Testing IMPOSSIBLE Gen2 Color 600
What A Difference A Year Makes
Last year, IMPOSSIBLE, makers of instant film for Polaroid cameras, introduced a new “Gen2″ color film. The promise was that it was faster developing, and it, in fact, did what it said it would. It developed very fast and didn’t need shielding as much as earlier generations.
But it had some issues. It wasn’t very consistent batch to batch, it was contrasty and some packs had these “magic specks” that appeared in the film. It was an improvement in some respects, but overall it wasn’t ready for prime-time. If you want to read my review of it, check it out:
http://lightsquared.tumblr.com/post/81316136723/the-next-generation-impossible-gen2-color-600
When I heard that IMPOSSIBLE had a new Gen2 Color test film, I was a little hesitant, but after I tested the new Gen2 BW600 film, I knew I had to test it out, so I ordered some packs and hoped for the best.
The Camera And My Setup
After my Gen2 BW write-up I got a few inquiries about my camera and how I shot the packs of IMPOSSIBLE film I was testing, so I figured I’d share what I use and how I use it.
My go-to camera is a Polaroid SX-70 Time Zero Autofocus Model 2 from the 1980′s. I’ve found it has the best, most accurate exposure meter of any of my Polaroids. The only thing I wish it had was the underexposure warning that my silver and black Sonar model had, but not having to adjust the L/D wheel every time you open it up is quite nice! All of the shots in this blog were shot with the L/D wheel at neutral.
I also have an IMPOSSIBLE frog-tongue. Even with the new film that doesn’t have to be shielded as much, I still think this is a necessity. I have heard some people having problems with the SX-70 frog tongue, but I’ve had nothing but great results from it. Every once in awhile it will miss the frame and won’t cover it, but it’s a rare occasion when it happens.
I use a ND4 pack filter as well. I bought mine a long time ago from George Wells on Flickr where he is named “Red Lomo”. Later IMPOSSIBLE started making them and they are slightly different than the Red Lomo ones. I’ve heard of people having jamming issues with the IMPOSSIBLE ones. I haven’t had any problems with my Red Lomo ones and I haven’t used the IMPOSSIBLE ones so I can’t comment on which is better.
Sometimes I use my ND filter for my Clip-It system, but that’s usually when I’m shooting Black and white and go between ROY filters and ND filters. When IMPOSSIBLE makes a lower contrast film I will go back to this method shown below.
A lot of the shots that I took with this pack are with the Polaroid SX-70 Tele 1.5X 119A telephoto lens. I really REALLY like it and highly recommend it to everyone who wants a different look to their shots.
The Transition To Waiting A Little Longer
It has been unseasonably warm in So Cal, so I wondered how the film was going to react. My first shot was with my lightbox inside and it was about 70F. My shot was already set up from my BW shoot, so I just clipped on the camera to the tripod and shot.
And that’s when I noticed the time difference. Yeah, I got spoiled that quick. The Gen2 BW developed SO fast that even though this film emerges within a few minutes (2 or so) it seemed slow in comparison. It also takes about 20 minutes to “fully develop”, which is a great improvement, but sorry IMPOSSIBLE, I’m spoiled by the new BW. :)
I shot it, and then turned it upside down on my counter and checked it every so often.
But the good news is that this film is SO much better than the old Gen2 Color film. The contrast is spot on and the color…THE COLOR!!! Just check out the first shot.
The Shots
The best improvement in this film is the blues. In the older films blue was a problem, but as the shot above shows, all of the colors are rich. On the downside, there is a greenish cast to the shot, and to all the shots I took. It seems like the cooler it is, the more green the shots get. On the upside, the green goes away a little more after about 24 hours. This shot above was scanned in about 4 hours after taking it and I noticed the next day it got a little bit more clear.
We then went to get some coffee and I took the shot below indoors in low light with the Tele Lens. There is incandescent lights and some window light. I shot it and set it on the table next to me while it developed.
This one is still a little green and the temps were still in the 70′s since we were inside. I actually don’t mind the greens as the contrast is very pleasing to me. I did notice a blue area in the upper right hand corner of the frame, and I’ve seen others shots that have some of this blue on the edges so be on the lookout for it. I don’t actually mind it at all.
After 20 minutes the shot was looking good, so we finished up our coffee and moved outside.
We went outside and it was about 85F and I took this shot with the Tele Lens. This was the first time my frog-tongue failed to cover my image and although I quickly grabbed it and put it in my bag it got flashed.
As you can see, the sky is washed out, but the Open sign still has some blue in it and the edges have that blueness that I talked about earlier.
As we walked around the temperatures crept up into the low 90′s. I got a little nervous from my past history with older IMPOSSIBLE film that hated anything above 85F and turned orange, but hey, this was test film so I decided to keep shooting. Once again I used the Tele Lens. I love the bokeh this lens has. I waited for the lady and daughter to walk by because she had an aqua blouse on…yeah, I was testing for blues.
I went back into a store and in low, incandescent light took the shot of the birds abovee. That’s me in the background, by the way, and once again the Tele lens. As you can see, shooting indoors with incandescent light adds a lot of yellow and green to your shots. I knew I was going to get this effect and love how it came out.
We traveled up and down Old Town, and the temps stayed around 90F or so. We stopped at an outdoor garden and this metal dark blue/purple fish caught my eye. Not the best shot, but at this point I was fascinated with the bokeh of the Tele lens. In real life the blue of the fish is a little richer, but it’s so much better than previous films.
I think this shot is where the film really hit me at how much better it’s gotten. 90F, Tele lens and perfect lighting on the colorful ceramic chihuahua’s. As you can see, the darks in the background go a little green and there is a little yellow cast in the warmer temps, but I’d take this kind of look all day long.
My last shot I wanted to see what kind of detail the film could handle. So, I threw in a lot of stuff. The highlights are a little blown out, but the darks are great and the contrast is perfect. Look at all the colors too! Reds, yellows, greens, and blues, and they are all pretty spot on. Yeah, it’s a little yellow since it’s in the 87-90F range, but it’s not actually that bad.
Here’s a shot of all of the frames about 5 minutes later as we were having lunch, so you can see them in all the different stages of development.
And here’s all of the shots together after scanning them in later that day.
But What About Consistency?
One of the great things about the Gen2 BW film was that it was consistent from pack to pack. I was worried about consistency with the color test film, but from the first couple of shots from my next pack, it’s looking pretty good! I will update here after shooting the rest of the pack.
Conclusions
So, what are my thoughts? I think this is a great improvement in IMPOSSIBLE’s color film. It’s not as fast as the BW film, but the contrast and colors of this new film are such a great improvement. I do think you need to shoot it “warm”. I’ve seen examples online from others that the colors aren’t as vibrant in lower temps, and it does go green indoors and in lower temps. But for me, in the contrasty and warm California light, this new color film is great!
Now, if they could just get me some Black Frame color test film…