add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
X-ray Film Processor|China X-ray Film Processor|X-ray Film Processor industry-medical.com | Dental Supplies, Kodak Ultra-Speed Dental Films, Kodak Insight Dental... newlinemedical.com | Colorado Springs Instant Orthodontics, Monument Instant Orthodontics,... universityparksmiles.com | x-ray films, xray films, x ray films, medical x-ray films alphamedical.com |
  Instant film is a type of photographic film first introduced by Polaroid that is designed to be used in an instant camera (and, with accessory hardware, with many professional film cameras). The film contains the chemicals needed for developing and fixing the photo, and the instant camera exposes and initiates the developing process after a photograph has been taken. In earlier Polaroid instant cameras the film is pulled through rollers which breaks open a pod containing a reagent that is spread between the exposed negative and receiving positive sheet. This film sandwich develops for a predetermined time, depending on film type and ambient temperature, after which the positive sheet is peeled away from the negative to reveal the developed photo. In 1972, Polaroid introduced integral film, which incorporated timing and receiving layers to automatically develop and fix the photo without any intervention from the photographer. Instant film is available in sizes from 24 mm x 36 mm (similar to 135 film) up to 20" x 24" size, with the most popular film sizes for consumer snapshots being approximately 3¼" x 4¼" (the image itself is smaller as it is surrounded by a border). Early instant film was distributed on rolls, but later and current films are supplied in packs of 8 or 10 sheets, and single sheet films for use in large format cameras with a compatible back. Integral film packs may contain a flat electrical battery to operate exposure and focusing mechanisms and film ejection motors in the camera. The inclusion of the battery within the film pack ensures that a fresh battery with suitable characteristics is available with each new pack of film. The quality and versatility of instant film is not as good as conventional film; it was used where the quality was adequate for the application and it was undesirable to have to wait for a roll of conventional film to be finished and processed, e.g., documenting evidence in law enforcement, in health care and scientific applications, and producing photographs for passports and other identity documents, and simply for snapshots to be seen immediately. Some photographers use instant film for test shots, to see how a subject or setup looks before using conventional film for the final exposure. Instant film is also used by artists to achieve effects that are impossible to accomplish with traditional photography, by manipulating the emulsion during the developing process, or separating the image emulsion from the film base. Instant film has been supplanted for most purposes by digital photography, which allows the result to be viewed immediately on a display screen or printed with dye sublimation, inkjet, or laser home or professional printers. Instant film is notable for having had a wider range of film speeds available than other negative films of the same era: instant film has been produced with ASA 4 to ASA 20,000. Current instant film formats typically have an ASA between 80 and 3000. As of 2009[update] the only company manufacturing instant film is Fuji; instant cameras and film backs which do not take Fuji films are effectively obsolete (but see the Future section below).
[edit] How it worksAll instant film uses diffusion transfer to move the dyes from the negative to the positive via a reagent. The process varies according to the film type. [edit] Black and white roll/pack filmA negative sheet is exposed inside the camera, then lined up with a positive sheet and squeezed through a set of rollers which spread a reagent between the two layers, creating a developing film sandwich. The negative develops quickly, after which some of the unexposed silver halide grains (and the latent image it contains) are solubilized by the reagent and transferred by diffusion from the negative to the positive. After a minute, the negative is peeled away to reveal the photo which was transferred to the positive receiving sheet[1]. [edit] Color roll/pack filmThough similar in format to black and white film, the instant color process is much more complex, involving a negative which contains 3 layers of emulsion sensitive to blue, green, and red. Underneath each layer are dye developing molecules in their complementary colors of yellow, magenta, and cyan. When light strikes an emulsion layer, it blocks the complementary dye below it. For instance, when blue strikes the blue sensitive emulsion layer, it blocks the yellow dye, but allows the magenta and cyan dyes to transfer to the positive, which combine to create blue. When green and red (yellow) strikes their respective layers, it blocks the complementary dyes of magenta and cyan below them, allowing only yellow dye to transfer to the positive. [edit] Integral filmThis process is similar to color instant film with added timing and receiving layers. The film itself integrates all the layers to expose, develop, and fix the photo into a plastic envelope commonly associated with a Polaroid photo. [edit] Film Brands[edit] Polaroid[edit] Film TypesPolaroid film can be divided into 5 basic types: Roll film: was distributed in two separate negative and positive rolls and developed inside the camera. It was introduced in 1948 and was manufactured until 1992. Pack film: was distributed in a film pack which contained both negative and positive sheets and developed outside the camera. It was introduced in 1963 and is still manufactured. Integral film: is also distributed in a film pack, but each film envelope contains all the chemical layers to expose, develop, and fix the photo. It was introduced in 1972 and is still manufactured. Polavision: An instant motion picture film, Polavision, was introduced by Polaroid in 1978, with an image format similar to Super 8 mm film, and based on an additive color process. Polavision required a specific camera and tabletop viewer, and was not a commercial success, but did lead to the development of an instant 35-mm. color slide film. Polavision film has been taken off the market. Polachrome: An easy to develop 35mm film, available in colour, monochrome and 'blue' formats (the latter intended for making title cards). Each roll of film came with a cartridge containing developing chemicals which were pressed between the film and a developing strip by a hand-cranked machine called the AutoProcessor. The AutoProcessor was very cheap and did not require a darkroom; the results were somewhat variable, the resolution was not as good as conventional film due to the matrix of tiny red, green and blue filters required to make the monochrome emulsion work in colour, and the sensitivity was low, even for slide film; in tungsten light, Polachrome HC is rated at 4 ASA. [edit] End of productionIn February 2008, Polaroid (under the control of Thomas J. Petters of Petters Group Worldwide) announced it would cease production of all instant film; the company will shut down three factories and lay off 450 workers.[2] Sales of chemical film by all makers have dropped by at least 25% per year since 2000, and the decline is likely to accelerate. Fujifilm is the only remaining supplier of instant film in the United States. Polaroid's instant film offerings included the following: SX-70 cameras (integral film, develops automatically, 3.1 x 3.1 inch)
600 cameras (integral film, develops automatically, 3.1 x 3.1 inch)
Spectra / 1200 cameras (integral film, develops automatically, 3.6 x 2.9 inch)
Captiva integral film, for Captiva and Joycam 4.4 x 2.5 in. (11.1 x 6.4 cm)
Type 330 series Autofilm integral film for use Polaroid CB-33 backs.
