People often ask us if we have a special collection, or if it's hard letting certain rare models go. There's something about holding a pristine transparent 600 camera in your hands that makes it difficult to say goodbye, but we may only have one or two single cameras that we would never part with. This is one of those cameras. Behold an original prototype Polaroid 600 camera from May of 1980. Follow along for some notes on oddities and variations:⁠ The tooling for this camera was not yet textured, so the plastic shells are completely smooth. There are engineering notes that appears to note this as Camera 720. Each camera number seems to denote a change in configuration.⁠ While all...

Classic Polaroid 600? Classic MTV? Could there be a better match? We're so psyched that the team here at Retrospekt could help make this camera a reality—combining refurbished, vintage interiors from 1980s and 90s original Polaroid 600 cameras with a brand new exterior designed for a throwback MTV feel.  The camera is available directly from Polaroid Originals.

To celebrate 45 wonderful years of Hello Kitty, Sanrio has teamed up with Retrospekt to release a limited edition Polaroid 600 vintage instant camera inspired by their most popular character. When setting out to create a camera worthy of the occasion, we had nearly half a century of Hello Kitty history to draw from. Our design concept for the camera goes all the way back to Hello Kitty’s early years, using original graphics from her debut in the mid-70s. Inside, the camera uses vintage 600 internal parts, painstakingly deconstructed and restored through our tried and true refurbished process. Those refreshed internals are wrapped up in a new plastic camera shell, molded in Hello Kitty’s vintage red, white and blue colors...

If you haven’t already heard, Polaroid Originals has announced their decision to cease manufacturing of Spectra film. I want to take the opportunity to share some of our musings from a both personal and camera repair perspective. When I think back, one of the first Impossible Project photos I ever took was on Spectra film. The subject matter was blown out and blurry, but I loved it. The cameras themselves are weird creatures, the smokey black Onyx, the asymmetrical ProCam, the weirdly co-branded Mintolta Pro. Spectra was the first and we forever be the best wide format instant film (lookin’ at you Fuji Instax) and I’ll miss it dearly. The issues started in 2016. It was like an epidemic with...

Most people can spend a lifetime shooting instant film without ever seeing the insides of their cameras. Which, if we're being honest, is probably a good thing. But for those curious by nature, here's your chance to see a pile of parts turn into a working Polaroid 600 camera, without having to risk one of your own. We shot this camera build video to celebrate the launch of the official Polaroid Grand Canyon National Park Centennial Anniversary Camera, our collaboration with Parks Project, Polaroid and the Grand Canyon Conservancy. Retrospekt is giving 5% back to support the park, that's in addition to Parks Project regular efforts.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Grand Canyon National Park, the crew here at Retrospekt has teamed up with Parks Project and the Grand Canyon Conservancy to release a limited edition run of Polaroid 600 instant film cameras featuring artwork inspired by the park’s centennial. The Grand Canyon Polaroid instant camera is an official Polaroid product that features painstakingly refurbished vintage Polaroid 600 camera parts housed in a redesigned body that commemorates one of our country’s most iconic geological features. Available July 2, 2019 through Parks Project, the Grand Canyon camera lets lovers of the outdoors and photography alike experience the magic of instant film while supporting conservation and educational programs in our national parks. On top of Parks Project’s...

To celebrate the city we call home, we're launching a limited edition run of officially licensed Polaroid 600 instant film cameras featuring artwork inspired by the People’s Flag of Milwaukee. Envisioned and assembled in our Bay View workspace by a diverse team of proud Milwaukeeans, each Milwaukee Flag camera features painstakingly refurbished parts from original Polaroid 600 instant film cameras made in the 1980s and 90s. These original parts are integrated into a completely new shell, colored in the deep blue and bold yellow of the Milwaukee Flag. The restored internals and redesigned exterior provide a classic experience wrapped in a fresh, locally-flavored package fit for instant film novices and seasoned pros alike. The Milwaukee Flag Polaroid camera will drop...

The Dutch countryside is nothing grandiose like the rolling plains of America, but it has its own unique charms and treasures. On a Sunday bike ride near Enschede a few weeks ago I discovered a green, lightly forested world filled with tiny homes that look like they belong to elves, signs in the lively Dutch language that still baffles me everyday, wildlife grazing on the side of the road, and small plants and flowers I cannot name but appreciate nonetheless. The bike is the most popular form of transportation in the Netherlands, and when I find myself off the beaten path and in the countryside, I can see why the Dutch like it so much. This small country is perfect...

I first saw a Polaroid camera in the summer of 1983, when my father’s friend, who had emigrated to Austria in the late 1970s, returned to visit my parents in Czechoslovakia. He had with him a Polaroid camera, and he used it to snap a photograph of my mother. That very iconic square photograph appeared from the front of the camera and developed immediately in our hands. Years later, in 2014, I found that very same photograph of my mother. She was wearing a miniskirt and she was stepping elegantly from a car. After so many years, I still remembered that astounding feeling of holding a fast-developing photographic print in my hand.  I had found that photograph at a time...

Photography was always something that I liked to do and people kept telling me that I had talent. But as I was quite preoccupied with making music in my spare time (I sing in the dreampop band Chandeen), my focus just lied elsewhere. It took me until 2014 to discover my love for instant film and since then I keep shooting Impossible or expired Polaroid film passionately. It actually was surprisingly liberating compared to making music as I didn’t have to discuss things with anyone and just could do my thing, without compromises. I began with simple photos, rather snapshots, that I took during walks, motivating me to go out and explore the places around me - something that I haven’t really done before but...

Few months ago I visited New York City for the first time. And it's definitely my favorite city! From the moment I arrived, I felt I belonged there, I don't know, Just had a feeling of "arriving home." During these days I waited many afternoons alongside the river for the sunset. The lights in the sky faded away while many others started to shine all over the city.   After that, the New York nights began. I turned on my camera, got immersed on the colors of the streets, and captured these lights on Polaroids...                   Written by: Piero Böttger Photographs by: Piero Böttger Film Type Used: Impossible Project Color Film Camera Type Used: Polaroid 600...

In the face of this, communal living, inter-dependency and shared ambition is arguably becoming undermined and inhibited through isolating technology and cultural preferences and a historical and growingly entrenched shift towards independent success and personal focus. At a time in which connection and change appears more tangible and achievable than ever, a variety of factors are creating more fractured cohorts of shared beliefs and ideals bringing the burning desire for companionship ever to the fore. Rara Avis focuses upon a range of individuals who have identified a personal sense of cultural segregation, of a passionate longing for the pursuit of core beliefs in the face of a divided international community in which exists the juxtaposition of the increasing pressure to present...