I don’t prefer the monochrome Spectra film, primarily because the city in which I live responds so well to Polaroid polychrome (lots of pastels). But any new Polaroid film makes me smile and hope.

I found that Berlin and Amsterdam, with their flat topography and gray stone facades, both respond very well to the monochrome. Perhaps a trip to the Midwest this winter would yield some interesting material.

Or, maybe the rust belt… Pittsburgh? So I can eat a tasty Persian wrap at the Conflict Kitchen. /That/ would make a good Polaroid. Ample black and white detail in the building and windows surrounding a bright plywood storefront that’s covered in yellow and sky-blue Arabic text.

I do think (hope) that the uniqueness of the Polaroid will keep it alive in the days of infinite reproduction. I’ve been meaning to re-read Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” with the Polaroid in mind.

Meanwhile, while I wait for companies to release more film, I can stop procrastinating the framing, transferring and presentation of the Polaroids I have shot. Oy.

Plus, cameras that work via sonar. How awesome is that? Glass or plain white walls pose no hazard for autofocus. A longtime 680 shooter I have nothing but love and respect for the IP.

That said, there’s no way I’d buy a One Step or a 660 from them, that’s way too much money. But a refinished, working, warrantied SX-70? I’ve seen them go for $350 for one that “worked when my dad used it, it should be fine now”.

Many eBay purchases do have warranties. Perhaps not the $15 one, but the $30 one might. The redress is less appealing, with a simple refund being issued instead of actually having the camera repaired.