Homework - Polaroid camera

Тhe phenomenon of the Polaroid camera

Do you remember these amazing cameras that immediately develop photographs after having pressed the shutter-release button? Apart from a predecessor model from 1860, the first instant camera, as we know it today, was launched in 1947 by the American scientist Edwin Land, the founder of the Polaroid Corporation.

But how does an instant camera function? Does it consist of a mini printer? – There is a simple answer to it: it is a chemical reaction and the secret is in the film. In order to make an immediate photo development possible, the camera is loaded with film packs containing sheets of plastic negatives instead of a usual film. In contrast to regular cameras, this photographic material already contains the necessary chemicals for photo development as its photosensitive layers - developer layer, image layer, timing layer and acid layer - correspond to the negative film. Once you have snapped a picture, the development process is initiated in the form of a chemical reaction under the surface of the silver compounds on the negatives. Then the four layers react in the presence of a reagent (the chemical that triggers the reaction) and the colors that are captured in the silver layers of the negative are produced. When the photograph is ejected, the particles of the chemicals are simultaneously spread and the image is produced. After that the photograph still needs some seconds to fully develop.

That is it! That is the secret of the Polaroid camera. Hopefully your curiosity has been satisfied!

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