Impossible does Colour: Enter PX 70 Color Shade – First Flush

Tower Bride, ca. 1963

Impossible have recently released their very first batch of Colour Material called PX 70 Color Shade.

This First Flush stock is currently available as a starter pack of 3x 8 shots for £34. At £1.40 per shot, that’s 70p cheaper than the £2.10 we’re currently paying for one PX 600 black and white picture. That’s great news!

However, as is always the case with colour over black and white, there’s a LOT more happening chemically. Where the PX 100 and 600 materials already had to deal with 4 internal layers, the PX 70 new colour material has at least 15, maybe even more.

Let’s see what the Impossible Team have cooked up for us. For this test, I’ve tried PX 70 in my new Golden SX-70.

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I just received a brand new Polaroid 1200si

I bought yet another Polaroid camera on eBay: the Polaroid 1200si as part of the HealthCam Kit. It includes the camera, a Light Lock close-up attachment and a funky Polaroid carrying bag.

Camera and accessories are BRAND NEW so naturally I couldn’t resist. It’s just arrived and I’m very excited about it 😉

The main difference between this camera and my other two Polaroids is the film format: the 1200si uses the wider Image/Spectra format instead of the square 600 pictures.

I vaguely remember when the Spectra format came out, because I was thinking what a huge waste of time I thought it was. Polaroids are square – period. Several decades later I’m thinking differently. As a Newcomer Polaroid addict, still can’t explain my fascination with the medium, but I can certainly savour the moment.

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The Impossible Killer Crystal and how it happens

When the first batch of Impossible PX films were available I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them. That was about 4 months ago. I’m more than happy to support a project that will bring back instant photography and give those Polaroid cameras a new lease on life.

We were made aware that

  • colours wouldn’t be stable
  • the pictures would change over time
  • pictures were still sensitive to light when they come out
  • pictures were sensitive to temperature

and much more. What we as users (and Impossible) didn’t know was that those early pictures would DESTROY themselves after only a few months.

All of my pictures suffer some something called The Killer Crystal.

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My Golden Polaroid SX-70

Polaroid SX-70 in 24k Gold
Polaroid SX-70 in 24k Gold

Ever since Impossible Film came out, and especially after playing with Paul’s camera, I kept thinking that an SX70 would be a very nice addition to my collection.

The trouble is that since Impossible Film came out, those cameras have gone through the roof on eBay – gone are the days when you could pick them up for a tenner.

Every once in a while I do a quick sweep on eBay and see what’s on offer, usually disappointed about having to spend £100 or more, so I look over to my trusty Polaroid 600 I got for £2.50, the one that started my Polaroid Adventures Addiction. Much better I kept thinking.

A little while ago I came across an auction for a GOLD PLATED Polaroid SX-70. Only 500 were ever made to celebrate the tremendous success of the Edwin Land’s integral film and the easiest instant picture ever: The iconic square Polaroid.

Here’s a rare collector’s item that only comes up once in a blue moon. The more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that this auction was put there for me, and that I was meant to get this camera.

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Lomography DigitaLiza: The Scanning Tool you shouldn’t live without

The DigitaLiza a scanning mask that lets you scan your negatives and slides including perforations on any common flatbed scanner.

It works really well with those annoying curly negatives and it’s much sturdier than those flimsy masks that came with your scanner. I first heard of it when the Spinner 360 came out.

Until now, when I wanted to scan film with sprockets, I had to sello-tape the edges to a a wet mount that came with my scanner (it’s a piece of glass really). This often leads to newton rings where the film touches the glass.

Not so with the DigitaLiza. For only £25 I thought I’d check it out.

And I have to tell you: it’s one of those things that you didn’t know you always needed 😉

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The Lomography Spinner 360

When I first heard about the Lomography Spinner 360, I knew I had to have one. I’ve been racking my brains on how they’ve made this marvel of 360 degree photography a reality without this being a “pro camera”.

With a rather sharp retail price of £110, this isn’t just a throwaway toy camera.  Medium format alternatives are 50 times that price – so we’re still getting kind of a good deal here.

I’ve had this camera for over three months now and I finally found the time to write up all my findings about this new gadget.

Let’s have a closer look at it in this article.

