Polaroid SX-70
For instant photography, I use a Polaroid SX-70.
The Polaroid SX-70 is an original. One of a kind. Made in Norwood, Massachusetts from 1972 to 1977 (McKeown, 1996), it was an engineering breakthrough and an instant (so to speak) industrial design landmark.
Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera. Original version. (Photo made with a Nikon F, 50mm f/3/5 Micro-Nikkor-P.C, and Portra 400.)
Edwin Land and Steve Jobs
Each year, the University of Maryland selects ‘a book that will provide a shared intellectual experience for all first-year students, faculty, and staff’ For 2014-2015 it was Instant: The Story of Polaroid (Bonanos, 2012). On the dust jacket of the U. Md. edition, Mary Ann Rankin (Sr. VP and Provost) wrote:
‘In the age of digital photography, pictures are instant and are more often taken with our phones than our cameras. But long before digital photography, Edwin Land created a start-up that produced a technology so revolutionary no corporation could match its innovation… Even Steve Jobs, the Edwin Land of his generation, made pilgrimages to meet with the inventor while Applle was on the rise… Edwin Land introduced to the world something that had previously seemed impossible: a photograph you could hold in your hand at a moment’s notice’.
The interface of technology and art
The SX-70, which ‘made its spectacular debut in 1972’ (Gustavson, 2011) was the high point of Polaroid’s photographic technology and design. Like the original 2007 Apple iPhone and the 1984 MacIntosh, the 1972 Polaroid SX-70 was motivated by the personal vision of a strong leader working at the interface of technology and art: Steve Jobs at Apple, and his hero Edwin Land at Polaroid.
They created products that were conceptually audacious, beautifully styled, and pushed the technological envelope while having a near-intuitive, consumer-oriented user interface. McKeown’s (1996:367) calls the SX-70 a ‘technical and esthetic marvel’ and Kaps (2016) observes that ‘for many people, the SX-70 is still the most beautiful and most innovative camera ever produced’.
The original Mac, iPhone, and Polaroid SX-70 are in the permanent collection of the Cooper Hewitt in New York.
Photographic qualities unlike any other
The SX-70 has a four-element glass lens. Its single lens reflex (SLR) design enables accurate framing and focusing. Focusing is bright and clear, and the lens focuses down to about 10 1/2 inches (by my measurement). This unusually close focus capability can produce attractive bokeh:
An example of the colors and bokeh that the SX-70 can produce.
Using the SX-70 today
The camera’s chrome and tan leather finish is attractive, and it folds up into a slim, compact form. Its manual focus SLR design is fundamentally different from any other instant camera, including those made by today’s Polaroid company.
The SX-70 can produce stunning images. But not reliably. Some photos that should work, don’t. But when the stars are aligned, the SX-70 makes photographs that I can’t get any other way.
Maintenance and repair
No maintenance done yet on my SX-70 but it probably needs it (see above). Hunt (2024) recommends companies that work on them.
References / further reading
Adam, Rhiannon. 2017. Polaroid: The Complete Guide to Experimental Photography. London: Thames & Hudson.
Bonanos, Christopher. 2012. Instant: The Story of Polaroid. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. New York. A Polaroid SX-70 is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department. cooperhewitt.org/objects/18667965/
Cordtz, D. 1974. ‘A great technical achievement awaits its ultimate test in the marketplace’. Forbes, Jan. Reformated and republished Jan. 21, 2021 in an article by Joaquin de Prada, ‘Polaroid bet its future on the SX-70’. https://opensx70.com/posts/2021/01/bet accessed Apr. 14, 2025.
This article includes a photograph of the SX-70 assembly line in the Norwood, Mass. factory. And the opensx70 website has a lot of information on the camera, its history, design, and modifications.
Crist, Steve, ed. 2015. The Polaroid Book: Selections from the Polaroid Collections of Photography. Köln: Taschen.
Dayal, Geeta. 2012. Why Polaroid Was the Apple of Its Time. Wired. Oct. 12, 2012. Wired dot com/2012/10/instant-the-story-of-polaroid/
Gustavson, T. 2011. 500 Cameras: 170 Years of Photographic Innovation. New York: Fall River Press. The 500 cameras are from the George Eastman House Technology Collection, Rochester, N.Y. The SX-70 is on p. 441.
Hunt, B. 2024. Film Camera Zen: A Guide to Finding the Perfect Film Camera. Los Angeles: Chronicle Chroma.
The SX-70 is on pp. 156-157: “…there are aome amazing companies like Mint and Brooklyn Film Camera that refurbish these cameras and specialize in them, so you can effectively find a new old camera.”
Isaacson, Walter. 2021. Steve Jobs, tenth anniversary edition. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Kaps, Florian. 2016. Polaroid: The Magic Material. London: Francis Lincoln Ltd.
p. 21: ‘Land was an incredible visionary… Maybe the best comparison is with Steve Jobs, who often mentioned Land as one of his most important role models’.
McKeown, J.M. and J.C. 1996. McKeown’s Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 1997-1998. Grantsburg, Wis.: Centennial Photo.
Pritchard, Michael. 2014. A History of Photography in 50 Cameras. Buffalo, N.Y.: Firefly Books. The SX-70 is camera no. 42 and its story is on pp. 184-189.