Shielding
Impossible Films
All Impossible Instant Films are sensitive to light. For perfect results, immediately shield the image from light as it ejects from the camera - the first split seconds are crucial! Find below the following tutorial videos
How to
- shield images with folding type cameras (such as SX 70 and SLR 680)
- shield images with box type cameras
- shield images with Spectra/Image cameras
How to use Impossible shielding accessories
Shield images with folding type cameras
Even though the development of our film’s post-exposure-light sensitivity is getting better and better, you are still well advised to shield your current Impossible images from light as soon as they are ejected from the camera. There are several ways to do this easily, but here is our most recently developed and beloved trick to easily enhance the performance of the Impossile films.
Note that this technique only works with folding SLR cameras. For shielding techniques with box type 600 cameras please see the separate tutorial video.
Shield images with box type cameras
Impossible images are super sensitive to light after exposure, pictures have to get shielded from light IMMEDIATELY as they get ejected from the camera – the first few seconds are crucial!! There are several tricks how to shield the image from light upon its ejection from the camera – see all tricks when using a box type camera here.
Insufficient shielding will typically result in very light, low contrast images. With the PX 70 PUSH and PX 680 film, poor shielding will also result in a strong pink or orange haze over the picture.
Shield images in Spectra/Image cameras
Impossible images are super sensitive to light after exposure, pictures have to get shielded from light IMMEDIATELY as they get ejected from the camera – the first few seconds are crucial!!
Insufficient shielding will typically result in very light, low contrast images – learn how to shield your PZ images in Spectra/Image cameras.
Frog Tongue
The Impossible Frog Tongue is a newly designed device that easily attaches to Vintage Polaroid cameras (works with all “box type” plastic Polaroid SX 70 and 600 camera) and automatically shields Impossible instant pictures from light as they eject from the camera. Inspired by nature, this nifty device greatly improves the results you can achieve with the current Impossible instant films. To replace the original, short frog tongue of your camera with the longer Impossible Frog Tongue, please watch this video.
PX Shade
The Impossible PX Shade was developed for use with folding Polaroid SLR (folding SX 70 or SLR 680) cameras to immediately and easily protect your Impossible images upon ejection from the camera.
To attach the PX Shade to your SX 70 or SLR 680 camera, open the film compartment of your camera. Insert the PX Shade, the narrow metal rail ahead, into the gap between the metal rollers and the black flap. You may need to slightly pull down the leather cover on the bottom of your camera to allow the metal rail to fully eject from the camera. Finally pull the metal rail until the PX Shade is in its operating position.
Spectra Frog Tongue
The Spectra Frog Tongue is a newly designed device that easily attaches to Vintage Polaroid cameras (works with all Image, Spectra and 1200 cameras) and automatically shields Impossible instant pictures from light as they eject from the camera. Inspired by nature, this nifty device greatly improves the results you can achieve with the current Impossible instant films. To replace the original, short frog tongue of your camera with the longer Impossible Frog Tongue, please watch this video.
Dr. Love - The Importance of Being Shielded
Hello from Impossible! Dr. Love is back with another informative post in which he revisits the importance of shielding your images…
“Some people have asked some follow up questions to our Opacification post, and as the days are getting longer, we wanted to help stress the use of Impossible Films on those bright sunny summer days.
To simply summarize the main point from the opacification post, Impossible films are still sensitive to light in the first moments out of the camera. This is because the protective layer within the film that is there to protect the film can’t yet block out enough light in many situations that it needs an outside aide. (See photos below as examples of poorly-shielded and well-shielded images, respectively).
Depending on the camera you have, there are 3 very simple ways to protect your film in nearly every situation. If you have a standard ‘box type’ 600 or SX-70 camera (except One600 type), you can get a Frog Tongue and then you’ll never have to worry about whether you have a cover on your camera again. As well as a Frog tongue made for Spectra Cameras, this will always uncurl over the film keeping a good seal on it to help protect in even the brightest conditions like at the beach.
The next is if you have a folding camera like the Original SX-70s or an SLR 680, you can get the Impossible PX Shade, as this is similarly designed to keep close contact with the film frame as it is coming out of the camera to help prevent light from seeping in the sides and flash the film.
Lastly, if you’re in a pinch, every pack of film you start gives you a simple-to-use shade just from putting the pack in your camera, that of course is the dark slide. The dark slide is a black matte material that can be used is various ways depending on your camera type to help keep your film covered from strong light. To see an example of how to shield with a dark slide, watch this video
The main things to keep in mind are…
1. Film is most sensitive the first moment it starts to come out of the camera
2. The brighter your environment, the more of a need there is to shield and shield well
3. Even if in a darker space, remember that a long exposure with a little light can be the same as a quick exposure to bright light.
If you remember and apply these main points, you can’t go wrong, and using a Frog Tongue or PX Shade will let you shoot with more thought to your shot and less to how to handle it. Now get out there, enjoy the Spring, and happy shooting.
Keep your rollers clean,
-f
