[LargeFormat] Sally Forth Unto A Bright New Day --> Polaroid film future

[Michael Briggs]

On 04-Apr-02 rstein wrote:
>     And a final odd note - I visited my local camera knackers yard today and
> passed the time of day with the proprietor. He advised me to purchase as
> much sheet Polaroid for my 4 x 5 as I was likely to need and had capacity to
> freeze.

Whatever you do, don't freeze Polaroid film.  Polaroid says not to.  My guess
is that it would be good for the film but bad for the chemicals in the pod.
Polaroid's recommendation, if the seal hasn't been opened, is to refrigerate.

My experience with out-dated Polaroid film is not good.   The chemicals in the
pod dried out.  Someone on the internet stated that this only happens after the
foil seal has been opened.  I don't know whether this is true--my film that
went bad was in an opened container.

> His reasoning centered around a viability issue with the
> manufacturer and the unlikelihood of anyone else making 4 x 5 instant film
> in sheets.
> 
>     Is this just a rumor or should I act accordingly and stock up? I do use
> a Polaroid 4 x 5 sheet back for studio tests. Sad if it becomes a relic -
> particularly since the Land Corp squashed the Kodak instant picture business
> all those years ago.

I think this is a rumor.   The profitable parts of Polaroid will either be
retained in a reorganized company or sold to another company.   I hear that
Polaroid claims that the instant sheet film business is profitable.  I would
expect it to be, because they charge not-small prices and aren't spending much
money (if any) on research and advertising.   My guess is that the future of
Polaroid digital products is in greater doubt--lots of competition (unlike
instant films) and high R&D costs.

--Michael