POLAROID SX-70 SONAR AUTOFOCUS - Trying Out a 45 Year-Old Instant Film Camera

#stuffandthings​ #polaroid #retro

The Polaroid SX-70 might be the most beautiful camera ever made. I purchased this SX-70 Sonar Autofocus model off of ebay and had it refurbished. These are my first impressions after taking the camera out for the first time.

Jeremy did a great job on my camera! Contact him here:

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[MelissaBaker.]

Oh my goodness!

It's such a neat little contraption you got yourself there!

I love the fact that using a polaroid camera really makes you have to think before you snap. Makes you enjoy the process so much more, doesn't it?

Can't wait to hear your review after you've had some time to get used to it.

[VictorReynolds]

I remember a friend of mine had one back in the 80s and I thought it was a cool camera; I was shooting 35mm SLR then.

Fast forward to 2015, where I nabbed and SX-70 Sonar at a used camera show as a birthday present to myself. I used that SX-70 until an accidental drop in 2020 broke it beyond repair. (That accident should have told me that 2020 was going to be quite a year).

This year, I purchased another SX-70 Sonar as a present to myself. I later bought a case & remote shutter release for the SX-70.

I love the camera, and as you said it’s an SLR. This is my film photography (with other instant cameras), for like you I cannot be putting out $$ for development and scanning. However, I still only use SX-70 film with it since I have a 600-type camera.

Thanks for sharing such a great video and all the best with your SX-70!

[manatoa]

I quite like that last self portrait of you. The effect is cool, and I like that it's not just some filter or other, but rather an artifact of the camera itself. Film, and Polaroids carry so much more weight than digital images.

[GonzoTheRosarian]

Yes, I can understand the obsession with the SX 70, I am going down that rabbit hole myself. I just got an SX -70 Sonar, have a MiNT 670s and have another SX-70 to send for refurbishment and “souping up” to be able to shoot in manual mode. They are great cameras!

[GolLeeMe]

Great to see a cool product from yesteryear still working and going strong. Always something sophisticated about the style of the SX-70. In the pantheon of element style this definitely has a place. Thank you for sharing Bradley.

[tombrown]

Bradley, that's cool! Back around 1977-78, my boss had an SX-70 that appeared at any occasion in the office. His camera had pig skin leather patches, but didn't have the Sonar focus. Good times. Great show today!

[drregmonster]

Thanks for bringing us along down the rabbit hole.

[robertpresley]

I had one years ago. It was brown leather and stainless. Wish I'd kept it.

[theretrogeek]

Me too I bought a one step/1000 Polaroid and was researching about Polaroid and came across the Sonar Sx70 and got one too, I recently did a re-leather and got an ever ready case and strap for it am very happy with it! 😊

[Kwstr]

i found one of these with sonar last year for 2.00. i saw the honeycomb looking thing and it intrigued me, after i looked it up i realized it was pretty obvious in hindsight, but i do love how it looks and im glad they still make film for it even though its pricy, it would make a good companion to my canon 90D for getting some old school looking photos.

one of the negatives i keep hearing is the length, but i just laugh and look at my 90D with the battery grip attached. fits in my camera bag fine lol

[jonathanpicklecucumber]

I just bought a sun660 from ebay and ive loved it! I want to buy another SX-70 but i bought one from ebay for ~$100 and it didnt work and had rips in the bellows. I dont want to fork out almost 300 bucks for a refurbished one. Its a really cool display piece though

[BlakesPipes]

excellent review for polaroid camera. i felt like i went back in time

[tombrown]

Bradley, I never knew that the SX-70 and 600 film came in B&W! That second self-portrait is really good. It looks like something out of German Expressionism, as if the film director Fritz Lang had shot it. Ain't it great when things like that happen?

[Mehmetmoritanya]

What does sonar mean?does it use sound waves?

[michaelpicardal]

this reminded me i have a SLR 680 in storage; hasn't seen light in a long time; it's the version that uses 600 film...i am aware that the film is available but i'm still not interested in using it at $2 a pop...

[patrickwilson]

Instant photo cameras be they Polaroid or Instax will never produce photos as sharp as those from a traditional decent or reasonable quality film camera because the film used in these cameras is low resolution film with a narrow dynamic range so even if they put high quality glass lenses on these cameras it would make a significant difference because of the film's low resolution and narrow dynamic range.
Instant film has a resolution of about 10 LinePairs per millimetre whereas traditional film has much LP/mm about 80LP/mm or even higher depending on the actual type of film.

[Argo-F-Ur-Sef]

Seems like Dr. SX-70 should pack it better for return shipping. That's disappointing.