What's Wrong with My Polaroid Film?
Troubleshooting your Polaroid film can be frustrating! This easy guide will give you an idea of where to start!
Last Updated: April 2, 2024
The coloring is just so far off on this frame.
You got finally got your Polaroid camera and film and you’re excited about finally getting to take some photos. You get your model (your cat, dog, mom, dad, friends, whoever) posed just right and click the shutter release and hear that oh-so-pleasing motor noise as the first frame is eject. You wait patiently as the image slowly appears. Its kinda faint and has some weird coloring, got some smears but those are hopefully fading, but there’s an image there. You wait some more… And some more, for what feels like forever. When finally you figure the image is done. But as you behold your first polaroid image, the excitement melts into disappointment.
“Did I do something wrong?” is always your first thought.
“Maybe its the camera?”
“Maybe its the film? Is my film bad?”
What’s Wrong with My Polaroid Pictures?
There are a lot of things that could go wrong during the process, so don’t feel bad if your first images aren’t coming out right. Here’s a quick reference guide of things you can do to help make sure you get the best possible images when using Polaroid Film.
1. Don’t Let Any Light Hit the Polaroid When it Ejects from the Camera
Most of the newer cameras come with a frog tongue already installed in the slow where the film is ejected for this very purpose. The old Polaroid films were not as sensitive to light as the modern film is. Beginning with the Impossible Project and then Polaroid Originals and now back to Polaroid, all of the modern film suffers from a very serious light sensitivity issue. I didn’t learn this was an issue for quite some time back in the Impossible Project days and so a lot of my images were ruined from light exposure early in the developing process.
The best way to protect your film is to immediately get it out of any light, even if its still under the frog tongue. I make a practice to have a dark bag or keep the film box handy and as soon as the images are ejected, I put them directly in the dark somewhere and don’t look at them until they are completely developed.
If you’re using an older camera, like a Polaroid SX-70, you can purchase a frog tongue for your camera and its very easy to install. I have one for my SX-70 and it has saved me a lot of heartache with the developing process.
2. Temperature Control is so Very Important for Polaroid Film
Unused film exposed to heat and cold will cause a drastic color cast in your final image. Developed film will have either a yellowish or purple hue. Its definitely noticeable and once exposed to drastic temps, the film will not develop correctly.
Polaroid film also needs a stable temperature to develop correctly. If it’s cold out, stick the film in a pocket close to your body to keep it warm. If its warm out, get the frame somewhere cool as quickly as you can. Polaroid produces what is a fair weather film and using it in any harsh conditions means that you must give the film special care.
It was a blistering hot day in August when I snapped this photo. The heat and exposure to light took a toll on this image.
3. Avoid Purchasing Older Polaroid Film Packs
As Polaroid film ages, it doesn’t always seem to produce as good of results. Many of the film packs actually have their manufacture day stamped subtly somewhere on the box. Look for it and try to get the newest, freshest packs you can get.
Also, Polaroid does continually make small shifts and adjustments to their film. The new films generally offer the best results. While you can buy Polaroid film from local retailers like Target, Walmart, BestBuy, and others, I have found that ordering it directly from Polaroid gets me the freshest film packs.
4. Keep Your Rollers Clean
In the beginning, it was very common for the chemical pods in the films to leak out a little. Often the rollers of your camera would have dried chemical build up on there after a few photos and that will cause the rollers to struggle to spread the chemical evenly across the exposed film. A Q-Tip and a little Isopropyl Alcohol will clean those rollers right up!
5. I’ve got Blue Streaks on my Polaroid Film
This issue first showed up after then name changed from The Impossible Project to Polaroid Originals. The blue streak issue has mostly gone away with the newest of films, but it occasionally still shows up. Especially in older films. Unfortunately, there isn’t really anything you can do for the blue streak issue. They can sometimes add to the look but more than likely they’ll just mess up your image. This phenomenon has a specific name, Opacification Failure.
6. My Polaroid is Blurry
It was entirely too dark and my subject was entirely too close!
More than likely, its motion blur from a long shutter speed tryin get film exposed properly. If you’re images are turning out blurry, then you can move to an area with better lighting, or add/turn on the flash on your camera.
It could also be an issue of you being too close to the camera. All cameras/lenses have a minimum focal range. The minimal focus range for most Polaroid Instant Cameras is about an arm’s length. Anything close just won’t focus.
7. My Polaroid is Too Dark
This image is very underexposed AND suffers from some roller issues.
The image is under exposed. Polaroids require a decent amount of light. Daylight or a flash are almost always required to get a proper exposure. Try turning your flash on, using a reflector to move some light around, or move your subject to a location where there is plenty of light.
Polaroid 600 and I-Type film work a little bit better in darker situations than the SX-70 Polaroid film does. Polaroid SX-70 film requires ridiculous amounts of light to expose correctly!
