Fade to What The ?

Got an email today from Polapremium advertising a new film which among other things states

Everyone at the Polapremium headquarters is excited!...We did not want to release this treasure before we knew exactly what it does, how it reacts and what can be done with it. So we have tested it for a long time now and are finally ready to launch this jewel. Curious?

Sounds good yes? I don't know about you but I am exited. Tell me more while I look for my credit card.

Strikingly special about this unique film is that shortly after taking the photo the picture drifts through different phases of light bluish greens through darker brownish reds, slowly collecting more and more unusual textures and streaks before it turns to blackness.

light bluish greens...yum....darker brownish reds......OK... My credit card number is......wait...it turns to WHAT????

before it turns to blackness.

Hmmm...must have read that wrong. Let's continue.

It is almost as if TIME tears at the picture's existence in FAST FORWARD.

Within 12 hrs the film reaches an incredibly beautiful darkness. Within 24 hrs the picture turns to BLACK.

The precious moment of time becomes a VISUAL SECRET.

Visual secrets, beautiful darkness, turns to black......whaooo!!!! Turns to black?

OK. If I am reading this correctly, the film will go black and you will have no photograph within 24 hours. Are Polapremium taking the piss????? I am pretty sure something that turns to black 24 hours after you expose it to light is not the definition of a "jewel".

But...

Reading on further, PP go on to list some techniques on how to make the photo permanent and this is where it starts to sound pretty interesting. First of all, there are a couple of  methods where you can peel off the positive from the negative which looks like it will stop the development process.

There is also a "solar" technique where you let the photo sit in the sun for a few weeks and an image will reappear.

And I have to admit, from the photos in the email, the results from the peel apart and the solar techniques look excellent.

But sill, this is obviously sub standard film that was either unfinished when the Polaroid plant closed or fished out of the trash can at the back of the factory. Or maybe, this film is from a not so successful experiment by the Impossible Project.

Either way, I think it is funny to read the email with all the marketing speak (Someone just got their diploma from the Lomographic Institute of Marketing). But if you feel like experimenting (and I will admit I am tempted myself), check out the link below.

Link: http://www.polapremium.com/shop/film/sx70/fi_sx70_1_1009_fade

The Impossible Project

So the Polanoid / Unsaleable / Polapremium people are having another count down (68000 seconds to go as I write this.) This time the web site is http://theimpossibleproject.com/ From what rumors on the web are saying, it looks like this site may be announcing that the Polaroid plant in Enschede, The Netherlands may start producing film again. Rumors are that it could be be up and running by 2010.

This discussion post (in Dutch) is one of the sources cited in the rumor.

If it's true, it really will be great.

I guess we will find out tomorrow.

Chocolate In The Snow

I tried out the Polaroid 100 Chocolate film this weekend in the snowy mountains around Lake Tahoe on the California/Nevada border. The 100 Chocolate film has an ISO rating of 80 so I set my Polaroid Automatic 230 to the 75 setting. The first few shots came out a little under exposed.

I assume this is because the light meter was fooled by the very bright conditions due to the snow or water.

For the next batch, I moved the Lighten/Darken control a stop to the Lighten side and the shots were a little brighter.

Even though the second batch are probably better exposed, I think I prefer the dark and moody under exposed shots.

The Chocolate film texture is a little different from other Polaroid film I have used. There is a noticeable pattern on the film that gives the photos an old-timey aged effect which I like.

Polaroid 100 Chocolate is one of the recently released films that came from the the last runs at the Polaroid factories and it is available exclusively at Polapremium.

The future of Polaroid (?)

The wait is over. Polapremium launched today with an assortment of Polaroid film types to satisfy every instant photography buff to their hearts content. eh.. wait...OK. That was what I was planning to write but to be honest, the actual launch of the site didn't live up to the hype. From what I can tell, Polarpremium is just a new name and web location for Unsaleable.com (that website now points you to Polarpremium.com). Right now, the site appears to be selling the same stock that was available on the old site although there a few items that maybe are new stock (is the B&W 600 new to the site perhaps?).

There has been a lot of discussion about this on Flickr in the Polaroid and Polapremium groups with the general concesus being that people are dissappointed.

I'm pretty disappointed. It's just Unsaleable with a new face.

Next time, dont give us a countdown to nothing.

The SavePolaroid.com people, who appear to have some connection with Polapremium, are saying that this is only the beginning but I have to admit as a beginning this was pretty lame. It's like Polapremium started their count down clock before they were ready. Before they got their hands on the "...completely new products, never produced before, high quality material, hand assembled during the last production runs in Mexico (last packfilm factory) as well as in Enschede (last integral film factory)." (see here).

I am willing to keep an open mind. Maybe Polapremium jumped their own gun and maybe there will be some big announcment soon that will live up to the hype.

PolaPremium Update

So what we now know is that polapremium.com is run by unsaleable.com and will be a place to buy cameras  and accessories related to Polaroid. Nothing new about that. However, the exciting part is that it looks like unsaleable have struck a deal with Polaroid to make large quantities of film before the factories shut down in Mexico and Enschede in Holland. The following statement is from the Polanoid website.

We are very proud to inform you about the fact that we could persuade the Polaroid management to produce an outstanding amount of breathtaking film, before closing down their factories. Many of these films are completely new products, never produced before, high quality material, hand assembled during the last production runs in Mexico (last packfilm factory) as well as in Enschede (last integral film factory). All these film as well a a wide selection of Polaroid cameras, books and accessories will be presented and celebrated at www.polapremium.com, the new home of Instant Photography.

This is an exciting turn of events for people who's Polaroid film stocks are dwindling or have disappeared altogether.

My only fear is that when the site launches (in 547,954 seconds according to the website), there will be a rush on the film leaving those who are not online for the opening in the same boat they are now.

Maybe this is a time to go into the refrigerated storage business.

Time will tell so stay tuned.

PolaPremium ???

http://polapremium.com/ coming 11.27.08 See also the PolaPremium flickr group

Update: Some internet sleuths have tracked down the owner of the website to the same company that owns Unsaleable.com. Hopefully it's not another attempt to pass off the PoGo digital printer (aka Zink) as a Polaroid film replacement. More likely Unsaleable have gotten their hands on a new run of film. The excitement is building.

Update (11-20-08): I got an email from Unsaleable today confirming that this is from them.