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Paul’s Polaroid SX70 does TZ Artistic

Polaroid SX70 Land Camera Model 2 - shot on my Polaroid 600 Extreme and PX600

Several months ago I spoke to Paul Weston about the new Impossible PX films and what a cool idea the Polaroid Rennaisance was.

He happened to mention that he bought a vintage SX70 Land Camera from some bloke who used to shoot furniture with it – and the next thing I know is that he rbought it in for me to have a play. How exciting is that!

Let’s have a look under hood of this goodie, which happens to be only 5 years younger than I am.

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Back with a Vengeance: The Downtime is over!

Many of you will have noticed that this site has been down for the last few days weeks. Not good I know!

A nasty hacker attack was responsible and I was just too busy getting everybody else’s projects back up and running that this site lacked behind somewhat.

Anyway, a spontaneous day off is the perfect time to have my head filled with code and rebuilds – the result is here before you. We’re back up and running, better than ever at that! And boy have I got some stories to tell you.

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Anticipating the Lomography Spinner

Elton John's "Songs from the West Coast" CD cover

Ever since I’ve seen Sam Taylor-Wood’s 360 degree medium format panorama series (title) I know that sooner or later I had to get my hands on one of those cameras.

At 1 picture per single roll of film, scanning would have been a nightmare – not to mention processing costs. Elton John’s CD cover for “Songs from the West Coast” is a good example of her work with this camera.

Pictures look other worldly, as if they are a never ending panoramic shot. They contain weird distortions that do not come from a fisheye lens. It’s like watching a Cinerama movie like How the West was won: I’m thinking of the end sequence of “modern times”.

It’s a shame that these cameras are so rare and exotic that it’s unlikely mere humans like myself would pick one up to play with. Ever.

Cut to July 2010. Enter Lomopgraphy and their new 35mm version of this beast: The Spinner! At £110 it’s not a toy – it’s a dream come true.

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Did you know…

… that it takes

  • 15.500 litres of water to produce 1kg of beef?
  • 2.700 litres of water to produce a t-shirt?
  • 1.300 litres to produce 1kg of wheat?

WHOA! I know – it’s shocking to hear.

A new report by the Royal Academy of Engineering found that by 2030, we need 50% more food and and energy to feed the world due to a global population of 8bn people, along with an extra 30% of water.

Good luck finding that!

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Basic Bike Maintenance

The MUC-OFF Bucket: contains everything you need to keep your bike clean

We’ve been to an amazing Basic Bike Maintenance course yesterday at the new Evans Store in Crouch End. They run every other week at many of their stores now and are completely free!

It’s well worth popping down to pick up some tips on how to keep your new bike up and running with a little TLC every once in a while. The tools you need are inexpensive and of course they’re available there and then.

Speaking of which, since Evans Crouch End is a brand new store, they’re running a 10% off campaign until the end of July – that’s for accessories and even FULL BIKES as well! Get the voucher here.

Can’t get to Crouch End but still want a discount? Register for SkyRide and get 15% off accessories at Evans nationwide.

Enough plugging… here’s what we’ve learnt in the Basic Bike Maintenance course:

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… and then my front tyre blew out!

I’m having quite an exciting week when it comes to cycling: First I get ripped off with a rattling gearbox, then my brand new bike gets stolen, and yesterday my front tyre blew out on me unexpectedly!

The second patch... the first one didn't even make it

I was on my way home from MTV, riding up to Finsbury Park, when I heard a loud “pop” noise followed by a fairly loud and distinct “Pffffffff….” – the tyre was empty in about 10 seconds flat (see what I did there…?). What surprises me is that this came out of nowhere: no curbs, no potholes and I’ve even checked my tyres for debris and glass before I left.

Time for some serous investigating!

Since I’ve just had a bike stolen earlier this week, I didn’t want to take a chance and leave it at Finsbury Park overnight. Good timing too, because this was the one day I did not take my rucksack with goodies such as a pump and patches with me. Excellent! As Nicola said, the bike gods are not looking favourable upon me it seems.

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Some Fucker stole my brand new bike

The place from which they stole my bike

Yesterday on the corner of Umfreville Road and Green Lanes, some Fucker stole my bike! It was three weeks old and I loved it. I bought it from Evans for £549 – not to mention accessories worth over £100.

