Is it the film? Or the Camera?
I’m a worrywort. Especially when it comes to my customers’ cameras.
Before I send cameras back to their respective owners, I diligently test and test and test to make sure that they’re receiving Grade A quality. I even include all the test photos and videos in the return, and a checklist of everything that I performed on their camera.
So if one of my customers comes back to me claiming there is an issue with their camera, I worry. And not just worry; it’s all I can think about until I can solve the problem. Did I miss something in testing? Did something happen during shipping? Was one of my solders bad? Did I forget to tighten all the screws?
Something like this happened recently.
A client of mine sent me their SX-70 that had apparently just been CLA’d by another company (let’s call them “R”). Part of the short cover hinge was broken off, the bottom cover was cracked, and the shutter seemed to only sometimes work. This customer was hoping I could fix all of that (yes, no problem), and also install the new SX70R PCB and Polavolt (as invented by Jake the Instant Camera Guy).
Curious – if this was just refurbished, why were there still some pretty glaring issues?
Deeper Dive, Servicing, and Customizing
As I dug deeper into the camera, I noticed another issue - the baseplate of where the shutter assembly attaches to the main chassis was missing a whole hinge pin! That’s not very good, unless you like your pictures slightly angled.
I was quite amazed by all this, but still ran through my whole servicing routine:
Complete shutter assembly overhaul, including CLA of shutter blades and other moving parts
Re-glue taking mirror
Clean all mirror of dust and smudge
Wipe down all parts of the camera body, including the bellows
Install SX-70R PCB (by Yongmin)
Install Polavolt (as invented by Jake the Instant Camera Guy)
I then also replaced the short cover with a replacement; and also created a very tiny cotter pin of sorts to act in place of the missing hinge pin (finding an actual replacement would have been very difficult; would have needed a very short <1mm long and <1mm diameter rivet).
Then as usual – test, test, and more testing.
Everything was working FANTASTIC, so I sent the camera back to its owner’s care.
![Dirty shutter blades -- cleaned and [dry] lubed!](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/64bbe3b5a2436c4fd4887009/1771385779239-T31LIEG67THZUTBUQNFU/ccb41399-56a1-4af2-b9ca-7558290ccdb5.jpg)
~All was well~
Or so I thought…
A couple days later, I checked in on the owner, and he was STRESSED.
He kept taking photos, but none of them were turning out correct. The owner mentioned it seemed like there was an ND filter over the images.
That’s strange, none of the test photos had any issues. So what gives?
Customer sent me some images of the photos via text – and it didn’t SEEM like there was anything wrong. You can see there’s a slight red tint throughout the whole image, including on the Polaroids. I just assumed the table and maybe an umbrella or awning overhead was also red, creating a generally red ambient surrounding.
(faces dotted out for privacy)
Was it a fresh pack of film? – yes.
Fresh batteries? – yes.
Anything else wrong with the camera? – no.
All I could think was that maybe this owner wasn’t used to the fact that proper exposure isn’t as bright as we perceive in real-life. In general, cameras try to adjust their settings so that an average middle gray can be met.
The Diagnosis
Luckily this client lived pretty close to me. So we decided to rendez-vous so I could diagnose in person.
OOOOH BOY was I relieved.
They showed me the photos again and immediately I was able to tell what was wrong.
Film was cooked.
The pictures WERE actually really red, and some were underexposed. Now I understood what they meant by questioning if there was an ND filter on them.
(side note – the pictures did have a pretty cool looking effect on them though; very Dune-esque)
Gave them a fresh pack of film, et voila! Problem solved.
So, Moral of the Story?
I guess there’s two:
If you’re shooting with Polaroids and you find issues with your photos, try another FRESH pack of film first.
Make sure where you buy your Polaroid film from is trustworthy and properly keeps them. Ordering direct from Polaroid is best.
If you have any questions about your Polaroid cameras, need help problem solving Polaroid issues, or want your Polaroid camera serviced – reach out to me! Just click the link below.
