My parents had a Polaroid J-66, made between 1961 - 1963.
Using a camera designed for obsolete film sizes is fun - with a little patience and experimentation, you can get some interesting results. For this camera, there is a huge opening in the back - almost perfect for a piece of 4 by 5 inch large format film!
To load the film, I put the camera and film, still boxed, of course - into a light-tight changing bag. You do this by feel. To get the proper shutter speed and aperture for the HP5 film I taped a piece of neutral density plastic filter over the light sensor, and opened the aperture to its maximum setting.
This setup, of course, is a one-shot wonder. I decided to wander over to the Ghery Bandshell, in Millennium Park.
The result was spectacular - the exposure was near perfect. Part of the charm for this type of experiment are the little anomalies - the softness, vignetting, some geometric playfulness....
This was surprisingly sharp, considering the plastic lens. Two of the notable imperfections - the light leak, and slight geometric distortions, as the film isn't necessarily perfectly flat - due to the mismatch of film type, and the characteristics of the improvised loading method.
This was probably done in 2005, on a frigid winter day - snow, and brilliant sun.
Ghery Bandshell - Polaroid J66, with Large Format Film
