# found at my grandma's house...



## paigew (Aug 29, 2012)

...anyone know what it is?? She said its some kind of camera but I can't figure out how to open the thing .


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## Heitz (Aug 29, 2012)

I think it's from Star Trek.


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## amolitor (Aug 29, 2012)

Looks like a Polaroid SX-70.

EDIT: You can get film for this thing from the Impossible Project guys. Word is that it's not very good film, but it works.


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## paigew (Aug 29, 2012)

amolitor said:


> Looks like a Polaroid SX-70.
> 
> EDIT: You can get film for this thing from the Impossible Project guys. Word is that it's not very good film, but it works.



awesome! Yes that is what it is  Now to find the film!


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## SCraig (Aug 29, 2012)

I don't think you're going to find the film.  It looks like it's a Polaroid, maybe an SX-70 but I'm not certain.


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## amolitor (Aug 29, 2012)

IMPOSSIBLE - film


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## Big Mike (Aug 29, 2012)

Yes, that's certainly a Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera (I think all the similar models have that designation).  I've got two or three of them around here somewhere...and one of mine came from my Grandmother's house too.


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## Derrel (Aug 29, 2012)

The SX-70 is one of the COOLEST single lens reflex camera designs ever made!@@! I have one. It used to be lotsa fun! It was a fun camera to use, and was actually pretty easy to carry, especially compared with the older box-and-bellows size of the 100-series Polaroid cameras I grew up with. I believe that model there has some type of "sonic" focus assist, projected from that grille-like circular aperture....seems like they used a sonic emission as a rangefinder method...kind of a sonar-assisted focus system, as I think I recall...hell, it's been 35 years since that thing was advertised, and they did NOT last very long in the popular photo culture..


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## Big Mike (Aug 29, 2012)

I agree, they are pretty cool.  Especially the ones like that, with the metal (is it aluminum?) body.

If you could convert of of those to digital (maybe by finding a way to use your smart phone), you'd be king of all the hipsters.


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## jaicatalano (Aug 29, 2012)

It's from the watergate scandal. The Smithsonian was looking for that.


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## Jaemie (Aug 29, 2012)

I used a SX-70 waaaayyyy long ago, and it was a COOL camera!


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## Jaemie (Aug 29, 2012)

Also...  Edwin Land, co-founder of Polaroid, was a *stellar* scientist and inventer! Check him out sometime for a fascinating story.


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## Derrel (Aug 29, 2012)

SX-70 Sonar One-Step is what I believe the model designation is. That is of course, a VERY cursory I.D, based on a total of *ONE Google search*, or a grand total of 12.3 seconds' worth of on-line "reeeeesurch"....it *IS* definitely a "*Sonar*" family member....not sure if it is the One Step or not...but it is,positively an SX-70 "Sonar". Not sure if there were variants or not...


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## paigew (Aug 29, 2012)

Derrel, yes when I opened it up it says 'sonar one step'. and it has a little dial on it you can turn. not sure what that does though


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## Jaemie (Aug 29, 2012)

Gosh, I even remember the ads for that camera and the sonar thing being a major feature. I oughta be carbon dated.


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## compur (Aug 29, 2012)

paigew said:


> it has a little dial on it you can turn. not sure what that does though



It should have 2 dials. One is to adjust exposure and the other is for manual focus when the AF system is disengaged.

The "Sonar" in its name is for the AF system which uses sound rather than light.  It can auto-focus in complete darkness.

The camera is powered by a battery contained within the film pack so it won't do anything until film is loaded.


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## invisible (Aug 29, 2012)

Derrel said:


> The SX-70 is one of the COOLEST single lens reflex camera designs ever made!@@!


Agreed. I wouldn't be surprised to find it in museums dedicated to industrial design. The original SX-70 is actually 40 years old, yet that camera, with that light-brown leatherette skin, looks super-cool even today. It was the first-ever foldable SLR camera, and marked possibly Polaroid's finest hour in terms of industrial design.


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## Derrel (Aug 29, 2012)

invisible said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > The SX-70 is one of the COOLEST single lens reflex camera designs ever made!@@!
> ...



I bought one of those brown leatherette covered SX-70 cameras at the estate sale of a photo hobbyist, back in 1993 or 94...I enjoyed using it...it came with a slender,simple, genuine leather carrying case with a narrow leather strap...very minimalist!

The SX-70 was indeed a VERY amazing industrial design. They broke the mould after they came up with that one! I was intrigued by the suggestion above about the possibility of getting one to function with a cell phone as the capture medium--that would be way cool!


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## invisible (Aug 29, 2012)

paigew said:


> but I can't figure out how to open the thing .


Here's a gangsta video that shows you how to do it: Proper way to open a Polaroid SX-70 Camera - YouTube

It can't be said often enough: the coolness of this camera is just off the charts.


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## Jaemie (Aug 29, 2012)

Derrel said:


> I was intrigued by the suggestion above about the possibility of getting one to function with a cell phone as the capture medium--that would be way cool!



omg...  This is my next hack project! Thrift stores, yard sales, here I come.


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## Derrel (Aug 29, 2012)

Well...ya know...the other day I was looking at a site dedicated to the use of accessory lenses on the iPhone. ONE accessory device captures the image that is PROJECTED from the back of a standard 35mm camera system lens by using the equivalent of a "groundglass back" setup; the iPhone's lens shoots a PHOTO of THAT--the "projected image" that is "caught" by the groundglass....so...I THINK this project might actually be quite "do-able"...I really do!


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## Jaemie (Aug 29, 2012)

Here's a great video explaining in wonderful detail(!) the operation of the SX-70.


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## invisible (Aug 29, 2012)

Jaemie said:


> Here's a great video explaining in wonderful detail(!) the operation of the SX-70.


Holy archaeological find!


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## The Barbarian (Aug 29, 2012)

It is indeed the sonar version of the SX-70.   A true SLR, it focused by an ultrasonic chirp from a gold-colored speaker above the lens.  

Works in the dark, but not through glass.    Interestingly, it lives on in scientific probes...

http://www.ffem.org/gdam/images//pasco.jpg

I've got one and it took great pictures, albeit with that odd, creamy look all SX-70s had.   I need to go to the Impossible website and crank it up one more time.

And yes, both versions were amazing technical innovations.   Just unbelievable when they came out.  BTW, the frame of the SX-70 was not metal.   It was plastic, but very, very heavily plated.

The "Polapulse" battery that ran everything was in the film pack, and had far more life than was needed; you could use the empty pack for all sorts of interesting power applications.   Polaroid, after the SX-70 was discontinued, used it in a flashlight.


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## paigew (Aug 29, 2012)

wow what great info guys! thanks  I'm excited to order the film and test it out!


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## Trever1t (Aug 29, 2012)

I still have mine, in a box in storage.....I always enjoyed that camera


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