Impossible Project is releasing a new instant camera for Polaroid 600-type film on May 10, targeting people who want to have the ability to print their photos on the spot. Impossible Project’s new camera works like the old Polaroid cameras but with a modern twist.
An app with full manual controls
On Monday, the new camera was unveiled by Impossible Project CEO Oskar Smolokowski. The camera, called the I-1, gives you the power to trigger it remotely and to adjust its shutter speed, flash and aperture if you connect it to an iOS app via Bluetooth. To help you with things like double exposures and light painting, the same app includes “creative tools,” and you can also automatically adjust ambient light and focus distance with the “advanced ring flash.”
Instead of replacing the battery when it runs out, you can charge its battery via USB (a huge development from the Polaroid days). You can click photos and print them on type 600 films. Impossible Project, which recreated type 600 films through a feat of reverse engineering, is popular for keeping the format of Polaroid’s type 600 instant film alive even after it was deserted by the long-time camera maker in 2008.
“The nostalgic pleasure of the analog instant cameras of old; on the other: the sleek design and digital control we’ve grown accustomed to in the 21st century,” says a report from Peta Pixel.
Even the original and discontinued Polaroid film works with the camera. This type of cameras are not new though. The new instant camera is a mix of old and new like the semi-digital 8mm camera announced by Kodak at CES.
Impossible Project known for innovation
In 2013, Impossible Project created and crowdfunded the Instant Lab, a device that can print images clicked using a mobile device. So this is not the first time the company is doing something different. With the I-1, its very first instant camera, the photographic material manufacturing company has advanced beyond its previous achievements. The new camera, which comes with a suite of connected features, looks very simple at first glance with its matte black finish, minimal knobs and buttons.
Impossible Project will be selling the I-1 for $300 when it comes out in May. This new camera is more expensive than the Fujifilm Instax, but it will be able to attract customers and film fanatics with its slick design, digital look and awesome smartphone features.