Video & Camera Equipment

The Venerable Polaroid Instant Photo System Soared before It Sunk

by: Geoff Ficke

In 1937, the venerable inventor and scientist Edwin Land, founded the Polaroid Corporation. His business served to introduce the world to the first Instant Film Camera in 1948. For almost four decades the Polaroid Land Camera was ubiquitous at christenings, parties, graduations and weddings as families so loved the speed the system provided to see images almost immediately.new channels of distribution, new product applications and novel, fresh features and benefits are essential to avoid slow demise and ultimate extinction.

Polaroid grew to be one of the most recognizable products and brands in the world. Mr. Land enjoyed tremendous fame and wealth during his distinguished life and career. He expanded his product offering to include polarized sunglasses and enjoyed significant success in that category.

With the advent of digital photography in the 1980’s Polaroid was presented with a most vexing problem. The success the Company had enjoyed in instant photography was obviously conflicted by the improved image quality of digitally produced photographs. Polaroid did make a fleeting effort to pioneer a digital product when it introduced the PDC 2000 in 1996. However, Kodak and other German and Japanese manufacturers, who had never been players in instant photography, were aggressively promoting digital photo quality and the low cost of reproducing prints, thus seizing the lead in the space. Polaroid never recovered.

Since the beginning of the 21st century the fate of Polaroid has been a sad tale of court fights, asset squabbles and bankruptcy filings. The famous Polaroid Camera has suffered the indignity of seeing production halted completely.

This is a case study in a corporation that lost its way. Milking the instant photography segment for many years was not at all wrong, however, the old adage that “you are never the greatest, only the latest” was never more applicable. Market leaders, those that stay market leaders at least, are always seeking to expand their range, offer product improvements or leap to new markets with existing products.

For years a hobby/craft use for the Polaroid Land Camera and instant film was a real option that the firm’s management reviewed but dismissed. The Monet Miracle is one of the most clever and useful artisan applications for an existing product that has ever been created. The Money Miracle enables the user to manipulate the chemicals inside the envelope of the individual Polaroid Instant Film photos, while the chemicals are developing the image is distorted to provide an artisan, high quality and hugely satisfying “Monet-like” image. This simple artesian distortion is accomplished by utilizing a stylized implement.

Claude Monet is considered one of the great “impressionist” painters of all time. His romantic, soft, hazy images are hugely valuable to art collectors and patrons to this day and many museums relentlessly seek to acquire Money’s works to enhance their collections. The “Monet Miracle” technique, possible to achieve only when utilizing Polaroid technology, could have been one lifeline for the great old brand.

There was a budding community of devotees to the Monet Miracle style of creating modernist art from contemporary images. The images were highly desirable and provided a unique medium for artists. A number of attempts were made to interest Polaroid management in marketing product specifically to the hobby class. The process was amazingly simple and highly individualized. However, there was almost no interest shown by company officials in pursuing a relationship with Monet Miracle enthusiasts.

Polaroid is virtually gone. Monet Miracle practitioners were forced to scrounge instant film and rare Polaroid Cameras. There is actually a boom in prices for Polaroid products and eBay does a brisk business in these items. Many people, when exposed to Monet Miracle art are amazed at the originality, the creativity and the romance of the images that the style creates. The obvious benefits of pursuing a Monet Miracle relationship were clearly missed by Polaroid.

Studebaker, Montgomery Ward, Beeman’s Gum, TWA and Polaroid are just a few examples of great brands and businesses that have gone the way of the dodo bird. Successful businesses, those with long term growth and future upside, constantly strive to reinvent themselves. New products,

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About the Author

Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.

After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.

Geoff Ficke and his consulting firm, Duquesa Marketing, Inc. (www.duquesamarketing.com) has assisted businesses large and small, domestic and international, entrepreneurs, inventors and students in new product development, capital formation, licensing, marketing, sales and business plans and successful implementation of his customized strategies. He is a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Business School, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

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PIF300 – 2X3 Instant Film $10.99 Polaroid 300 Instant Film works with the Polaroid 300 instant cameras.

