The Polaroid OneStep Land Camera was a "camera for the modern era" and boy were we modern when it was introduced in 1977. We had been to the moon and back so many times people didn’t even care anymore. NASA started test flights with the Space Shuttle Enterprise and space probes Voyager 1 & 2 were launched later that year. We know its all space facts but who cares about the Apple II computer, Elvis “dying” and Star Wars… ok no we care about Star Wars! but really we were testing the OneStep2 at the Space & Rocket Center so we wanted to keep the theme!

Ironically, the Original OneStep & Voyager 1 shared a similar fate; both lied dormant from the early 80s until 2017.

The Voyager 1 is like a "weather satellite" mixed with an explorer, it sends tiny bits a data back about magnetic fields, charged particles and up in till 1990 was taking some wild pictures of our universe. It was launched during a rare “175-year planetary alignment to help propel it out of our solar system”; it went so well that since 1980 it has just been floating away from earth at roughly 38,000mph sending back data. Voyager 1 is now 13 billion miles from Earth and rocking out in interstellar space somewhere.

On the other hand, the now vintage OneStep was a basic fixed focus instant camera that was quickly replaced with a new model that offered better focus and a flash. That was Polaroid's M.O. for a while, they would just pump out a new camera model every year or so. Fast forward to 2008, Polaroid has gone bankrupt for the second time, named Lady Gaga the creative director, and says it will totally withdraw from the analog instant film world by the end of the year. The insta film days were over. Then this dude shows up, Florian 'Doc' Kaps. When Polaroid went tits up in 2008 he founded a company called The Impossible Project, they bought the Polaroid production plant in the Netherlands and started a journey to keep instant film alive.

Fast forward to 2017! Voyager 1 has awoken and been adjusted for better signal for the first time in 37 years and that (at the time) unknown company that bought the Polaroid production plant, The Impossible Project, has successfully made it through the dip in analog film. In May 2017 they acquired "the brand and intellectual property of the Polaroid Corporation". Later that year in September, The Impossible Project officially started doing business as Polaroid!

So why remake the OneStep camera as the first new instant camera made by Polaroid in over a decade?...IDK no one got back to my emails but our guess is probably 'cause it was simple, stylish and classic. Just like the Voyager. ;)

The OneStep2, which obviously came after the OneStep, is impressively similar in size and style to the original, notably heavier but the weight feels good, way better than the vintage OneStep that’s build was closer to a child's plastic toy. The OneStep2 also has a built in flash, self-timer, tripod mount and little led lights as a film counter. Because it is a fancy ass camera.

It’s fairly easy to use; other than the fact that it took me 3 days of playing with one to figure out how to turn the flash off! Just a heads up, hold the no flash icon button at the SAME time as taking a photo. Also unless you've got crazy long arms, I wouldn't recommend it for selfies, the 106mm lens has a min 2ft focus distance that leans closer to 2.5/3ft.

Obviously, you can't have a new instant film camera with out new film, so this is where The Impossible Project (D.B.A. Polaroid) shines. They have dropped 5 film types for 5 Polaroid cameras and each type has a few varieties like B&W, color and "a range of special editions" but it breaks down like this:

600 Film - Works with both 600 Cameras & i-Types, it comes in Classic Color, B&W and Special Editions.

i-Type Film - Made for the new OneStep2 (i-Type) camera, it comes in Color & B&W and cost less cause the film has no batteries in it.

SX-70 Film - The SX-70 is my personal favorite of all the instant cameras and comes in Color & B&W.

Spectra Film - For the bazaar wide format Spectra Cameras, comes in Color & B&W.

8x10 Film - Made for 8x10 film backs for 8x10 cameras by HAND and like all of them Comes in Color & B&W.

So all in, the Voyager 1 and the OneStep have very little to do with each other, true. But they are both sleek as hell, really cool, and somehow timelessly vintage yet modern. They both also recently rose from the dead and are back in action. The main difference? One is available in our shop and let me tell you, it was a bitch to get permission to sell this thing. So without further adieu, click here to purchase the real Voyager 1!

……OK so yeah we don't have the Voyager 1 but we do have stickers of the gold record that was fixed on the side of the Voyager and they have been updated to include the OneStep cameras! Buy a OneStep2 from us and will include one!

Log Book

The Polaroid OneStep is back!