Our followers often ask us about defects that appear on their photos. Various artifacts are an inherent part of Polaroid instant photos, adding uniqueness to your pictures, as you never know what result you will get. However, unfortunately, not everyone likes such results, especially considering the Polaroid cameras price. Therefore, we will explore the most common defects and their causes, so you can either avoid them or, on the contrary, achieve unexpected effects.
White Stripes
One of the most common issues. This typically occurs due to uneven distribution of the chemicals in the pockets that develop your photo. Unfortunately, you cannot influence this as the paste is applied to the pockets at the factory. Another cause may be the drying out of the chemicals or chemical reactions occurring due to the expiration of the chemicals inside the pockets.
How to Avoid?
- Ensure that the cartridge’s expiration date has not passed;
- If the cartridge is not expired and was stored properly, it may have a manufacturing defect;
- Always store the cartridge correctly.
Web/Snowflake
The second most common defect. It usually occurs along the edges of the freshly developed photo and resembles a spiderweb. This defect forms due to physical impact on the fresh, undeveloped photo, when the chemicals are still wet and haven’t had time to bond the negative and positive plates. Most often, this impact occurs when you pull the photo from the camera while the chemicals are still wet and sensitive, making them vulnerable to external factors.
How to Avoid?
- Carefully remove the photo from the camera;
- Do not touch the surface of the undeveloped photo with your fingers.
Unexposed Areas
Unexposed areas appear when the chemicals don't spread evenly across the entire surface of the frame. This may happen due to rollers that don't distribute the paste properly, the chemicals in the pockets not being enough, or the chemicals drying out and not covering the photo properly.
How to Avoid?
- Ensure that the cartridge is not expired;
- Always store the cartridges properly (in a cool place);
- Clean the camera rollers.
Green/Blue/Orange Photos
Polaroid cartridges are extremely sensitive to high and low temperatures. If you shoot above 28°C, your black-and-white photo will have a significantly lower contrast, and the color ones will have an orange or pink tint. In cold weather, your photos will take on a green or blue hue. By the way, shooting on black-and-white film in cold conditions often results in a very dull photo.
How to Avoid?
- Photograph at room temperature (13-28°C);
- Keep the cartridge in a cool place away from direct sunlight, or in a cooler bag if it’s very hot;
- In cold weather, keep the camera and photos inside your outerwear, close to your body, to maintain warmth.
Pink, Low-Contrast Photos
Several people have reached out to us about a problem where their color photo had a very prominent pink hue with low contrast. As it turned out, these photos were taken while traveling, and the cartridges went through the scanner, which caused this interesting effect. Although Polaroid previously marked their packaging as radiation protected, this label has now been removed. We can conclude that X-rays negatively impact your photos.
How to Avoid?
- Do not pass the cartridges through scanners at airports or stations; if possible, remove the cartridges and ask not to irradiate them;
- Do not carry cartridges with you; buy them at the destination.
Paste Leak
It often happens that there is too much chemical paste that develops your photo. Each photo has a reservoir on top that absorbs excess chemicals, but sometimes it fails to do so, and the paste leaks out, staying on your photo and the rollers. If this happens, wipe off the paste from the photo with a wet wipe, avoiding direct contact with your skin as it is toxic. Also, open the cartridge tray and wipe the rollers as the remaining paste on them will spoil your subsequent photos.
How to Avoid?
- Make sure the cartridge is not expired;
- If the cartridge is not expired and has been stored properly, it may have a manufacturing defect.
