Macro 5′s internal flashes off and fired a photo.

: Polaroid Macro 5 SLR – Impossible Project PZ-680 Old Generation

As stated in the Macro 5′s manual, “Test exposures may be required to determine the correct location and settings for the auxiliary flash unit for correct exposure”. That’s definitely the case. My Sekonic L-358 can only meter up to f/90. I was guesstimating the right output on the SB-600 and the exposure is overexposed. Regardless of the outcome of this photo, it’s pretty nice that you CAN use slaved flashes if you want to venture down that path.

One more test shot with slaved flashes. This time I used a SB-600 & SB-800 and cross lit my Leica M2. I set the focusing distance to 10 inches and tested the flash output with the L-358. It was sitting around f/51-57.

: Polaroid Macro 5 SLR – Impossible Project PZ-680 Old Generation

Phew! Talk about a tough camera to shoot with off-camera flash! With a fixed shutter speed of 1/50th and also dealing with an aperture range of f/20 – f/100, it certainly makes it challenging. Now, I haven’t given up on its capabilities yet, however, I think I’ll save this thing for the next time I’m at the Dallas Arboretum. I would imagine this thing would be great for flower & insect macros.

If macro photography is your cup of tea, you might be interested in picking up a Polaroid Macro 5 SLR from The Impossible Project here, or you can find them online on Ebay.

Thanks for reading!

-Justin

A Polaroid 95A + Impossible’s PZ-680

Posted on February 11, 2013 by The Instant Film Society Posted in Impossible Project Leave a comment

A couple months ago, I shot a pictorial showing how to u se Impossible Project film in a Mamiya RB67. Ever since then, I’ve been intrigued with the idea of using instant film in various cameras. The fact that you can use film in a camera it’s not intended for is so cool to me! You can breathe life into old cameras. This morning, I was looking at the size of PZ680 Spectra film, and I noticed a dusty old Polaroid 95A sitting on my shelf. When I got this thing, it was basically useless. Film for this camera hasn’t been made in a loooong time.

: Polaroid 95A

Would the back be big enough to fit a frame of Spectra film in?

: PZ680 placed inside the back of a Polaroid 95A

Like a glove. I did some quick research online about the camera; f/8.8 with shutter speeds from 1/12th – 1/100th & a bulb setting. Using this technique, I extracted the photo from my Spectra and put it inside the 95A while in the darkroom,*my closet*. NOTE: When closed, the 95A’s back holds the film in place perfectly. Nothing extra is needed to keep the film flat & in place. If you’re removing film from your camera in the darkroom/closet, you will need a darkslide to put over the top of the cartridge BEFORE inserting it back in the camera.

- CLICK HERE for the Polaroid 95A Manual -

The camera has notches for focusing from 3.5 – 50ft. To check its close focus, I snapped a quick photo inside my bathroom, with the lens roughly 21 inches away from the mirror. I metered the scene; 1/4th, f/8 @ 640. I tripped the shutter at the #1 setting @ 1/12th.

EDIT: Once I shot the image, I took the camera into the darkroom/closet to extract the photo, slid it back into an empty cartridge, stuck the cartridge in the Spectra and it ejected the image to start development.

: Impossible Project PZ680 – Polaroid 95A – 1/12th

SWEET. I went up the road to Archinal Camera and had Robert test the shutter speeds. On the 95A I have, the average shutter speeds are …

1. 1/12th

2. 1/20th

3. 1/35th

4. 1/60th

5. 1/65th

6. 1/70th

7. 1/80th

8. 1/100th

When testing, the speeds were a little erratic. They would jump around slightly, but for the most part, when I pressed the shutter release slowly, the results were fairly consistent.

NOTE: If this is something you are going to try, take in account that with the 95A you might have, there will be some variances to the shutter speeds because of aged mechanical parts. Also, when using this method, because of the 95A’s limited range of functionality & Impossible’s film sensitivity, you will be restricted as to where and when you can shoot.

I loaded up another image later on in the evening and shot a 1 second exposure of a reflection near my house focusing at 50 ft. I used the bulb setting on the 95A and estimated the one second exposure.

: Impossible Project PZ680 Old Gen – Polaroid 95A – 1 second exposure

It’s a little overexposed (and not too great of an image) BUT at least I know for the things I’ll use this for, the focusing works.

