The Impossible Project PX100 Film
by Amanda on April 8, 2010
Dreamy, soft, dark and light, subtle and faint are the words that come to mind when I think of this beautiful new film the Impossible Project gods have granted down upon us.
On Tuesday I briefly met up with the lovely Ashley to pick up my film (she was a doll and went in on a shipment with me) so yesterday was PX film testing day. Of course, Vancouver chose to be rainy and miserable so I only took one shot. I am hoping to do some more tests when the weather clears up.
Overall, I was pretty happy with my first shot as I have read about some rather unsuccessful first tries and was very nervous that it wasn’t going to turn out at all. My advice is to read this and look around the flickr forums for as much information as you can before you shoot.
I thought I would share what I did to achieve this first shot.
I opened the pack inside and inserted it into my SX70 camera with no problems. This was the first time I’ve not had to manipulate the film to get it to fit into the camera. It slid straight in, I closed up the door and out shot the dark slide like magic.
Once I had figured out what my first test subject would be, I set it up near a window with lots of light as it was pretty overcast and grey outside. I had my exposure dial set to the middle, composed my shot and hit the shutter button.
The film ejected and I quickly pulled it out and turned it over.
I covered it with the dark slide and quickly put it in to the pocket of my jeans.
Now this is where I sound like a loon. I then stood in a dark corner with my hand on my butt while the image developed. I must have looked like something out of the Blairwitch Project hovering creepily in the corner. I waited around 2 minutes just to be sure and then took a look at my picture.
I was overjoyed to see a nicely exposed shot when I first glanced upon it. I wasn’t happy with the blurriness but I will hopefully get a chance to try again tomorrow outdoors.
The black spot you can see is because of the dark slide. I didn’t realise at the time but it had a teeny little indented bump which I guess pushed into the film as it was developing.
I think anyone can have a go with this film. You just need to read up on the best conditions for shooting and developing. It will take a while to get to know this first flush, but I get the feeling that we are going to become happy friends.
What do you think of my first go? Have you tried any of the new film yet? I’d love to know about any tricks you have!
EDIT: New tests done today in the sun: Not so great. Sun was shining and I got a totally white overexposed shot.
Went inside with south facing window light and was still over exposed but better.
Tried it a third time with a blind on the same window and it was a little better.
******
Check out my Words To Shoot By and flickr bud Dave Tuttle’s first go- a gorgeous shot of the beautiful Whitney.
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have yet to join the polaroid family but so very interested. do you ahve recommendations on where + how best to purchase an sx-70? can i just say that your visual of “blairwitch project” maneuver made me laugh. : )
You can buy them at The Impossible Project and there are still plenty on ebay. :)
Try old camera stores too.
I bought my original SX70 at a camera market in Sydney and my SLR680 I found here in a second hand camera store. Quite often general second hand stores will sell cameras too.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Steve, Amanda Gilligan. Amanda Gilligan said: My test with the new PX100 film http://www.mocking-bird.org/blog/2010/04/08/the-impossible-project-px100-film/ [...]
ah ebay! i should have guessed. thanks!
This picture is gorgeous ! Lucky you (even if it all looks a bit uneasy …) !
It felt good to laugh and out loud when I read how you stood in the corner with the photo in your back pocket. Thank you for sharing that. :-) The photo is beautiful. For me it has a very delicate feel…almost like antique lace. Does that sound strange? The film you’re using sounds slightly intimidating. I look forward to seeing your future results though. I’m currently the high bidder on eBay for a SX-70 and tomorrow the auction ends. I’m crossing my fingers that the auction stays within my budget. If I do win what is a film you suggest for a Polaroid newbie?
Shady shots are best, at least they were for me. It’s a very fickle film…both with light and temperature. I’ve quite enjoyed the challenge. I can;t wait to see more of your results!
One tip I’ve read was to stick the dark slide over the exit slot so the film is immediately shielded upon its ejection. Of course, my SX-70 shoots out film slightly wonky, so I might have to go the dark bag taped onto the end route when I finally end up ordering some of the first flush film!
Lovely shot! It’s funny, I also posted about my first try with PX-100 today! The first pack that I tried was faulty (an issue with the battery, it seems), but I managed to get one shot out of it. I’m so happy with the film – the tones are gorgeous and I love the experimental aspect of it.
For shooting in the sun, it seems like taping the dark slide over the front of your camera (to cover the picture as it ejects) works well – in my limited experience, the sun (even in low light) can’t touch the blue layer at all or it will over expose.
Thanks Catherine.
hehe glad I made you laugh Whitney. I would suggest trying to get some standard 600 film on ebay. The Impossible Project sell it in their store but they are all out at the moment. Good luck with the auction!
Anna, thanks for that tip. I’m finding that sun is not this film’s friend. I just did another test indoors and it was much better than my other shots. I’ll find the shade.
Yeah I read that too Teresa, I’m just not sure where to stick it. I’ve accidentally put my finger in front of the door before and it caused my camera terrible problems. That’s a good idea with the bag.
Alli, I’m off to check your shots out. I’ve tried moving the dial more towards the black and that also helped.
this is wonderful, AMAZING!
i’m loving the tones of everyone’s film
oh dear. looks like i’m going to have to get me some of that film. gorgeous first shot, by the way.
Not so bad, really. I posted all of my crazy shots on flickr. I think it’s weird what gets “favorited” over at flickr – a couple of my seriously overexposed-looking ones have gotten some looks.
I had trouble with fuzziness/blurriness, too. I did get a few clear shots – but not outside. That was difficult, especially with the wind. When I figure out how to fix my broken camera, I’ll get back to experimenting! I think it might be interesting to try some sort of bag-thing over the photo rather than just the darkslide.
Gotta hand it to them, so many of us are now obsessed with the film – mainly BECAUSE it’s so fickle! I feel like a drug addict. {ok, not really, but i am in withdrawl}
I love how it came out! Good job! Seems like we are all trying new things these days. It’s what makes photography fun after all:) And thanks for the comment on my blog!
[...] I’ll be saving this PX100 first-time account by Amanda of Mocking-Bird.org. Good tips and a beautiful [...]