Holgaroid

The square format (Polaroid 8x films) have been discontinued. Search ebay or google products to find remaining stocks. Good luck!

Yup, no more polaroid for holga! I'm afraid you have bought an obsolete product. There is one site that sells old polaroid film (unsaleable.com??) but the stocks won't last forever and its going to get expensive.If I were you I'd ditch the polaroid and just use normal film. I used to use a polaroid back too but now its just sitting collecting dust.

Thanks for your responses. The product is, however, anything but obsolete. Other formats fit into the camera just fine and the pictures still turn out great. I was thinking though?the Holga and the Polaroid back are both such simple contraptions that one can just look at them and see how they work. It is easy to see, when the back of the Polaroid attachment is open, exactly what is stopping the image from filling up the full frame on a 8.5x10.8cm print. The opening inside of the camera is only wide enough to expose part of this size print. So I was thinking: if I were to figure a way to cleanly cut a small part of the inside of the Polaroid attachment, so as to fully expose the photo paper, wouldn?t this allow a larger image to be exposed? What I?m asking is, if there is something blocking the full image, what not just remove that thing? Will this ruin my camera? Is there perhaps a way to test this theory before permanently altering the Polaroid back? Any ideas about how one might build a make shift Polaroid adapter that will work well enough just to see if the theory can be proven?

Any ideas?

Thanks, Brian

Sorry, but the holga polaroid back only takes 8 series pack films and they were discontinued a little while back. Other pack films are completely different in size and will physically not fit in the back and even if you somehow made them fit, they probably would not run through the rollers cleanly. The 6 series are too big, the 600 film has no tabs to pull on, Fuji instant film is also too big (same as 6 series) and that leaves large format stuff which will definitely NOT fit. And I think that is all the polaroid available now. If they take other films, I would love to know because I would like to use my back too!

Anyway, I am guessing you have either a series 1 or 2 polaroid back? The series 3 was full frame, 1 and 2 were cropped. I have a series 2 (it has a tripod socket) and looking at the film gate, I think you can get a file or something and then file the edges away to reveal more of the film. I was thinking of doing this myself when I was using it. Problems I envisioned were that the mount could be weakened, and the possibility that the holder might not be full framed even if you file away. You've got the other side (where the film pack sits) of the holder to think about and the clearance that has. The image on polaroid is not centered so the holder might not be centered on the film gate therefore you will need to probably remove the mounting hardware and reposition it so that the polaroid holder is centered in the film gate, and then file away. Thinking about this made me give up and just use film. Your only alternative would be to use the series 3 holder but they are hard to get and expensive (well they were before polaroid killed their films). Good luck!

OK, there seems to be a new polaroid back out! This one takes 6 series films, so yes, you can still get film for it but they will be off center aparently? Anyway, 8 series are dead and gone forever. Type8x and Pola...8x films are the same film. My apologies.

Oh, soory for the multiple posts but the holga is a 6x6 camera. Therefore the lens is designed to only cover roughly that size. Filing the film gate to reveal more film will probably push the boundaries of the covering power of the lens with the result of heavy vignetting. I've never tried so I don't know though and you might be able to use it to artistic effect but it's something to keep in mind.

So if there is a community of people out there who use the Holga Polaroid why doesn?t one of these companies make the square format film? Does anybody out there have a Polaroid attachment that is collecting dust that they would like to sell me. I want to experiment with pushing the limits of the print but I don?t really want to ruin my Polaroid back in the process. You say that there is a series 3 model of the Holgaroid? How do I find one of these? My Google searches yielded nothing.

<<So if there is a community of people out there who use the Holga Polaroid why doesn?t one of these companies make the square format film?>>

There is a community of people that believe the world is flat, so why don't globe companies cater to them too? :)

First some clarifications:

The true original Holgaroid back took Type 80 film but the image produced did not fill the space available on the sheet of film.

Shortly thereafter, Polaroid produced a Full Frame version of the back that still took Type 80 film.

(I learned this the hard way which is why I own both types)

2.5 years ago Polaroid discontinued the Polaroid back as well as Type 85 film. 1.5 years ago they discontinued all remaining Type 80 film.

This year, a 3rd party started produced a back for the Holga that takes both Type 8x film and Type 6xx film. You can buy one from Freestyle Photo.

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/e_main.php

The Holga produces a square image that filled Type 80 film. Using Type 6xx film will result in the same size image being produced on film that is wider than Type 80. So while the image will be off-set and not all of the Type 6xx film is being "used" the actual image size produced is the same.

Ok, so back to the above quote.

The reason no one makes square instant film anymore is the same reason Polaroid stopped making it: there is no market. You and I and all the other Type 80 users represent a very very very very very small market. We do not buy enough film to make it worthwhile for Polaroid to make it for us anymore. It's a shame, I agree, and my Holgaroid is running on its last packs, but once its gone its gone.

I should clarify that last part.

http://www.unsaleable.com/instant_photofun/

I've not tried ordering from them. Most of my shooting was done with Type 84, which they do not have.

Thanks for the comments. I have been calling local photo places asking if they have any of the T80 series film left over from the old days. I didn?t find any but I was referred by one guy to an 800 number Polaroid has. When I called I reached a very nice woman who said they had a few packs of T85 film left over that they were either going to throw away or give to someone who wants it. She even said they would pay the shipping and get it to me in a week. I guess there are still nice people in the world.

A question for Rob: what you think about modifying the Polaroid back so that the full frame will be exposed? Is it even worth a shot?

Thanks

<<A question for Rob: what you think about modifying the Polaroid back so that the full frame will be exposed? Is it even worth a shot?>>

If you mean, modifying the back that takes 8x or 6xx series films, no, I don't think it would be worth it. The image projected by the Holga is square (assuming you've removed the 6x4.5 mask) and is set to match the size of T80 film. Modifying the back won't make the image any larger.

Frankly, I don't understand why people are upset about the 6xx film not having a "full" image. The image produced is the same size as T80. If it's a matter of using a Holgaroid with 6xx film or never using a Holgaroid again, I would think the choice is clear. Use the new back and when you scan your Polaroids, crop square, just like with T80 film.

You're amazingly lucky to have Polaroid send you their remaining T85. I wish you well with it.