Topic: moominsean! polaroid 250 question. ..

[ChristopherCoy]

Whats the easiest way to foolbthe magic eye into a proper exposure for backlit photos? Is there a way?

[snpshts]

Sorry for answering not being asked...

Maybe you could make an ND-Filter that fits over the magic eye? This will prolong exposure.

[moominsean]

Hmmmm, I use manual Polaroid camera 99.9% of the time. But from my experience with the auto cameras, there isn't a whole lot you can do to manipulate the behavior. They don't have the "press down to set exposure, then press down more to take the shot" feature that a lot of auto exposure cameras have. The Polaroid auto cameras seem particularly primitive to me, which is why I don't use them much. I always disliked the fact that if you aim it towards the sun, you get a "black" shot. I guess what was said above, try an ND filter over the exposure meter (though it may not make a difference, as it will still expose for the light source and one or the other will be washed out). Even the manuals pretty much just say don't shoot with bright stuff in the background if you want to properly expose the foreground. I have plenty of shots taken with my Colorpack and Square Shooter that are basically black outlines of objects in front of perfectly exposed skies.

What type of film are you using?

[ChristopherCoy]

Well i just bought FP100C yesterday.

I've shot a 420, a Reporter, an EE100, and this is my second 250. I scored it for $50 in perfect condition this weekend at a flea market. Retrofited the battery, bought some FP100C yesterday, and it works.

But my last 250 tended to shoot dark as well.  I tried 4 shots of my black greyhound laying in the shade yesterday, and although they aren't completely black, they are very dark. Thankfully I'll be able to scan the negs and hopefully open them up digitally. But someone mentioned that they were backlit, so I was wondering if there was a way to fool the exposure. I'm not against blown out backgrounds, especially on these type of images.

[ChristopherCoy]

To make it worse.... its been a year since I shot ANYTHING really, much less film. I have two strips of negatives hanging in the same spot I put them to dry over a year ago.

And its been at least a year and a half or more since I shot pack film.

[Chalky]

Apparently the 200 series are more prone to electronics failures that other models for some reason so the electronic eye may be a bit off.... But I agree that backlit with the auto cameras is very hard to expose well

[SLVR]

the magic eye on a polaroid works the same way the meter works on an LC-A. If you want to compensate for backlighting just cover half of the eye itself with your finger and adjust from there.

My 420 is hard to expose as well. Really, these pack cameras aren't the most reliable in my experience. And at a significant cost per shot I'm not open to just wasting shots "trying" things out. I don't shoot with it often.

[Adam Doe]

That is what I have heard as well, that the 200 line of Land Cameras used capacitors that over time lost... ummm... capacity thereby underexposing. I have at least 3 200 series cameras that underexpose by about 2 full stops. My 100, 300 and 400 series Land Cameras tend to expose well.

Apparently the 200 series are more prone to electronics failures that other models for some reason so the electronic eye may be a bit off.... But I agree that backlit with the auto cameras is very hard to expose well

[Francois]

If you're lucky, Polaroid didn't use mystery caps in these (they had theirs custom made for the SX-70 with no label). So it should be relatively simple to take the front apart, replace them by fresh ones and re-assemble the whole thing.

[SLVR]

Oh really... Might be worth a shot actually. With the case of my 250 it wouldn't close the shutter in low light, therefore overexposing.

I thought though that the problem lied within the selenium cell itself. In my experiences it almost seemed as though the cell wasn't efficient enough to gather enough light to fill the cap that closes the shutter.

[Ed Wenn]

I've used a number of the magic eye Land Cameras; mainly a 320, 420 & 360, but I suspect I had a 200-series at one time or another. Who knows, I may have one now. I never noticed a difference between any of them from the exposure side of things. However, the qualifier to that statement is that I mainly use expired 125i film (not the in date Fuji stuff), so always set my exposure meter thingy to brighter-than-normal to make sure I get something on the print. Perhaps if I used in-date film I might be more picky about exposure levels.

On occasion - to fool the magic eye - I have put my finger in front of it and generally this got the results I was after.

[moominsean]

And honestly even with the manual cameras, I tend to only shoot in what I called "preferred light". Polaroid film is so finicky (and kind of sucks as film, though I love it) and one stop difference can be under or overexposed, and with the auto exposure cameras (these are all 250 and Colorpack shots) in particular it is usually shot all sun (harsh lighting)...

El Mirage, AZ by moominsean, on Flickr

Untitled by moominsean, on Flickr

or no sun (even lighting)...

Shimokitazawa, Tokyo by moominsean, on Flickr

Untitled by moominsean, on Flickr

though you can play with the eye sometimes and get great (lucky) results...

Untitled by moominsean, on Flickr

Untitled by moominsean, on Flickr

Untitled by moominsean, on Flickr

So really just look for ideal situations and (I know it's expensive) shoot a lot! You will always get shit shots with Polaroid film but you can learn to control it some. I do usually just give up on shooting Polaroids if it is a dark day or the sun is low in the sky so I'm not just wasting shots.

I recently started using a Daylab with slide film (even more expensive) because the 35mm camera knows how to expose better in crappy or low light and I get great Polaroids typically, and it allows a spontaneity that Polaroid cameras don't have...

Gary, IN by moominsean, on Flickr

Shibuya, Tokyo by moominsean, on Flickr

Class dismissed! I guess I'm making up for not having done a blog post in forever.