The Polaroid Spectra is the first model in the Spectra System line (also known as “Image System” and the Minolta Instant Pro in overseas markets) of instant cameras introduced by Polaroid in 1986. With this new line of cameras came a new line of instant film named Spectra/Image/1200 film which, apart from producing rectangular instead of square images, is more or less identical to existing 600 series film.
The Kodak Handle was produced during Kodak’s brief and ultimately doomed attempt at instant film. Polaroid took Kodak to court for patent infringement in 1981 in spite of some crucial differences in Kodak’s approach to instant film and instant cameras and eventually won. Defeated, Kodak was ordered to cease production of all instant film and related products (including the Handle) as well as pay Polaroid $925 million (around $1.5 billion in today’s money).
The Polaroid Pronto! Sears Special was sold exclusively at Sears department stores and is a variant of the Pronto!, Polaroid’s first non-folding Land Camera to use SX-70 instant film. Polaroid’s earlier instant films required users to peel the negative away from the print which, unfortunately, caused many photogenic locations to become littered with discarded negatives, much to the chagrin of Polaroid founder Edwin Land. Land addressed this concern by developing SX-70 film, which did not use separate negatives and therefore produced no excess waste with each exposure.
The Polaroid Land Model 104 is Polaroid’s first lightweight, plastic Land Camera (named after inventor and Polaroid co-founder Edwin Land). It belongs to the lower end of Polaroid’s 100-400 series of instant cameras which, despite sometimes wildly varying levels of affordability and build quality, all feature folding bellows, clearly labeled operating sequence, and automatic exposure.