Instant Film $98.77 Instant film is a type of photographic film first introduced by Polaroid that is designed to be used in an instant camera (and, with accessory hardware, with many professional film cameras). The film contains the chemicals needed for developing and fixing the photo, and the instant camera exposes and initiates the developing process after a photograph has been taken. In earlier Polaroid instant cameras the film is pulled through rollers which breaks open a pod containing a reagent that is spread between the exposed negative and receiving positive sheet. This film sandwich develops for a predetermined time, depending on film type and ambient temperature, after which the positive sheet is peeled away from the negative to reveal the developed photo. In 1972, Polaroid introduced integral film, which incorporated timing and receiving layers to automatically develop and fix the photo without any intervention from the photographer. Instant film is available in sizes from 24 mm x 36 mm (similar to 135 film) up to 20 x 24 size, with the most popular film sizes for consumer snapshots being approximately 31/4 x 41/4 (the image itself is smaller as it is surrounded by a bord Author: Miller, Frederic P./ Vandome, Agnes F./ McBrewster, John Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 132 Publication Date: 2010/10/31 Language: English Dimensions: 9.02 x 5.98 x 0.31 inches

16026678 – Fujifilm Instax Mini Instant Color Film Sheet – Iso 800 $27.29 fujifilm Instant Color Film Instax Mini is an Iso 800 Credit-card-size Integral Daylight Color Film Designed For Use With Fujifilm Instax Mini Cameras. This Glossy Film Yields Superb Results Under Both Daylight And Electronic Flash Conditions. Though Small, Its Im- Proved Picture Quality And Greater Ease of Use Make it Ideal For Snapshots And Portraits. Furthermore, Its Easy-to-file-and-carry Size Makes it an Excellent Choice For Documentary or Archival Purposes, as Well as a Wide Variety of Other Applications. [GE7196] UPC: 04902520279385 UNSPC: 45131503 2L x 2.75W x 4H 7 LB

16026642 – Fujifilm Instax Instant Color Film – Iso 800 $34.5 fujifilm Instant Color Film Instax is an Iso 800 Wide Picture Format Integral Daylight Color Film Designed For Use With Fujifilm Instax Series Cameras. This Glossy Film Yields Superb Results Under Both Daylight And Electronic Flash Conditions. Its Improved Picture Quality And Greater Ease of Use Make it Ideal For Snapshots And Portraits. Furthermore, Its Easy-to-file Size Makes it an Excellent Choice For Documentary or Archival Purposes, as Well as a Wide Variety of Other Applications. [GE7195] UPC: 04902520217530 UNSPC: 45131503 5L x 4W x 2H 13.1 LB

Instax color instant film – ISO 800 – 10 – 2 cassettes $21.99 Fujifilm Instax – Color instant film – ISO 800 – 10 exposures – 2 cassettes

15953812 – Fujifilm Instax Mini 25 Instant Film Camera – Instant Film – White $119.49 Taking Fun to The Next Level is Easy With This Sure to be a Party Favorite Instant Film Camera. Producing Cute, Credit – Card Sized Images in Just a Matter of Moments, Image Enthusiasts Young And Old Alike Will Once Again Enjoy Walking Away With an Event Souvenir Just as Soon as The Shutter Clicks. With a High-quality Fujinon Lens in Combination With The Instax Mini Film, Superior Images Are Just an Instant Away. [15953812] UPC: 04547410096828 UNSPC: 45121502 6L x 4.9W x 2.85H 9.8 LB

15950793 – Fujifilm Instax 210 Instant Film Camera – Instant Film – Black $86.4 With Its Rounded Shape, Easy-to-hold Side Grip, And Fingertip Controllable Composite Control Panel, The Instax 210 Offers Vivid, High-quality Prints Almost Instantly. Its Automatically-adjusting Flash, High-resolution Retracting Lens And Big Clear Viewfinder Add up to Unsurpassed Performance. [GE7191] UPC: 04547410093988 UNSPC: 45121502 9.75L x 6W x 6H 20 LB

Lenses for Slr and Dslr Cameras $133.82 This article is about photographic lenses for singlelens reflex film cameras (SLRs) and digital singlelens reflex cameras (DSLRs). Furthermore, the emphasis is on modern lenses for 35 mm film SLRs and for DSLRs with sensor sizes less than or equal to 35 mm ( fullframe ). Author: Miller, Frederic P./ Vandome, Agnes F./ McBrewster, John Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 204 Publication Date: 2009/12/23 Language: English Dimensions: 5.98 x 9.01 x 0.46 inches