I had lunch at Harran, one of my favourite kebab shops on Green Lanes and had locked it securely against a lamp post on the street corner using a Kryptonite Evolution lock and an additional Kryptoflex band. When I came back after an hour, all that was left on the floor was a piece of Velcro from the Kryptoflex.

Apologies for some bad language in this post, but I feel it best describes my reaction to this incident.

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Miami Beach Huts are finally online

After nearly a year, I finally found the time to get back to work on the Miami Beach Huts project.

Over the last weekend I’ve uploaded all our output to a shiny new website called http://www.miamibechhuts.com featuring a shiny new WordPress Theme. Each Beach Hut we shot is featured, with (often too many) supplemental images.

Finally!

I couldn’t believe how much time has passed since I’ve last updated the site. Life just got busy I guess and there was just no room for Beach Huts. But they’re back now, and swisher than ever might I add: all pictures are colour corrected and we can get to work on the book we always wanted to make. Once that’s done, we’ll look into exhibitions over here and abroad.

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My neighbour threw away my telly

My "new used" telly

So I discovered this excellent Panasonic 15” flat screen CRT telly on top of my wardrobe. I hadn’t used it in a few years and had originally bought it for video editing as a third monitor on my desk.

Julia and I decided it would make a nice addition in our house in Birmingham, and should we ever get round to renting it out it would be great in one of the bedrooms. We postponed going up quite a few times though, so I took the TV out of my flat and put it in front of my door. There’s a landing where I put stuff from time to time.

The weeks pass, as they do, and on Tuesday something rather bizarre has happened: my upstairs neighbour took it upon himself to decide that my telly would be classed as RUBBISH… He took it downstairs and put it on the side of our house.

I live in Haringey, so it must have taken about 30 seconds until someone grabbed it. Now it’s gone forever, with only a remote on my desk to show for it.

I was literally gone for one hour while all this happened, because I remember clearly seeing the TV when I left the flat – and it was gone when I came back. Only one question springs to mind: WTF?

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When things start breaking down…

It wasn’t enough that my 3yr old HP Pavillion Laptop stopped working the other day. I never liked it anyway so maybe it picked up a vibe there.

In an unrealted incident, my trusty hot-pink Saracen Pylon 4 had a gearbox problem this week – which means that the cycling trip with my wife is off this sunny weekend 🙁

Or is it?

While we’re choosing a new bike for Julia on Saturday, I may just treat myself to a spontaneous backup bike. Sam and Daniel from MTV are both in favour so that’s a good enough excuse for me 😉

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Going Limited: I’m changing my trading status from Sole Trader to Limited Company

Pinkstone Pictures, Ltd - live long and prosper

After 10 years of trading with Pinkstone Pictures I’m converting the business into a Limited Company. I’ve been putting this off for years, but tax implications give me the nudge to “get on with it.

Let me explain all the pros and cons, why I’m doing it and what’s changing in my paper trails with HMRC for tax and VAT returns.

I’ll update this article as I go along with this adventurous journey 😉

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Meet DREXEL: my new Database Server

I’ve already mentioned this to some of you, but here’s the official release. Last week I introduced a new server to the Guru Network: DREXEL – my THIRD web server in only 18 months!

With it I’m building a dedicted hosting infrastructure optimised for self-hosted WordPress sites. Depending on how well it’ll go from here, I’d like to grow the Guru Network into a multi-server environment across the world similar to that of Automattic and WordPress.com.

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Walker’s German Bratwurst Sausage Flavour

OK this one makes me feel a little bit home sick actually… sniff! Spot the deliberate grammatical mistake though: “wurst” already means “sausage” (or “turd”, depending on the context). Not my favourite flavour of the bunch, even though Julia loves it to bits and has already voted for it. Did I mention you can do …

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Walker’s American Cheeseburger Flavour

Walker’s have done it again: create a range of brand new Limited Edition flavours just in time for the World Cup Football Qualifiers. And what would this series be without them? We discovered 8 flavours at the Oxford Service Station and we’ll give you a rundown of them all. To kick off this leg of …

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First Flush: I’ve shot some PX100 in my new Polaroid 600 camera

Today is a very special day for various reasons: not only has my Polaroid 600 Extreme camera arrived (the one I bought for £2.50 off eBay). Also, both me and my wife are off together – it rarely happens these days. That alone was reason to celebrate.

