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When Polaroid cameras first appeared in the 1950s, they were touted as some of the freshest, most innovative tech around. A 1972 Life magazine cover featuring the company read, “A Man and His Magic Camera.” Advertisements chirped, “Photos in a minute!” At the time, instant photography was an unbelievable novelty. But today, all photos are instant. And much more instantaneous than a Polaroid at that. So what is it about Polaroids that we still love—so much so that the company continues to churn out new models in 2021?
For me, it is tangibility. While a smartphone can snap a picture in less than a second, and quality photographs can still be printed, there’s a thrill in the way an instant camera spits a photo directly into your hands. It’s the best party toy around. Polaroid’s latest camera model, the Polaroid Now+, enhances that classic moment with new technical capabilities and accessories for experimentation. Polaroid has billed the Now+ as its “most creative camera yet.”
This camera is downright fun. It comes with five filters that clip onto the camera's lens. One is crisscrossed with faint lines that create a starburst pattern, another is a moody red vignette, and the remaining add a blue, orange, or yellow tint to photos. They come bundled together in a zip-up pouch that makes them hard to misplace.
As a lover of street photography, I took the Now+ with me on a long walk from Brooklyn to Manhattan. It was a cloudy fall day, with perfectly diffused light scattering the sidewalks and illuminating every passing face. I strolled through Carroll Gardens, went up-and-over the Brooklyn Bridge, and crossed into SoHo. Along the way, I captured a couple cool outfits, skyline shots, and interesting intersections with my eight-pack of film.
Because they need at least 10 minutes to develop, street photography is not the most practical use of instant cameras. (After snapping shots, to let them develop, I slipped them between the pages of a book in my bag as quickly as possible to keep them in the dark.) Polaroids are best-suited to the indoors where you can simply lay them face down on a table while they develop. I had my fun anyhow, though. The red vignette filter was particularly interesting to play with. In one shot, the sky had a fiery look, like it was out of a sci-fi movie, or an image of a parallel New York City on Mars.
As for the specifics, the Now+ comes in black, white, and a cool blue-gray and is compatible with i-Type and 600 film. It has a rechargeable battery and a tripod mount on the base of the camera, which is especially convenient to use with the camera's self-timer feature. It can also be connected via Bluetooth to the Polaroid mobile app, which enables aperture priority mode, a tripod mode, manual mode, and a double exposure tool. The Polaroid Now+ makes an ideal holiday gift and it’s the perfect camera to bring to celebrations. This is the camera you want at a bachelorette party for a late night photo shoot in the Airbnb, or to pass around the family holiday party. Get your selfie angle ready, and don’t take it too seriously—thanks to the filters, you’ll probably come out blue (or red, or orange) in the face anyway.
