Integral Film vs Pack Film: Which one is for you?

Posted by on Feb 03 2010, in integral film, packfilm, parahanga

If you are new to Polaroid Film, here is a quick chart of pros and cons of integral and pack films. Read more about polaroid film here. Remember this list is highly subjective to the opinions of the author (me!). Feel free to offer your thoughts as well.

Integral Camera Pack Film Best Choice?
Ease of use Easy – just pops out of the camera and watch it develop! Very Simple controls. More Challenging – you have to time the development plus there. Also you have guess the distance of the subject and set the camera accordingly. Integral
Sharpness Mostly unsharp, with higher quality going to sx-70 films Mixed, but generally sharper than integral. FP-100c has highest quality that i’ve used. Pack Film
Experimentation SX-70 can produce very creative results. Image Tranfers and Emulsion Lifts can be done with Pack Film. Draw
Available of Film SX-70 films, 600 films will be produced, Fuji Instax are widely available. Sadly, only FP-100c is available in future but may change. Integral
Cameras Polaroid is issuing a new line of sx-70 cameras, plus tons of older models for 600 film and sx-70 are available. Purpose Built Packfilm cameras are no longer produced, however Pack film can be used in Medium Format Cameras such as Mamiya that can produce wonderful results. Draw
Cost Film Cost is can be high for these polaroid films, and generally lower for Fuji Instax. Bargains can always be found, but good sx-70 cameras are a bit more expensive. I’ve found numerous bargains on Pack Film cameras, I’ve bought beautiful pack film cameras for less than $10NZd that have produced beautiful results. Of course you can go high end and Medium Format camera and blow your budget, but Polaroid pack film cameras do a great job. Film costs are comparable to integral. Pack Film
Durability These are relative durable cameras, but once they a broke, you need to buy a new one. Very simple cameras, easy to hack into and fix. These cameras good introduction into the mechanics of cameras. I’ve tortured these cameras, some are more than 40 years old and they still work. Pack Film.