The Land List - HowTo

Guides to Camera Usage, Modification, and Repair

Film Alternatives for Polaroid Rollfilm Cameras

If you've got one of the millions of old Polaroid cameras that use 40-series or 30-series rollfilm, you've probably learned that there's no film being made for them anymore. Well, that doesn't mean you still can't take pictures with it. Check this link to find out how you might try making other types of film fit your camera-- or perhaps make your camera fit the film.

Using Polaroid Packfilm Cameras

Found an old Polaroid packfilm camera? Want to try taking pictures with it? Don't have the original manual? Well, this isn't as nice as the instructions that Polaroid supplied with their cameras, but this should help you get started, at least. [NOTE: This page is rather graphics-intensive compared with the rest of this site, so please be patient if you have a slow 'net connection.]

Using Polaroid Rollfilm Cameras

As you probably noticed (hence the first 'HowTo' on this page), Polaroid hasn't made film for any of these cameras in ten years. However, perhaps you found an old, long-outdated roll of film anyway. ...Or a camera with a half-used roll of film still in it. Or perhaps you're simply curious how people were supposed to take pictures with these things. If any of those things describe you, then take a look here! [NOTE: In the future, this page will contain more illustrations]

Replacing the Battery in a #365 Flash

So, you just got an old Model 360 Automatic pack camera -- complete with its special electronic flash and charger. ...But, unfortunately, you discovered that the batteries in the flash will no longer hold a charge. Here are some instructions to help you replace that old NiCad battery with a new one.

Using Electronic Flash with Pack Cameras

OK, so you don't have a Model 360, but you have another 'classic' folding pack camera, and don't have any M3 flashbulbs for its original flashgun. Thought about using an electronic flash instead? Here's a page with some observations on this topic.

Close-Up Kit Substitutes for the 180/195

Perhaps you're lucky enough to have a Model 180, Model 195, or Model 190 professional pack camera. If so, perhaps you haven't had quite as much luck trying to find the proper Portrait Kit and/or Close-Up kit for your camera. Here's a way to make your own using parts from common Portrait Kits and Close-Up Kits originally designed for the popular Automatic pack cameras.

External Links:

How to Disassemble an SX-70 Camera

This is a link to a page as part of Georg Holderied's fine The Hacker's Guide to the SX-70 site. Be sure and check it out if you're an SX-70 fancier!

Flashbars (and how to construct an electronic flash interface for the SX-70)

This is a link to another of Georg's pages, and it details a rather simple and easy-to-build sync converter to allow the use of conventional electronic flashes with SX-70 cameras.

Adapt a 600-series camera flash for SX-70 Sonar cameras

Here's yet another of Georg's pages. This time, someone took the basic flash interface concept described in the previous link, and took it a bit further. The example shows an electronic flash taken from a 636 camera, which is an International markets version of the current 'OneStep' models sold in the USA. The flash from other common 600-series (Sun) cameras, such as the 640 and 600 LMS, should be similar.

Last updated 02/04/2002

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