Despite taking dozens of photos with my iPhone 15 Pro Max on a typical day, I’ve always loved the novelty of printed images. I bought my first instant camera cheaply at Urban Outfitters when I was in college and have since amassed a large collection of printed photographs intended to replicate the Polaroid product popularized in the 1970s.
But I recently learned about Retrospekt, a company that sells the same Polaroid SX-70 camera that popularized instant photography.
While Polaroid itself sells refurbished SX-70s, they are always out of stock. Alternatively, Retrospect has 16 different styles of SX-70 available to buy now from $379 up to $999 for a special gold-plated version.
Now, I’m not a fan of vintage cameras, but I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to see what my printed photographs would have looked like 50 years ago.
My order arrived in a box that looked quite modern, but what I discovered inside was anything but. Retrospekt rebuilt the camera to verify that it was working properly, cleaning all components and restoring the exterior to look completely true to its original form.
In some ways, operating the camera felt familiar to the instant cameras I currently use. It has a shutter button, focus dial, exposure adjustment, and squinting viewfinder. In other ways, the SX-70 is unlike any other tech device I’ve used in my 27 years of life. Opening it requires a degree of delicate touch that I only did when I tried the Apple Vision Pro for the first time. I almost feel like one wrong tug could cause it to disintegrate in my hands. Luckily, I found an entire thread on Reddit dedicated to the proper opening and closing of this specific instant camera.
Once I trusted myself not to break this beautiful camera, I took it to the park to meet a large group of friends for an afternoon picnic. I proudly pulled it out of my bag and it quickly became the center of attention. No one in my group had ever seen an old camera like the SX-70, and certainly not a functional one.
“I was left with a collection of images that should be on a Pinterest board”
I loaded up a pack of Polaroid Color 600 film that cost about $20 for 8 photos, updated myself with Retrospekt’s simplified user manual, and started shooting. It took me a few tries to adjust the proper exposure settings for the outdoors, but all my photos still came out looking retro, in the aesthetic way my generation can’t get enough of, of course. Quickly reviewing the movie package, I was left with a collection of images that belonged on a Pinterest board
iPhone 15 Pro Max refurbished instant camera
Sure, I suppose you could buy one of those iPhone apps that refreshes everything with a filter to get a similar result. But that would eliminate the physical satisfaction and instant gratification of pressing that big red shutter button on the front of the SX-70 to extract a printed image.
When I take photos with my iPhone, I take at least 10 at a time, knowing that there are no consequences for not doing it right. With this instant camera, I slowed down to take my photos with intention, not wanting to waste a single precious piece of film.
Because of the price of the film and lingering concerns about its fragility, the SX-70 can’t go everywhere with me and take all my photos. But for times when I can leave with physical souvenirs (what can I say? I’m a sucker for souvenirs), this is one of the most fun gadgets I can have on hand.
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