This guy has just made a Polaroid TLR for fun – and it looks epic!
Polaroid meets TLR in this unique custom-built camera that took five months to make
If you're a lover of Polaroids and you just happen to have loved shooting a TLR camera back in the day too, then this unique instant camera is going to brighten up your day.
Innovative Instagraom user thepolaflex has created a unique hybrid camera design that combines a Polaroid camera and a twin lens reflex system to produce, you guessed it, The PolaFlex.
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This rather bizarre but undeniably cool camera looks completely custom-built, and surrounds an older Polaroid Originals i-type camera (which looks to us like a Polaroid OneStep 2) with a bespoke TLR-style body that took almost half a year to build. Thepolaflex goes into detail:
"After 5 months of tinkering I finished the first version of the PolaFlex TLR. I designed and built it completely by myself, and I'm so happy it works! It's a completely manual close-focusing TLR with a German-made glass lens. Yes, glass!"
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There are no other details about why he made this camera, other than it was an idea and he tried it. And it worked – you can't deny that it's an amazing-looking camera! At the same time, I'm not the biggest fan of instant cameras, but I can tell that this is something special and pushes the envelope in what can be done with Polaroid technology and a bit of DIY ingenuity!
As you can see in the image below, and the other sample shots on Instagram, the results from the manual focusing glass lens are impressive:
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While this just remains a prototype or major DIY project, users are already encouraging this to go on Kickstarter, so we may or may not be reporting on this very unique camera again in the future, but for now, you'll all have to settle with your normal Polaroid cameras.
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The closest thing you can get right now is the fully manual Polaroid I-2, which also has a glass lens (the sharpest Polaroid has ever made) and can produce incredible results – though it also has an incredible price tag!
If you're interested in other wacky Polaroid products, check out the Polaroid Lab. And make sure you know what type of instant film you need!
For nearly two decades Sebastian's work has been published internationally. Originally specializing in Equestrianism, his visuals have been used by the leading names in the equestrian industry such as The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), The Jockey Club, Horse & Hound, and many more for various advertising campaigns, books, and pre/post-event highlights.
He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts, holds a Foundation Degree in Equitation Science, and is a Master of Arts in Publishing. He is a member of Nikon NPS and has been a Nikon user since the film days using a Nikon F5 and saw the digital transition with Nikon's D series cameras and is still to this day the youngest member to be elected into BEWA, The British Equestrian Writers' Association.
He is familiar with and shows great interest in street, medium, and large format photography with products by Leica, Phase One, Hasselblad, Alpa, and Sinar. Sebastian has also used many cinema cameras from the likes of Sony, RED, ARRI, and everything in between. He now spends his spare time using his trusted Leica M-E or Leica M2 shooting Street photography or general life as he sees it, usually in Black and White.