Polaroid
SX-70
by Karen Nakamura
Overview
and Personal Comments
The Polaroid SX-70 is a folding SLR Polaroid pack film camera first introduced in 1972 by the Polaroid Corporation and produced in various iterations up until the early 1980s. The SX-70 accomplished several things: Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.
- First motorized Polaroid camera
- First non-peel apart self-contained, self-developing film
- First foldable SLR (single-lens reflex) design
Interesting quirks
It's a folding SLR! The design is very modern and cool. I don't know why Polaroid ever discontinued it. In fact, I'd blame half of their recent descent into bankruptcy because of their idiotic marketing. They really had a timeless gem with the SX-70, they shouldn't have abandoned it as quickly as they did.If they had produced an SX-70 using the new 600 film, they could have most probably gone on producing it even into the mid-90s. None of the 1980/90 era Polaroids had quite as much personality as the folding SX-70s. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.
The
SX-70 has been undergoing somewhat of a revival these days. Many people are
snapping them up. There are some distinct groupings at play here:
- Collectors - the SX-70 is the quintiessential 1970s modern camera. The value of them on the market has been increasing quite nicely.
- Artists - the SX-70 film is softer than the current 600 film and allows for easier Polaroid manipulations
- Users - the manually focused SX-70s are just nice to use, perhaps one of the nicest Polaroid cameras ever made
The Polaroid web site has a copy of the manual online, but because I'm worried that the company might not be around much longer, here's a mirrored copy of it in PDF format.
SX-70s are famous because the SX-70 film takes a long time to "fix" or set permanently. Normally you would think this would be a Bad Thing™ and indeed Polaroid released the "Time-Zero" quick-fixing film soon afterwards. But the beauty of the slow-fixing SX-70 film is that there is plenty of time (2-3 days if you judiciously cool/reheat it) to make Polaroid manipulations. Rather than spending a lot of hot air explaining what a Polaroid manipulation is, see these great Polaroid artist websites:
I think Polaroid type film will be around for a little while more. Fuji has been making it for Polaroid for some time now, so even if Polaroid goes belly-up, we should be able to get our film through Fuji. I've been noticing however, that most of the SX-70 film I've been seeing is the newer "Time-Zero" film which isn't as good for Polaroid manipulations. If you know of a source of the slow-set SX-70 film, please let me know. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.
[Apparently there was a late-production model that took contemporary Polaroid 600 film and was largely built of plastic. It's fairly rare, I haven't seen one personally. The person who sent this info said he saw it for $200 at a camera store.]
Update 2002.02.23: Well, it turns out I was both too optimistic and too pessimistic. Fuji quit making SX-70 film so many of us were stuck for several years. But then the Impossible Project came to our aid and has been producing SX-70 compatible film. More info here: http://the-impossible-project.com/
I haven't tried Impossible Film yet, but will let you know what my results are like. Whatever the quality, it will surely be better than the 20 year old SX-70 stock that I was using!
Example 1: Brown and silver Polaroid SX-70 with coach-quality leather genuined Polaroid carrying case in full working condition. With bulb flash attachment. Camera is in nearly pristine condition with excellent leather condition. Chrome has no visible scratches. Camera opens and closes smoothly. Rollers are clean with no traces of developing residue.
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Example #2: Rare Black and Silver SX-70 with leather carrying case Black and silver Polaroid SX-70 with coach-quality leather genuined Polaroid carrying case in full working condition. With bulb flash attachment new in box. Camera is in nearly pristine condition with excellent leather condition. Chrome has no visible scratches. Camera opens and closes smoothly. Rollers are clean with no traces of developing residue. Camera fully tested and working.
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Technical Details
| Camera
Name |
SX-70 Model 1 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer |
Polaroid |
| Place
of Manufacture |
U.S.A. |
| Date
of Manufacture |
1972 - 1977 |
| Focusing
system |
Single-lens reflex with ground glass focusing. |
| Lens |
4 element glass lens |
| Shutter |
Lens-leaf shutter |
| Metering
System |
Non-ttl reflective light metering |
| Apertures |
f/8 - f/22 controlled by camera AE system |
| Flash |
Flash bulbs |
| Film
type / speeds |
Polaroid SX-70 Pack Film (ASA 125) |
| Battery
type |
6v zinc battery built into each pack film cartridge |
| Note: Using the text or images on this site in an ebay auction without permission is a violation of your ebay Terms of Service. I will report you to ebay if I discover such a violation taking place. This may result in your account being cancelled. I also reserve the right to file claim for civil penalties. |
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About Polaroid
The Polaroid Corporation will be remembered in history as a company with the best products and the worst marketing ever.
On the Net
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I stumbled upon your site looking for info on the Zeiss Ikon Contina. WOW, What an awesome site ! Anyway, I fell in love with the SX-70 just when it came out. I wound up buying a "Spectra", later (when I was out of school). The spectra had auto focus, and a few other changes. F.Y.I., there is an article in Popular Science that delves into the film technology of the SX-70. I remember it was an interesting read (January 1973, pp 84). It is on their web site. THANKS !!
Sorry to pollute your site with two comments. The Spectra (I remembered) DID use the 600 film packs. So this whole folding-SLR idea died (maybe) of it's own accord.
You have a nice site.
I was (still am, to a degree) an avid photographer when the SX-70 came out; I was in high school at the time. To me, one of the most interesting things about the SX-70 was how Polaroid rolled out the product. There was a release date for the camera and the film, and, on the release date, every Polaroid retailer got ONE SX-70 to sell or whatever (I imagine some ended up going home with shop owners).
At the time, I was in Richmond, Virginia. As I recall, we had four or five camera shops. Each got one SX-70. The local department stores had camera departments - each got one SX-70. Best Products was a locally-based catalog showroom retailer which probably sold as many Polaroid products as the rest of the retailers combined, and the predecessor of Circuit City was also operating two discount stores with camera departments - each got a single SX-70. The local drug store in Urbanna, Virginia, with a population of around 500 folks got one, too.
I was fortunate enough to have a buddy who worked in the camera department at one of the "prehistoric Circuit City" discount stores, and he was kind enough to actually let me hold an SX-70, and even (gasp!) take a picture with it. That was a big deal. At the time, you were more likely to find a counter display of Rolex watches and diamond rings than a SX-70 that wasn't locked securely away in a display case.
A big deal at the time. In retrospect, it was a quantum leap forward in Land Camera technology, but it was an expensive camera to operate and maybe one of the least eco-friendly devices ever made, spitting pout extra paper and having a battery to be thrown away with every "roll" of film.