5 Frames with the Polaroid Now on i-Type Color Film

By Erin O'Leary

There’s something special about instant photography – the ability to capture a moment in time and hold it in your hands in an instant. And when it comes to instant cameras, few are as iconic as the Polaroid. The Polaroid Now is one of the newer instant cameras from Polaroid, and is the precursor to the latest Polaroid Now +. 

Until now, I’ve always been a diehard Instax fan (mostly because of the price), but with several upcoming instant photography workshops this summer, I want to become more familiar with Polaroid so that I can cater to both Instax and Polaroid users. 

I borrowed the Polaroid Now from a friend of mine and took my very first Polaroid image back in March. This camera uses both Polaroid i-Type and 600 film, where the only difference between these two types of film is that Polaroid 600 has a built-in battery unlike the i-Type film and works on older Polaroid camera models. I took all of the following photos using the Polaroid Now with i-Type color film.

Here are five of my favorites:  

“After the Rain” – Berlin, Germany 04/2023

This is an image of a rainbow shot from my balcony in the late afternoon. I was shocked that the rainbow even showed up on the film. I half expected the camera to overexpose the sky, but surprisingly the camera did pretty well with properly exposing this image.  

“Primary Colors” – Berlin, Germany 03/2023

I titled this photo based on the red, yellow and blue color scheme of the building. Though I really like this image, I would’ve preferred a little more saturation and “pop” in the colors.  There are also some chemical spots that appeared on the Polaroid film, but I kind of like how it looks like whimsical light beams dancing around the image. 

“Blossoms” – Berlin, Germany 03/2023

I photographed a lot of trees, blossoms and flowers with this camera, but unfortunately, the Polaroid Now doesn’t do well with close ups. I especially love the contrast between the white blossoms and the blue sky in this photo. Once again though, several chemical spots appeared on the edges of the frame. 

“Yellow” – Berlin, Germany 04/2023

This yellow building stood out to me in contrast to the stickered-up car parked in front of it. The camera had some difficulty balancing the exposure on this image and the colors are a bit muted compared to real life. However, I’m starting to embrace these little Polaroid imperfections as part of the art. 

“Moonrise Over Balconia” – Berlin, Germany 03/2023

This is another image shot from my balcony. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of this exposure. The Polaroid Now captured the beautiful pink hues in the sky, the full moon and even the rooftop without over/under exposing the image.  

Overall, I really enjoy experimenting with this camera. Have you used the Polaroid Now or other Polaroid cameras? How do they compare? If you have any recommendations,  I’d love to hear your them in the comments below!  

To find out more about me and my work, check out my Instagram @instax_berlin

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About The Author

By Erin O'Leary
Erin O'Leary graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Photography from Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in 2011. Upon graduation, she left the United States and began teaching English in Poland, China and Germany. She currently lives in Berlin, Germany.
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Comments

Graham Coad on 5 Frames with the Polaroid Now on i-Type Color Film

Comment posted: 06/06/2023

I quite like messing around with instant film. I have an instax mini and a 300 Wide, which I prefer.
I always wish that the images could be sharper and crisper though. Is their usual blurriness down to the instant cameras' lenses or down to the films?
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Erin O'Leary replied:

Comment posted: 06/06/2023

I love it too! I think it's a little of both... for example the Mini 90 and the Mini Evo (both of which I have too) have more creative control than some of the others, but at the same time, it's partly due to the camera and how well the internal light meter is reading the environment and partly due to the print quality. For example, you can set the Mini Evo to also print brighter and it has one of the best print qualities in the Instax series. I also try to manipulate the exposure sometimes by partially covering the light meter or letting the flash fire even when it's not necessary to get a better exposure.

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Nik Stanbridge on 5 Frames with the Polaroid Now on i-Type Color Film

Comment posted: 06/06/2023

I think these are truly remarkable and excellent photos given the recent (ok, last decade) history and performance of the film produced by Polaroid (or rather, The Impossible Project). They are pretty much what I would have expected from the original Polaroid film/cameras.

Do you still have to shade the film from light when it pops out or can you marvel at the image as it appears - as in days gone by?
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Erin O'Leary replied:

Comment posted: 06/06/2023

Thank you! Yes, honestly, this was my first time ever really using Polaroid. I have a lot more experience with Instax and I find the Instax film far more stable than Polaroid. Everything I've read says it should still be shielded from the light and there are often little marks or imperfections that appear on a fresh pack of film. Regardless though, I'm really starting to appreciate both the size and the creative/experimental aspects of working with Polaroid (i.e. creating emulsion lifts). I do find the film fades or tends to change colors eventually, so that's probably the biggest downside to using Polaroid.

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Scott Gitlin on 5 Frames with the Polaroid Now on i-Type Color Film

Comment posted: 07/06/2023

Nice captures. I look at Polaroids as miniature paintings. If you are in an art gallery, you are not looking for sharp detail in paintings - composition is the key. The challenge is to match the Polaroid imperfections with the right scene.
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Ibraar Hussain on 5 Frames with the Polaroid Now on i-Type Color Film

Comment posted: 09/06/2023

nice colour mood and really sweet compositions
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Patrick on 5 Frames with the Polaroid Now on i-Type Color Film

Comment posted: 03/07/2023

Darn, the original polaroids looked much better still. Not a knock on your photography skills. It's just a shame they can't get the formula right. Fuji actually makes a decent product, but the dingy polaroid colors have turned me away from resurrecting my old 600. I wait...
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