Film Recorder $73.28 A Film Recorder is a graphical output device for transferring digital images to photographic film. All film recorders typically work in the same manner. The image is fed from the computer by a raster file producing program. A film recorder will expose film with a beam of light output by a CRT (Lasergraphics) or a focused beam of light from an LVT (Light Valve Technology) recorder (Kodak). For color image recording on a CRT film recorder, the red, green, and blue channels are separately displayed on the same gray scale CRT, and exposed to the same piece of film through a filter of the appropriate color. (This approach yields better resolution and color quality than one could obtain with a color CRT.) The three filters are usually mounted on a motordriven wheel. The filter wheel, as well as the cameras shutter, aperture, and film motion mechanism are usually controlled by the recorders electronics and/or the driving software. Higherquality LVT film recorders use a focused beam of light to write the image directly onto a film loaded spinning drum, one pixel at a time. The LVT will record pixel beyond grain. Author: Miller, Frederic P./ Vandome, Agnes F./ McBrewster, John Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 86 Publication Date: 2010/04/19 Language: English Dimensions: 5.98 x 9.01 x 0.20 inches

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Energizer EVEEL223APBP E2 Lithium Photo Battery For Film Cameras 6 Volt $27.13 6Volt e2 Photo Lithium Battery is designed for use with cameras photoflash calculators pocket pagers watches memory backup and other highdrain applications. 6Volt e2 Photo Lithium Battery performs even in extreme temperatures. Storage life lasts up to 10 years.

Energizer EVEEL2CR5BP E2 Lithium Photo Battery For Film Cameras 6 Volt $27.13 6Volt e2 Photo Lithium Battery is designed for use with cameras photoflash calculators pocket pagers watches memory backup and other highdrain applications. 6Volt e2 Photo Lithium Battery performs even in extreme temperatures. Storage life up to 10 years.

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Instant Photography : Instant Film, Polavision, Polachrome and Polapan, Instax $7.86 No Synopsis Available

Adopted (Film) $95.59 High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles Adopted is a 2009 American independent film starring comedian Pauly Shore. It is a movie that pokes fun at the current trend of celebrity adoptions. The film marks Shores third turn as a writer, director, and producer. Practicing fatherhood by taking a variety of orphans (actors) on daytrips, Pauly Shore believes that he can leave his playboy past behind for good and start an instant family as many other stars have done. Author: Miller, Frederic P./ Vandome, Agnes F./ McBrewster, John Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 148 Publication Date: 2010/12/30 Language: English Dimensions: 6.00 x 9.02 x 0.34 inches

Xchange (Film) $90.81 High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles XChange is a 2000 Canadian motion picture science fiction thriller directed by Allan Moyle. A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a story conveyed with moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry. Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating or indoctrinating citizens. Author: Surhone, Lambert M./ Tennoe, Mariam T./ Henssonow, Susan F. Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 128 Publication Date: 2010/08/29 Language: English Dimensions: 6.00 x 9.02 x 0.30 inches

Snakeskin Film $54.86 High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating or indoctrinating citizens. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue. Films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. Author: Surhone, Lambert M./ Timpledon, Miriam T./ Marseken, Susan F. Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 72 Publication Date: 2010/07/05 Language: English Dimensions: 5.98 x 9.01 x 0.17 inches

Zodiac (Film) $89.22 High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles Zodiac is a 2007 American film directed by David Fincher and based on Robert Graysmiths nonfiction book of the same name. The Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures joint production stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey, Jr..Zodiac tells the story of the hunt for a notorious serial killer known as Zodiac who killed in and around the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s, leaving several victims in his wake and taunting police with letters and ciphers mailed to newspapers. The case remains one of San Franciscos most infamous unsolved crimes.Fincher, screenwriter James Vanderbilt, and producer Brad Fischer spent 18 months conducting their own investigation and research into the Zodiac murders. During filming, Fincher employed the digital Thomson Viper Filmstream camera to shoot the film. Contrary to popular belief, Zodiac was not shot entirely digitally; traditional highspeed film cameras were used for slowmotion murder sequences. Author: Surhone, Lambert M./ Timpledon, Miriam T./ Marseken, Susan F. Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 128 Publication Date: 2010/07/03 Language: English Dimensions: 5.98 x 9.01 x 0.30 inches

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