Instant film photography is photography in its most physical and immediate form. It actually was the medium that gave me the extra push to deep dive into the film photography world. I really didn’t know anything about film back then – I bought a Fujifilm Instax online and within the next two weeks of playing with it I wanted to shoot 35mm. It was a quick and seamless evolution. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and I didn’t think it would lead me back to instant film photography.
The concept of instant photography was and always will be revolutionary, and we have one company to thank for it – Polaroid. Polaroid’s engineers and chemists had a dream – that within seconds of composing a photograph, you would be holding the physical photographic print right there in your hand. Dreams can become reality.
In 1947, at a meeting for The Optical Society of America, Polaroid founder Edwin Land demonstrated the first-ever instant film camera – The Polaroid Land Camera. This wildly successful demonstration, and product demonstrations in the future, cemented Edwin Land’s status as an inspiration and model for modern product gurus today – Steve Jobs once said that meeting Edwin Land was like “visiting a shrine”.
Since that product demonstration, Polaroid became an *instant* success. The company had sold millions upon millions of units, solidified itself as pioneers in photography and photographic history, and was on its way to becoming a cultural icon. As a kid who grew up hearing the Outkast lyrics “shake it like a Polaroid picture”, I knew the name Polaroid before I even knew what instant film photography was.
Once I got very into film photography, collecting cameras and learning about cameras, I would put certain camera models down on my hopeful “grail list”. Grail is a term my friends and I frequently used back in the day when talking about Nike SB Dunk skate shoes we used to collect. A grail was a shoe, or in this case a camera, that you one day need to own.
I had one “grail” camera per format: instant, 35mm, medium format, and large format. One camera on that list was a Polaroid SX-70, the Polaroid’s sleekest folding instant camera they have ever designed.
There are four models of the SX-70: Alpha (1), Model 2, Model 3, and the Sonar. All of these models boast the iconic and aesthetic folding design – a design that is often noted as the greatest camera design of all time. Currently I have 2/4 of the SX-70 family: the Sonar and the Model 3. Today, I’ll be talking about my recent experience with the Polaroid SX-70 Sonar, a camera originally released in 1978.
The Sonar differs from the rest of the models in one way – it uses Sonar sound wave signals to autofocus the camera. This was the first ever autofocus instant camera in the world. The technology on this Polaroid instant camera is the same technology that war submarines use to navigate the depths of the ocean.
In short, the camera sends Sonar sound waves to the subject, and those sound waves bounce off of the subject and are sent back into the camera – allowing the camera to choose a focal length for the photograph based on distance from subject. In 1978 when this was released, it was a groundbreaking technology.
The Sonar, which is an SLR (single lens reflex), also includes a manual focus switch, a lighten/darken exposure control dial, and a shutter cable socket. It boasts a shiny black leather and chrome body – a camera outfitting that would match a black tuxedo beautifully. The Sonar body is a little bit larger than the rest of the SX-70 models because of the Sonar housing unit, but it is still a very portable camera.
Walking around with this camera folded away in my pocket is a unique feeling, and to pair that with composing photographs and having them in my hands within seconds is extremely gratifying. I’m already planning to bring this camera to literally any and every event where I have a jacket pocket available to me. It’s too fun to shoot!
Being able to give someone a photograph they took, or a photograph of them, seconds after the shutter button is clicked is a satisfying feeling. Shooting instant film is an experience unlike any form of photography – it’s inherently physical and…well…instant. The vision that Edwin Land and Polaroid once wished for has manifested itself into a concept and trend that will live at least another 100 years in my eyes. I’m buzzing to to hunt for the rest of my SX-70 collection. This might just be one of my favorite cameras, and I can’t wait to explore portraiture with this beautiful piece of antique technology.
Check out a few Polaroids I like that I took recently below.
While there is a lot of room for improving my compositions with this camera, it is easily one of the most stress-free cameras I’ve shot with. Check out a few of my photos here on Instagram.
Shutter Hunter 