In early October of 2019, this email message from Polaroid Originals about the fate of the Spectra camera arrived in my inbox. Here it is in its entirety (my comments are in italics).
A note from our CEO.
Dear Spectra photographers,
Since 1986, Spectra has played an important part in Polaroid’s film offering and in the world of analog instant photography. With three decades behind them, these wide-format cameras are now coming to the end of their useful lives. (WHAT???!!!)
Jamming and frequent breakdowns are now affecting the majority of these cameras, and unfortunately, this is not something we can influence with our film. (Really? I’ve taken close to 400 photos with my Spectra and can count the number of problems on one hand.)
After extensive testing, we have concluded that we cannot support these cameras any longer. So today, with a heavy heart, we are announcing the end of production for Spectra film. (OH NO!!! I still have almost 350 stairs to photograph!)
As we share in the sadness about Spectra with our community, we continue to focus on the future of analog instant photography through enhancing our core range, and through continued work on our film chemistry. We look forward to working with our community to test new products and to keep analog instant photography thriving well into the future. (Blah Blah Blah whatever. My day is ruined now.)
If you are one of the lucky few with a fully working Spectra camera, you can still purchase the final batch on sale now for the next few months. (Oh, fabulous! Thank my lucky stars I’m gainfully employed and have a relatively empty refrigerator.)
Thank you for your continued belief in analog instant photography.
Oskar Smolokowski
CEO, Polaroid Originals
A note from our factory.
Our manufacturing team led an intensive, 6-month testing and improvement plan on Spectra cameras and our film. We optimized the dimensions and deflection angle of the ejecting film, reduced the pod weight, and lowered the mask friction through different coatings. We also carried out multiple battery tests with different voltages and currents from different suppliers.
This fault is completely random and depends on many variables with each pack of film and the configuration of the camera circuitry.
There is, unfortunately, no simple fix. (Perhaps what you mean to say is that Polaroid isn’t interested in spending the additional funds to support the Spectra as other cameras like the OneStep are clearly more popular with the general public and likely have a greater financial return for the company.)
Andrew Billen
Head of Global Manufacturing, Polaroid Originals
A few days later, the USPS delivered a generously-sized box to my house with 50 packages of Spectra film. It’s now living in the refrigerator, and while I have encountered some problems with the film and camera, it’s uncertain if those problems are due to the cold Pittsburgh weather or because of the unfixable “random faults” identified by Polaroid. For now, the Mis.Steps project is moving ahead as planned, but will the film and camera hold up for another two and a half years until I reach the 739th set of city steps? Only time will tell. If you’re wondering why I chose the Spectra for the Mis.Steps projects, read my article Why Polaroid Spectra? Of course, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit sad or worried about this change. Are there other instant cameras and film I could use? Sure, but they won’t be the Spectra and they won’t have the same look and feel.
On a related note, I recently watched The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography by Errol Morris. I felt a bit of a kinship with this quirky, non-traditional artist whose work with the Polaroid Land 20×24 camera came to an end after 35 years when the original Polaroid filed for bankruptcy.
From the film’s website: “The B-Side is a loving portrait of a unique artist too often overlooked in considerations of 20th-century photography. It revels in the intimate beauty of Dorfman’s portraits and in her singular appreciation for the ordinary aspects of human life. As photographs begin to fade and Dorfman’s retirement looms, Morris’s film reminds us of a bygone era of analog photography and the extraordinary life of one of its champions.” If you are fascinated by artists who spend their lives documenting the world and people around them (as I am), you’ll want to watch this film!