Polaroid SX-70 Sonar Reskin

My trusty Polaroid SX-70 Sonar was a little beaten up when I bought it off of Amazon a few years ago and was in need of a new leather reskin. With the new lower price of SX-70 film available from Polaroid Originals, I have a new fondness for the Sonar. The camera works well, but the leather had scratches and dents, so it was time to give it a fresh look. I was originally going to send the camera to an online shop to be refurbished and reskinned, but my wallet said I needed to tackle this job myself.

I found a very helpful video on YouTube by Analog Things on how to remove the old leather and started gathering what I needed to get started. I went to HugoStudo.com to find a nice selection of SX-70 skins to choose from, thinking that I would give the old sonar some bling with a color skin. But I eventually decided on a $20 classic black leather skin to restore it to it's original look. The skins are made to fit your specific SX-70 model and have adhesive on the back for easy installation.

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I used cotton swabs, nail polish remover, a small bottle of low odor paint thinner, a utility knife, an x-acto knife, and some elbow grease. Removing the old leather and putting on the new skin took about two hours and looked so good that it now needed a classic leather SX-70 camera strap to complete the makeover. I picked up a black Impossible SX-70 strap from Focus camera for $19.99 with free shipping. B and H Photo had a used Mint SX-70 lens adaptor set for $59.95 that included a ND filter, close up lens, fisheye lens, and a couple of other filters, for about half the price of a new one, so I ordered that. I've been thinking about getting the Mint flash bar as well, but I might pick up one of the vintage SX-70 electronic flash attachments instead for a fraction of the cost from ebay.

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So far, I've upgraded my Polaroid SX-70 Sonar for about a $100, with the flash attachment likely to cost an additional $27. The success of this project lead me to purchase a sorry looking Polaroid SX-70 Model 3 from ebay for a few dollars which will be my next camera restoration project.

Fuji Instax Wide Monochrome

There were murmurs in the Worldwide Instax Shooters group on Facebook that Fuji Instax Wide Monochrome had been spotted in the wild. Regularly checking the updates in the group lead to a post by the admin that he had purchased several packs at Best Buy and that there was a multi-pack purchase discount. I immediately went to the Best Buy website and purchased three packs and waited for my shipment to arrive. With the multi-pack purchase discount, each pack averaged just over $14. I thought I would order a few more packs and was able to place an additional order to pick up at my local Best Buy. When I went to pick up my order, I browsed their instant camera and film section and saw that they also carried the new Polaroid OneStep2 and Polaroid Originals film. After a quick check of the online pricing, I discovered that the multi-pack purchase discount was also available on Polaroid Originals Film! But they only had one pack in the store. I was able to order 3 packs of I-type film for my new Polaroid OneStep2 at at discount to pick up later, averaging just over $12 per pack.

So here are a few test shots of the Instax Wide Monochrome Film using my Lomo'Instant Wide camera. For lack of a better subject or opportunity to photograph outside, these are a few self-portraits.

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26 Instax Packs - #19

26 Instax Packs - #19 - Rilakkuma Instax Mini Frame in Polaroid 300. Brenda and I took a day trip to Lewisburg, PA and visited the Rollermills Antique Mall. The drive was easy, just following Route 15 north along the Susquehanna River and making one right turn on the road where Rollermills Antiques is located.

The mall was packed with vendor booths with too many things to take in at once. So much eye candy in every direction, on three floors of an old mill. When we were finished there, we drove five blocks to visit another building of Rollermills Antiques with over 350 vendor booths. We had lunch at what the cashier from the mill called a "greasy spoon" located inside. Just our kinda place to eat. 

We didn't buy much, but greatly enjoyed perusing the aisles and taking in the atmosphere, reminding me much of the antique malls at Adamstown, PA. I came home with an Argus Model A 35mm camera, which seems fully functional - another camera to test with my recent acquisitions.

26 Instax Packs - #17

26 Instax Packs - #17 - Rainbow Instax Mini Frame in Diana F+ with Lomography Instant Back. Just felt like loading up the Diana F+ and going for a walk around Hanover, PA on a sunny, hot Saturday morning while Brenda was working. Thankfully I had turned the air conditioning on before I left the house. I had also intended to use my Holga 120IB instant back, but I have not been able to get it to work properly pretty much from the time I've gotten it. The first five frames of Instax Monochrome I shot with the Holga 120IB came out fine, but I haven't been able to get it to work since then. Hopefully they will come out with a new version. Maybe I could try using the Diana F+ Lomography Instant back with the Holga.