Topic: my polaroids are suddenly going dark...

[formica]

the last two shots on my first roll through the polaroid 450 have suddenly gone very dark. anyone have any ideas why? the shot below in a field was taken in the middle of the day with plenty of light. the lighten dial had been set to slightly lighten(two or three lines i think). then the stone lion i set it to even lighter and it's just as dark. i hadn't adjusted anything new on the camera since i shot other more successful shots. maybe i waited too long to peel apart the film? or not long enough? ideas?

            william

[Sorry, image deleted during forum software upgrade. Please re-upload if so inclined.]

[choppert]

Try changing the battery.

Sounds daft but I had a similar problem with my 320.

Changed the battery and all back to normal.

Chops

[formica]

Try changing the battery.

Sounds daft but I had a similar problem with my 320.

Changed the battery and all back to normal.

Chops

but the battery is brand new. it couldn't have died so quickly could it? dead even before shooting a single roll?

                  william

[Francois]

Check the batteries with a tester. I've once gotten bad batteries directly from the store.

Could also be the Cadmium sulphide CDS cell's memory. They can take up to 30 seconds to adjust to the light... that is one problem I have with a vintage Konica.

[traskblueribbon]

its definitely electrical...

[moominsean]

yeah batteries or the meter just went bad. easy way to check to see if it works is to shoot in a low lit or dark room. if the shutter stays open for a long time, it works. i bought a propack for cheap at goodwill and the thing just didn't work. shutter always opened the same bit of time, photos would just be dark or black like that.

you can leave your film unpeeled for hours... only develops so much.

[formica]

well, the shutter is working. it stays open for a longer time when in a lowlight situation and much quicker in stronger light. hopefully, it's just a battery issue or maybe the battery connection is coming loose during the exposure.  if it's the meter is there a way to test it aside from shooting film in it?

           william

[moominsean]

if it was the battery, then the shutter wouldn't stay open longer. dunno then. maybe it's just that pack of film. or maybe the sensor is just screwed up.

[Francois]

I don't think batteries have much to do with it...
I know that if I was an engineer, I would put a transistor to keep voltage the same no matter what the battery's power is.

On the other hand, I know some cameras use a condenser hooked up to the timer. Condensers tend to dry our and go bad with age. If the camera goes back to the 60's or 70's, it's very probable this is the problem.