“OMG! You have a Hello Kitty Instax? I’ve seen a Minions one too recently, it was so cute!”
Yes, I gushed. Even though I can’t really be considered a Hello Kitty or Minions fan-girl, I do admit I find my eyes drifting toward some of the merchandise featuring the kawaii mouth-less kitty and mutant… Umm… Bananas?… at times. Nevertheless, I was instantly corrected by Brandon, the founder of OKB Polaroid Store.
“This is not an Instax. It’s a Polaroid.” (Cue: Roll eyes toward the noob who can’t tell an Instax and Polaroid apart.)
“Umm… So what’s the difference? Isn’t Instax just another Polaroid brand?” That was the moment I was schooled in the many misconceptions of the Polaroid world, and how everything else came to light…
No stranger to Polaroids, Brandon Ong started his eponymous brand five years ago and promotes Polaroid photography as part of his passion project, which was ignited by a family photo taken 15 years before OKB Polaroid Store was founded. In his spare time and during events, he also enjoys giving advice to other photography enthusiasts about Polaroids in general.
“Polaroids and Instax are both instant cameras made by different brands. However, if you compare the photos produced by both cameras, Polaroid photos generally are square in size, whereas an Instax (Mini) is roughly the size of a business or credit card and can fit nicely into pockets or wallets.” Brandon explains enthusiastically. While this is so, he also reiterates that this distinguishing feature may no longer always be true nowadays, as there are a variety of photo sizes, such as the Instax Wide, which may cause the average instant-photo fan to confuse one photo type for the other (i.e. the Instax Wide measures at a slightly larger size compared to a typical Polaroid photo).
He also adds that “another difference is that the images these two cameras produce are also different in terms of development time and colours,” while referring to the difference between the general mood and quality of the two types of images. What this means is, in general, a Polaroid photo typically takes a longer time to develop compared to an Instax photo. In contrast, a Polaroid photo also has an “old school feel” to its images, characterised by slightly blurred, moody images with warm reddish colour tones, whereas Instax photos are generally “flatter” and have cooler bluish based colour hues. Additionally, while Polaroid images develop from a dark background to a coloured photo, Instax images in contrast start off white before developing into the coloured images we expect to see.
“Polaroids, like most other vintage cameras, are generally easy to use and are great for simple point and shoot cameras, capturing instant moments onto film and developing almost immediately in front of the user.” This then leaves the toughest part of capturing the perfect image to the eye behind the camera; namely, the person doing the framing. “Other than multiple exposures or Polaroid manipulation, Polaroids are hard to master as they have a slight parallax error, which means the photo taken can often be slightly off centre.” Gesturing to one of the Polaroids in his 70-strong collection, Brandon reminded me that it takes time to really understand the camera in hand, in order to find the right angle when shooting the ideal photo. “Framing is difficult, but it’s a skill [required for] all types of photography,” he reiterates.
The downside to this process however, is that the only way to really test a camera is to put in a pack of film. “Wasting film can get me pretty annoyed as each pack of film is expensive. Essentially, the battery in the pack will power a camera, and if some of these cameras haven’t been used for years, they may get weird sometimes.” He further explains that hiccups such as having the camera shoot multiple films nonstop, or experiencing the camera fire a single shot before getting jammed by “sucking up all the power”, are normal occurrences in these situations.
“But, aren’t Polaroids considered ‘old school’ cameras then? So Instax is now considered the new Polaroid?” While I didn’t have much interest in cameras in general, I was beginning to see beyond the hype around Polaroids and Instax cameras with their cute outer faces and fancy photo frames. “Also, what’s with the whole ‘shake it like a Polaroid picture’ deal? Does it really develop faster?”
As soon as I asked, I could practically see Brandon making an effort not to roll his eyes at my cliche statement. “When people take a Polaroid photo for the first time, they often feel the need to shake it as they assume shaking will help the photo to develop faster. In fact, this act became so iconic that it was mentioned in a popular song by Outkast…” he trailed off before adding that, perhaps because the first Polaroid prints from the early ’50s came out of the camera as wet prints, it was possible that shaking might have helped to dry the film more rapidly at the time, in order to make the image appear like magic.
Since the first Polaroid camera surfaced in the late 1940s, Polaroids are still in production and constantly have new additions to the lineup, with the latest being developed in 2018. As Brandon further introduced me to his impressive collection spanning the entire history of Polaroids, he reminisced about the time when his brand was newly founded; when his simple goal was just to provide local shooters with affordable film and trusted cameras. This goal slowly evolved over the years to include building up a local community of Polaroid enthusiasts in a marketplace where many before and after him have tried and failed.
“In all my years dealing with Polaroids, these cameras have connected me with many people, and every photo holds both a nostalgic and magical factor.” Thus saying, Brandon took a snap of our surroundings. As we waited for the photo to develop, he smiled and confided that the best part of Polaroids is that they are fun and easy to use, great for gatherings, and ultimately, we would get to keep a photo of the moment while chatting as the image develops.
“It’s a very humanistic touch; the capturing of a social moment as it’s developing.
There’s also no second chance, and you won’t be able to redo the moment.
Call it instant gratification.”
