The Polaroid I-2 and my ups and downs.

 Last Christmas, I bought a Polaroid I-2 camera. There was an offer on, drink was involved and the big boys made me do it (you know who you are!).  I started the year, 2025, with my new I-2 and resolve to become the best instant photographer in the world. A plan with no downsides, I thought.  And it would have gone like that too, if talent and the small matter of temperature hadn't got in the way.

The astute reader may remember that I have a LomoGraflok, Instax Wide back for my Chroma cameras and have had some success with that. In fact, I have never given temperature a second thought while using Instax Wide film. Middle of winter, no problem! Mojave desert in summer, also no issue. No color shifts or delays in developing happened.

There is a reason that Polaroid discounts it's cameras in the middle of winter, because while the cameras work just fine, the film packs do not. Polaroid film packs work over a narrower range of temperatures than Instax Wide. Too cold and the results show a green/blue color cast, too hot and you'll get a red/orange cast.  Cold temperatures mean really long development times with polaroid too.

Let me also tell you that the ISO of polaroid film is a moveable feast, depending on temperature, prevailing winds and the shipping forecast for Dogger. It's written on the film packaging. "ASA 640. Film speed may vary, allow for (plus or minus) 1/3 stops"

Using the first half dozen packs of film with my Polaroid I-2, I fell foul of the less than consistent results from the Polaroid film.  Given that you only get 8 photo's from a pack of Polaroid film, if you get a couple of frames that don't work, it's an issue.  For me also the Black and White film is less consistent than the color film. So my start with my brand new and shiny, flagship, Polaroid I-2 was marred by the experience and made the camera seem like a bit of a white elephant.

Film speed, ISO or ASA, is the element,  that as photographers, we require to be a constant. If you are going to use a manual camera and need to use a meter, you need to input the film speed so that the meter can give you a reading.  Generally speaking, the meter reading will give you a set of parameters (shutter speed and aperture size) that when transferred to the camera, will produce an acceptable result in the negative. This is even more important when using positive (slide) film.  Spot on metering is required to get decent results, but the ISO or ASA is the constant. Yes you can experiment with the settings to optimize the result but the point at which you start is the film speed being consistent from roll to roll.

The I-2 has a manual mode where you can set aperture and shutter speed. This is touted by Polaroid as being a Pro feature but my experience with the inconsistent film meant that the confidence, that comes with trusting your film and equipment, evaporated.  If the ASA of Polaroid film is not consistent the manual mode is pointless in my opinion. I am not alone in thinking this either. More illustrious Polaroid users than I have agreed with my findings and even made a YouTube video or two about the issue.  The camera is fine, it's the film that is inconsistent.

So the Polaroid I-2 was returned to it's packaging for a few months while I waited for warmer weather. Winter turned to Spring and Spring turned to Summer. And the weather went from baltic to sweltering in the blink of an eye.

The Polaroid I-2 was given a run out during the late Spring but the results from using the camera in manual mode were less than encouraging.

And then I discovered multiple exposures using the I-2 and that's where things started to look up.