Topic: New Hope For The Instant Peel Apart Format?

[Ed Wenn]

Hi all, I came across this Chinese photography company who have been putting R&D effort into new film. One of the formats they are apparently working on is peel apart instant film. Mark me down as VERY interested on that front. Here's the blog post: https://lightlenslab.com/blogs/upcoming-project/film-project-announcement

What do we all think? Is it even a remote possibility? I may have to email them and ask where they're at with their plans.

Since their initial blog post in January 2025, they have provided 3 further blog posts - including a fascinating one where they have photos of their equipment. The most recent is from 31st May. They seem to be making good progress on the 35mm and 120 format stuff. No mention of the peel apart though...which isn't a surprise.

[Francois]

It's funny because when LightLens outlined their plan, everybody was saying it was impossible and that they would fail. But six months later, here they are with machinery and two working prototype products. So I'm definitely hopeful. It might take a bit longer for the peel apart stuff as they are building their own formulas from scratch. They say that they want to make it all in-house with their own recipes to avoid any patent infringement or having to depend on other companies, so that is a very commandable goal.

Like everything, I'm a bit cautious but definitely optimistic this will come to fruition considering how far they've made it in such a short time.

[Kai-san]

Technically it is not Impossible®, the question is how much money they've got to invest in developing and building a production line. The machines that Polaroid used to produce those ten-packs were quite complex, which you can imagine if you've seen how those packs work. Supersense in Wien (another "doc" Florian Kaps project) makes single shot packs, but they come at a price. I really would like so see a more affordable alternative, so we just need to keep our fingers crossed.

[Francois]

One of the things they have going for them is that the Chinese are really clever engineers, they figure out ways to do things really fast.

[Adam Doe]

Did someone say peel apart? I may have to dust the cameras off.

[Francois]

I'd just hold on to the camera and save myself the trouble of dusting it right away. I feel it's probably another 2 to 3 years before they come out with it.