Other Polaroid Trouble Shooting Resources
If these tips don’t help you get the best photographs ever, then head on over to the Polaroid trouble-shooting page HERE. There are a lot of resources there to help you figure out what exactly might be going on with your film.
I’ve got a few other resource posts on Polaroid Film - take a look at those post by clicking the links below:
Is Polaroid Bringing Back Peel-Apart Film?
This image from Comicon of BMO actually turned out pretty good!
Is Polaroid Bringing Back Peel-Apart Film?
A post on Facebook has instant film fans buzzing with the hopes that the company might be reviving the long-dead peel-apart film!
Ever since Fuji announced that they were going to stop production on the beloved FP-100C instant film, a large segment of photographers’ hearts were broken. Mine included! Peel apart film was amazing and so much to work with and shoot with. Most of us still have our cameras, I know I still have mine, sitting around wrapped and put away in the hopes that someone would one day resurrect the format. But as time has passed, I feel like almost all of us have given up on the return of Peel-Apart Instant Film.
And then today, this popped up on my Facebook feed.
Polaroid seems to be emphasizing the word “peeled” in the last line.
But they have teased us before with new products and then only delivered a special frame or duotone color. Its been disappointing.
But I can’t help but hope that this time will be different!!!!
Maybe, just maybe peel-apart-film will be back!!
Or maybe this is just a clever way to word things to get everyone hyped up.
Is Polaroid bringing Peel-Apart Film Back?
Unfortunately, they are not. Polaroid has posted here in their support pages that the format is unsupported. Several times in the past they have stated that they have no interested in producing peel-apart film. This leaves photographers searching for alternatives to their beloved format.
What is the appeal of Pull-apart film?
For starters, there are a lot of really great cameras still out there that work and are a lot of fun to shoot with. The minute Fuji killed the FP-100c film, we all had to put those cameras away. Beyond the cameras, the film is just a lot of fun. There’s a groove to using peel-part, the timing and the excitement create a really unique experience and you still get an instant photo! While the integral films are fun, they are somewhat prepackaged and neat. Peel-apart film is a very hands-on film and there’s a little bit of mess to it. It just feels more like I’m a part of the process when using peel-apart film.
Also, there’s the image quality. Back with the old Polaroid and later with the Fuji FP-100C, the image quality was really really good for an instant film. You could create a lot of beautiful and fantastic images with peel-apart film that you just couldn’t get with the integral film. The colors seem sharper and more vibrant. The image was crisper. In my opinion, it was just a better product. Sadly, the appeal of the easy to use integral films combined with the rise if digital drove demand for the film down and combined with the decreasing supplies to create the film, it ultimately was discontinued.
What about One Instant from Supersense?
The one-instant film popped up a few years ago and was an indie kind of start-up to revive peel-apart. I actually just ordered my first batch of film and its in preproduction now! From the examples I’ve seen, the images look great! The One-Instant film isn’t mass-produced so it takes time to get and only comes in small quantities for higher costs. As soon as my order arrives, sometime later in 2021, I’ll do a full review and post an update as well as update this post!
Can I Still Buy Peel-Apart Film?
Yes, you can. There are still packs of expiring Fuji FP-100C and FP-3000B out there, but they are expensive. Originally costing around $20 per pack, the packs now cost in excess of $100. There are lots of stock available on Ebay of the FP-100C and the FP-3000B. There was only one listing for the Fuji FP-100C on Amazon and its for a 5-Pack costing $773 but it finally sold and there is no longer ANY FP-100C listed on Amazon. You can purchase FP-100C and FP-100C Silk from Supersense for 88 and 68 Euros respectively.
Keep your eyes peeled…
Ultimately, this was just a really bad choice in copy that sparked excitement in myself and a lot of other photographers. For this campaign, Polaroid ended up only announcing the return of round-framed film. While their round film is fun, it isn’t what we were all hoping for. In the mean time, there’s always one-instant and I think it is time that I gave their film a try! I’m heading over to their sight now to order some!
If you’re interested in reading about some of my other posts about instant film, CLICK HERE!
Check out this article too - which was posted as pack film began to disappear from the shelves.
Where to Buy Polaroid Film
You’ve got your polaroid camera, you’re feeling inspired and ready to go out and take some photos and live in all the glory that is the instant photo life, except that you don’t have any film…
Where to Buy Polaroid Film
I go through A LOT of polaroid film. And I’ve bought it from every place you can imagine trying to get the best deal, or the newest batches, or just find availability. Today’s post is a quick guide to help you find the film you need to keep your camera loaded and keep shooting!
Buy Polaroid Film Online
This is a great place to start and you can find some really good deals if you look hard enough. There are actually a lot of retailers that sell the film online so you’ll have lots of choices in products and prices. Shopping online gives you the ability to compare and get a feel for what all is out there!
