Can digital Polaroids still be considered Polaroids?

In 1943, the daughter of American scientist Edwin Herbert Land asked a question - why can’t the photos taken be seen immediately? An average parent may explain that "film needs to be developed", while a more complicated parent may explain to the child the principle, structure and process of taking pictures with a film camera. But Rand was different. After hearing his daughter's question, he thought about another question - yes, why can't you see the photo immediately after taking it?

Four years later, at the Optical Society of America in 1947, Rand demonstrated a brand-new imaging technology: he took a picture and then showed the results of the imaging within one minute, which aroused the attention and amazement of the audience. . In 1948, Rand's company introduced a camera using instant imaging technology. The name of the company is Polaroid, now commonly known as Polaroid, and the camera, called Model 95, also has a more widely circulated name - Polaroid.

Image source: Polaroid

In the next 60 years, Polaroid experienced many transactions as an unlisted company, and even discontinued cameras and went bankrupt midway. But in the end, Polaroid was still active in the market with its two "money trees" of instant cameras and instant photo paper. In 2020, it released the first instant camera with the brand name Polaroid.

It’s just that the instant camera became popular because it solved the problem of long processing time of traditional film. And in the era of mobile phones where there is no need to wait, why do people still buy instant cameras?

is a camera, but also a cultural symbol

In fact, from the perspective of image quality, whether it is Polaroid Now or Fujifilm's Instax, the optical performance is actually relatively average due to the limitation of the size of its lens group , can only be compared with devices with the same small lenses such as mobile phones. The basic principle of fast imaging also technically limits the quality of the final imaging.

First of all, most Polaroids (hereinafter referred to as Polaroids to refer to all point-and-shoot cameras) do not perform well in low-light environments. Modern phones are capable of stunning night shots with the help of stack imaging and computational photography. But the nighttime performance of the instant camera can be summarized as "watching the sky and eating".

In addition, the technical requirements for fast imaging also result in instant photo paper having higher optical sensitivity, lower tolerance than traditional film, and more prone to light leakage. This characteristic also affects the color saturation of instant photo paper - most instant photo papers suffer from oversaturation.

Picture source: Polaroid

And just like all analog photos (the concept corresponding to digital photos), Polaroid photos also have the problem of unstable color fixation, resulting in photos that cannot Long term storage. Some people may think that this concept of "imperfection" constitutes the uniqueness of instant cameras. Some people have begun to use algorithms to restore the color cast and light leakage of instant cameras in the era of digital photography.

But in my opinion, this pursuit of the "endless" attributes of Polaroids is actually like the revival of Glitch Art in the digital age, a cultural symbol that transcends practicality :

The instant camera is not only a photography tool, but also a symbol deeply rooted in modern culture. It represents immediacy, personalization and nostalgia. With the rise of digital photography and social media, instant cameras have faced challenges in the new century. However, precisely in this era of increasing digitization and virtualization, the retro and realism of Polaroid has become a scarce resource.

Different from the CCD camera concept that was speculated by second-hand merchants some time ago, the revival of Polaroid is more like the return of culture and emotion. Consumers follow the trend and buy CCDs because they believe the marketing concept and think the photos taken by CCDs are better looking; while consumers buy Polaroids because they know that the photos taken by Polaroids are "imperfect".

Polaroid is like a physical NFT

In addition, in the digital age, Polaroid can also provide emotional value that CCD and other Internet celebrity concepts cannot provide -: Take photos with Polaroid, you can really Get a photo.

Different from "CCD" or mobile phones, every time we press the Polaroid shutter, we will get a photo, and this photo, which is inconvenient to store, is actually the biggest advantage of Polaroid cameras in the digital era. the value of. Everyone should have friends who like to take photos and videos: they may not necessarily like to see the works they have taken, but they enjoy the process of shooting very much. You can look at your mobile phone photo album to see if there are any videos that were taken many years ago but have never been viewed back even once.

Image source: Polaroid

Nearly cost-free digital photography makes us no longer worry about "waste pictures", but it also makes us lose the habit of "looking back at photos". But that’s not the case with Polaroids. Physical photos that are "inconvenient to store" prevent us from piling them up in the redundant space of our phones like "digital dust". We must find a special place to store them. And the inexpensive photo paper also prevents us from throwing away Polaroid photos easily.

From this perspective, the process of taking Polaroid photos is actually the process of "casting physical NFT":

Just like each NFT is a unique digital asset, each photo Polaroid photos are unique. Whether it’s the moment captured in the photo, the subtle changes in light, tone, or the unpredictability of the Polaroid chemical process itself, each Polaroid photo is a single entity that cannot be replicated.

When Polaroids are no longer "Polaroids"?

Of course, although I have been emphasizing the emotional value behind the Polaroid ecosystem, I must also admit that the influence of Polaroid is gradually declining. Some traditional camera brands have even begun to use the concept of digital cameras to create so-called "digital instant cameras":

Although these digital cameras have a similar appearance to instant cameras, they use digital sensors. A digital camera. This type of camera uses a digital camera to first take photos, and then uses a small photo printer built into the body to print them on special instant photo paper.

For example, the famous camera brand Leica launched its first "hybrid instant camera" some time ago. After shooting with a digital camera, the photos are output to photo paper. For user convenience, this Leica SOFORT 2 is even equipped with a 3-inch TFT screen, 10 types of lens filters and 10 types of film filters, which can be said to implement the digital concept to the end.

Picture source: LEICA

But the question is, what is the difference between such "Instant Photos" and the photos we take and retouch with mobile phones and then print them out with a portable photo printer? ? You must know that the efficiency of taking pictures with a mobile phone is even higher than that of the Leica SOFORT 2, and the filter effects can also be previewed and shared directly on the mobile phone. Polaroid, which was once born for convenience, has become inconvenient.

The vitality of the instant camera comes not only from its unique instant imaging technology, but also from the cultural significance and emotional value it carries. Today, when digitalization and immediacy have become the norm, Polaroid has captured a group of fans who pursue authenticity, nostalgia and personalized expression in its unique way.

But if even the process of taking pictures is "fake", then compared with smartphones with "Leica colors", what is the meaning of Polaroids that are not "Polaroids"?

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