Also, for close-ups at 3.5 ft, FRAMING IS DIFFICULT. I took a quick picture of my neighbor Tom and as you can see, I wasn’t quite centered completely. The viewfinder really doesn’t work for this distance, so you will have to try and position the lens where you think it should be for the composition. Tom was really excited to have his picture taken. His father used to take pics of him with a Polaroid 95A in the 50′s …

: Impossible Project PZ680 Old Gen – Polaroid 95A – 1/35th

Later on in the evening, I grabbed a picture of the South Side building near downtown Dallas. NOTE: All images are reversed when shot through the 95A …

: South Side on Lamar – Impossible Project PZ680 Old Gen – Polaroid 95A

If you’ve got a Polaroid 95A just sitting on the shelf, like so many people do, it can still be used! When/if you try this, I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK! As long as there are no light leaks and you gently handle the film when moving it from place to place, everything should be OK. Granted, it’s not the easiest way to make an image, and there are a handful of extra variables, but who cares. If you enjoy a roundabout creative process, pick yourself up some Spectra film and try it out!

Take your time and enjoy the fruits of your labor

-Justin

BUY IMPOSSIBLE PROJECT SPECTRA FILM HERE!

Using Impossible Project Film in a Mamiya RB67 aka “The Patrick Clarke Method”

Posted on February 11, 2013 by The Instant Film Society Posted in Impossible Project Leave a comment

On my other blog, I touched briefly on Impossible’s viewfinder article on Patrick Clarke regarding his use of a Mamiya RB67 with Impossible Project film. The article did a great job of explaining how it works and for photography-minded individuals nothing further is needed. However, for people just getting into instant film or photography in general, a pictorial on the subject would clear up any potential guesswork that has be done.

: Mamiya RB67 + Polaroid SX-70

This method (not what’s pictured above ) works with Impossible’s SX-70 & 600 series film. When I first read about this, I was stoked because I knew I had the gear to try this out. It’s a pretty backwards way of taking a photo, BUT the fact that you’re able to do it, is really cool. Clarke touched on the RB67′s qualities in the article ”… amazed at how technically perfect the camera and its lenses were. I could control the depth of field, the shutter speed and aperture exactly like I wanted. My exposures were dead on, and the images were sharp as I could want” .. I couldn’t agree more. The fact that you can utilize these qualities with Impossible film is awesome.

Now the how to’s ..

First, from this point forward, **anything inside asterisks MUST BE DONE in complete darkness (in a dark room, light-tight bag, dark closet etc.)** Dealing with undeveloped film, because it’s so sensitive to light, has to be kept in the dark until it’s developed. This particular method, extracting film from a cartridge for use in another camera, needs a certain level of care in order to keep the image undeveloped until you’re ready.

If you don’t have access to a darkroom or a really dark closet, you will need to insert a dark slide into the cartridge to protect the film from light before removing it.

: Release the lock and swing down the rollers …

: Pull out the film cartridge just a little bit …

: Carefully insert a dark slide OVER the top of images inside the cartridge

There’s a great video on Impossible’s website that teaches you how to swap film packs between cameras that talks about these first steps if you’re interested.

: Push the dark slide all the way in ..

: Pull the film cartridge ….

: Out of the camera …

: Gently press down with your thumbs and push the dark slide up … NOTE: Do this in a dark area so light doesn’t leak onto the top of the image.

: Voila! Happy unexposed film …

: Take the Polaroid back off of the RB67 …

At this point, you need to put the Polaroid back & the freshly removed film cartridge in a changing bag (a light tight bag used to extract film) or your darkroom . In total darkness you will need to …

: **Open the back and remove the empty film cartridge**

: **Remove & place an unexposed photo face down in the film back** Use a photo before hand to figure out the optimal placement for the film.

: **Gently replace the empty FP-100C cartridge to hold the film in place.**Make sure the photo doesn’t move when you push down the cartridge …

: **Close it up** and remount the Polaroid back to the RB67.

Go take a picture of something!

: For reference: The RB67 opening is almost the same size as Impossible images ..

Once you have shot your image, remove the Polaroid back and put it back in the changing bag with the Impossible film cartridge & a SX-70/600 series camera (or go to a darkroom if you’re so lucky ). Remove the exposed image from the Polaroid back and …

: **Move the plastic light seal down. Squeeze the sides of the cartridge gently to make room to insert the exposed photo**

: **Slide the exposed image back into the cartridge …**

: **

: **Reinsert the cartridge into the camera**

: **Push it in and close the front … the photo will eject and start to develop**

At this point, I normally slide an empty PX70 box inside the changing bag to store & remove the exposed image.

EXAMPLE: Note the reversed image when shooting this way …

That’s about it! Now this method will work with any NPC back that uses FP-100C film. The only question will be how much ‘real estate’ is being exposed on the negative.

Thanks for reading and thanks to this blog post for the inspiration!

-Justin