But more importantly: The Impossible Project have today released their brand new PX600 Silver Shade Instant Film which is made for just these cameras! I put an order for 12 packs in immediately and can’t wait to give it a try.

In the meantime however, I pondered over the question “does the PX100 work in Polaroid 600 cameras” or rather “does an SX-70 film work in a Polaroid 600 camera” as discussed in my previous post.

I’m happy to say that YES IT DOES – with a minor modofication to the camera.

Let me show you the results and talk you through my experiences with this exciting new material.

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Lomo Lunch: Diana Instant Workshop at Lomography London

We had the most fantastic time on Tuesday at the Lomo Lunch Workshop about the Diana Instant Back. For only £8 per person, this is a bargain considering you get

  • to use and test a Diana with Instax Back for the whole afternoon
  • tips and tricks on how to use it
  • a free pack of Instax film
  • 30% off Instax Film for the day
  • all your questions answered and more

I bought this fantastic gadget for a whopping £70 a few weeks ago and was a bit unsure what to expect. Instant pictures a la Polaroid have always had a fascination with everybody who’s into photography, and Fuji is now the only manufacturer of such products (not yet counting The Impossible Project).

I’ll give you a full review of the back another time – there’s a lot that can be said about it. If you are in town during April you should pop down to see the Lomography Gallery Store and check out the Diana World Tour downstairs. It’s an exhibition featuring 100 vintage Diana cameras and clones formerly in the collector’s hands of Allan Detrich.

The workshop itself consisted of a brief introduction to instant photography, the do’s and don’ts, and then they let you walk away and test this puppie out. If you have questions you can pop back anytime and even buy some film for 30% off the market price.

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First Flush: Polaroid 600 and the new Impossible PX100

At the time of writing, I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of my first ever Polaroid camera: the 600 Extreme that I got from eBay for a bargain price of £2.50. Hey, it even was for charity!

I wanted it because there’s an ever so slim chance that I can use it with the brand new film by The Impossible Project:  PX100 First Flush. It’s a black and white film that fits old Polaroid cameras and has only been released a couple of weeks ago.

The Impossible Project, lead by Lomography founder Dr. Florian Kaps, have bought the last remaining Polaroid film factory in Enschede in 2008 and have since then been working on reviving this brilliant format. I cannot wait to see what they’ve come up with!

Since Polaroid left about 300 million cameras stranded in drawers and attics around the world without fresh film coming onto the market, my fascination with a medium doomed to be extinct keeps growing daily. I never really cared for Polaroid in the past, mainly because of expensive running costs. The cameras aren’t exactly attractive either. However, my views on the subject have changed in recent years, and ever since I acquired an Instant Back for my Diana I don’t mind telling you that both Julia and I are ADDICTED to instant pictures!

With the arrival of the very first batch of newly produced PX100 film, my interest in Polaroid has skyrocketed. I had to see for myself what I could do with an overpriced and hard-to-get pack of 8 pictures for £20. Considering I haven’t got the right camera, this is bound to be an adventure…

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Holga: Up-Close and Personal with add-on Maco Lens Sets

If you wanted to take pictures closer than 1m (3ft) with your Holga, it meant you had to hack it and permanently mutilate your camera. Even then, putting things in close focus was a guessing game so I never bothered.

Thanks to these two £10 packs of add-on lenses, you no longer need to do that: snap one onto your Holga and start shooting up-close and personal. Since the barrels are the same on the 120 and 135 models, these babies will work on all my seven Holgas. Sweet!

I couldn’t resist and bought them both at the Photographer’s Gallery. I am currently looking into doing somethig similar to Little People in the Big City with Holga and Diana so these lenses seemed ideal for the job.

What I got was no fancy packaging, a clear set of instructions and a total of FIVE lens rings in a cute plastic storage pouch. All that for £19.98 and I wasn’t even looking – amazing!

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My busiest week so far this year…

… and I think of myself as a “busy man” already. As I’ve learnt this week, things can ALWAYS get busier.

New this week:

  • a Super King Sized Bed
  • a new Website
  • two new mobile phones
  • a new games console
  • and to top it off: a 16hour shift at work

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