Polaroid Series: 600 Type.

For those that don't know I have a passion for Polaroid and analogue cameras and have done since I was about 10 years old. I just love the fact you can watch a photograph develop in front of your eyes and capture a moment in time. I started this Polaroid series (link here to the last one I did) as I have multiple camera's of different shapes and sizes and prices and thought it would be interesting to talk about them.

The camera I've chosen to talk about today is the 600 Series. This is the camera that started the obsession all those years ago. I remember  looking through the Argos catalogue for my 10 or 11th birthday and setting my eyes upon the Polaroid camera and deciding that was what I wanted for my birthday. I still have the original few photographs I took at my dads house, it was mostly of my family, my nan, my friend Lucy and I and other random crap. 

As you can tell from the photo, it's looking a bit old now but it still works perfectly fine 15 years later. This model is super bulky and heavy and you unfold the top, which as soon as you do you can hear the flash charge up.

There is a little thing you can flick between to look down the view finder, it's meant to help you pick between shooting 1 person or multiple people but I really don't think it makes a difference, they all come out pretty much the same anyway. There is also the standard little view finder in the back to see how many films you have left in the camera, although this version goes up to 10, as back in the day you got 10 shots per film pack rather than the 8 you commonly get now, so be warned when loading it up now it will always be 2 less than the number it shows you.

This camera is still really decent and still is being sold some places, I think you can get these in different colours now rather than the standard grey you got when I got mine, I know I've definitely seen some black versions around. This version also has a strap to help hold the camera steady when you are taking shots.

I do still like this camera, it comes with a flash which is handy in some situations but the really big downfall for this is how big and bulky it is, it's almost impossible to carry around in a bag without it getting in the way and it's not exactly subtle when cracking it out in public. I would know seeing as I was that girl asking waiters to take photos of us and them literally looking at me like I'd handed them a human head. But it's a classic and still looks pretty retro and cool on my shelf.

This takes pretty standard shots, I wouldn't take this with me if I wanted something super detailed or in the distance but it's fine for group shots of people or fairly close up things, but it's not the most high tech of the ones I own, but maybe a fun starting point for someone getting into Polaroid cameras. The last time I looked on eBay these were still very cheap and easy to get a hold of.

Black and white film. (I'm on the far right btw!)

Colour film, My brother and I at Wayne Manor aka Wollaton Park.

An example of when the roller doesn't spread the ink out evenly.

An example of old out of date film which changes the colours etc.

It takes 600 type film, which is the iconic square shape that everyone associates with Polaroid and is still pretty readily available from the modern film stores (Impossible Project) but you can also find some out of date stuff on eBay. Out of date film can be fun because it unpredictable and can give some cool effects if you like experimenting, but I would recommend you buy new if you want nice crisp and decent pictures.

So that is my overview of the 600 type Polaroid camera, I will be doing more of these in the future as I cover all of my collection, so please check back! Please let me know if you are a Polaroid camera fan or you want to get into them and need some advice, I would love to hear from you!