Type 100 series packfilm for Land cameras (timed peel-apart development, sometimes called type 660, 10.8 x 8.3 cm; 4.25 x 3.25 inch) 
Type 20 series roll film (2 1/2" x 3 1/4")
Type 30 series roll film (2 1/2" x 3 1/4")
Type 40 series roll film (3 1/4" x 4 1/4") 8 exposures per roll
Type 50 series sheetfilm for 4x5 inch large format (time peel-apart development, all professional grade)
Type 550 series packfilm, 4 x 5 inch, for Polaroid 550 film backs.
Type 80 series packfilm, 8.3 x 8.6 cm, (3 1/4 x 3 3/8 inch)
Type 800 series sheetfilm for 8x10 inch cameras, processors, Daylabs and other purposes
[edit] PreservationPolaroids have the same storage standards under ISO 18920:2000 as any other photograph.[3] Regular storage conditions should be less than 70 degrees Fahrenheit and between 50% and 30% relative humidity (RH). Cold storage (0 degrees Fahrenheit optimum) is not helpful unless RH can be controlled and cold storage RH is generally drier than required. RH below 30% will create an environment that is too dry and may cause the photograph to curl. [edit] FujifilmCurrent Fuji instant films include: [edit] Packfilm3 1/4 x 4 1/4" (85 x 108mm) Compatible with Polaroid Type 100 packfilm (also known as "Type 660")
4x5" (102 x 131mm) For use in the Fujifilm PA-45 holder. Compatible with the old Polaroid Type 550 series 4x5 packfilm versions of Type 50 sheetfilm
[edit] Integral filmInstax series ISO800 films.
ACE series ISO800 films. Compatible with Fujifilm's Fotorama ACE series of instant cameras. 800 series ISO800 films. Compatible with Fujifilm's Fotorama 800 series instant cameras.
F Series ISO160. Compatible with Fotorama F series instant cameras. Discontinued in the mid 1990's.
[edit] Kodak Kodak manufactured Polaroid's instant film from 1963 to 1969, when Polaroid decided to manufacture its own. Kodak introduced its own instant film, which was different from Polaroid's in several ways:[4]
Kodak was prohibited in 1986 from further selling instant cameras and instant film. The patent infringement came about when Kodak tried to avoid the patent by placing the emulsion layers in the reverse order. The courts ruled that this was in fact an infringement on the patents held by Edwin H. Land and the Polaroid Corporation. Kodak Instant ASA150 film
Kodamatic Instant ASA300
[edit] Alternative Kodak instant filmWhile Kodak instant films have been discontinued for ages, Fuji's instant film available in Japan since the 1980's is very similar to Kodak's developing the same with the back layer first. The pictures are the same size, the cartridge is almost the same, with some easy plastic modifications; the Fuji Fotorama series can be made to fit. The FI-10 series was the closest to the Kodak with the ISO at 160, many of the camera's brightness controls can be adjusted to work with the different ISO. The bad news was it was discontinued in the 1990's. The faster ISO 800 instant films will work as well but would require the use of a filter either on the film cartridge or lens. [edit] Future[edit] Fujifilmas of 2009[update], Fujifilm is the only company that continues to produce and sell instant film. [edit] Impossible Project Integral filmA group called the Impossible Project have acquired Polaroid's old equipment and factory in Enschede, in the Netherlands. [5]On their website[6] they state:
and
As of September 2009[update] their website states that they have produced their first "complete and stable" instant picture. In October of 2009, Summit Global Group a licensee of the Polaroid brand announced they will be distributing instant film and are working with Impossible Project. Summit will manufacture instant cameras such as the One series, while Impossible Project will manufacture the film for them. [edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
|
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