Buy Polaroid Film from Amazon.com
This is the first place a lot of people go, especially if you’re an Amazing Prime member. If you just search for Polaroid Film on Amazon, you’re going to get a lot of different products pop-up, including Polaroid Papers, Instax, and others. But as you sort through, you’ll be able to find a lot of good deals!. Amazon does have some of the best pricing and carries multi-packs which aren’t easy to find in stores. Prices on amazon range from $15.99 for a single pack to around $70 for a five pack.
If you’ve got an I-Type camera (which is all of the newer/modern Polaroid cameras), here’s a great deal on a two-pack for only $29.19!
A bit of warning however, the film you might purchase from Amazon might be older stock that’s been sitting around for a while. With Polaroid film, I have found that the fresher (newer) the film, the better the results. If you’re just getting started with Polaroid, you won’t notice a difference. But if you’re going for higher quality and very specific results, you might not get the freshest batches.
Buy Polaroid Film from Polaroid.com
Getting the film directly from the manufacturer definitely has a lot of benefits. When I have ordered my Polaroid film directly from Polaroid.com, I’ve gotten amazing customer service and the freshest stock of film. They also have a lot of variety in their film offerings, a lot of different combo packs, and occasionally some specialty framed films that are a lot of fun to pick-up. I love getting film directly from Polaroid!
There are a few downsides however. Polaroid.com does not give you an opportunity to get discounted prices, BUT, they are often the exact same price as most retailers! I-Type Film from Polaroid.com comes in at $15.99 plus shipping. The other downside is that shipping can take a little while. It isn’t slow, every just takes the normal few days to arrive.
I normally order from Polaroid.com if I’m wanting the freshest possible film stock for my project. I’ve been a customer of theirs for years (since way back in the Impossible Project days), and I still buy from them on a regular basis. Also, you’re needing SX-70 film, Polaroid.com is probably going to be your best bet. It’s not in stock in any local stores and sometimes its a little hard to find on Amazon.
Buy Polaroid Film In Stores
While many of my projects are using polaroid instant film are planned in advance, there are many times when I’m using the film personally and I find that I’ve ran out. Now, there are several retailers that carry the film IN STORES!!! While several stores do carry the film, I’m only going to talk about the top three that I use on a regular basis.
Buy Polaroid Film at BestBuy
All of the BestBuy locations near me carry the film, in both I-Type and 600. BestBuy even carries multipacks if you’ve needed a whole lot of film. But in my experience, BestBuy usually has some of the oldest film packs out there. I’m not sure why, but most of the manufacture dates on packs at BestBuy are a year or more old. I’ve picked up a lot of film from them, and its competitively priced, but if its for a professional project, I generally steer clear.
Buy Polaroid Film at Target
Target stores usually have a pretty great selection of film also. But, there’s a very special reason why I stop in all of my local Targets and check out their film; Target stores will very often put Polaroid Film on sale at a discount! I’ve picked up older packs of film that haven’t sold for as little as $2.99! Most of the time, the discount isn’t that substantial, but any discount helps! Even if the film isn’t on sale, I still end up picking-up a pack or two. I mean I’m already in the store, standing in the photo section, looking at the film… I might as well buy some!
Buy Polaroid film at Wal-Mart
We get everything else there, why not get my Polaroid Film there too! Walmart’s selection is definitely the least of the in store options and they don’t really ever discount the film. Walmart gets a mention in my post today because of the convenience factor. The film is always older stock but its available when I need it. Well at least a couple of packs are. What I have found is that most stores only have two to eight packs available, so if you’re needing more you might not be in luck if you run to the Wal-Mart.
Cheap Polaroid Film
At around $16 per pack and only 8 shots per pack, $2 per phot isn’t cheap! The prices have come down over the years but getting good with your polaroid takes practice and at $2 per practice shot, you don’t want to waste a lot of film.
So where can you find cheap polaroid film - online or in stores? I would check places like Ebay.com and scroll through a lot of Amazon. I’ve found film and used cameras on Craigstlist and even Facebook. People are often getting rid of their cameras and film and you can find some really great deals in the used but never opened market.
If you’re looking in stores, I honestly have only ever found cheap polaroid film in Target stores because they discount theirs more often than anyone else. But other stores sell the film besides the three I listed. If you go into a store, check to see if they have stock and then keep an eye on their discount bins! As the film ages and new stock comes in, stores often will move their older film to the discount bins!
Conclusion
The good news is that you’ve got a lot of options! The even better news is that once you have the film you’re going to love working with it. Here’s my final breakdown on where to purchase Polaroid Film :
Amazon - Fast shipping, great price but might get older stocks
Polaroid - Slower shipping, comparable price, but will get newer/fresher film packs
Best Buy - Local pick-up, comparable price, will get older film
Target - Local pick-up, comparable to very discounted prices, film seems to be a decent age to maybe a little older
Walmart - Local pick-up at almost every location, comparable price, you will get older film.
I hope that helps you in your search for Polaroid Film! If you’re new to Polaroid and instant photography and would like a little more advice about what cameras and films to buy, check out my other blog post by CLICKING HERE!