This is one of the greatest fears you may have as a Polaroid photographer. You feel it in the air. You know it can happen, that is a risk, that, most likely, it will happen one day. Your camera suddenly lets you down.
There are several ways this may materialize. Most commonly, the pack gets stuck when you have no chance to fix it, or when you do not have other pack. For instance, you are using Fuji Instant film in a Polaroid 100 type machine, and when you are pulling your frame out... the tab tears off. If you are lucky or see it coming, you may still have a little piece of paper that can help you save the moment, carefully. Otherwise, find a dark place, open the back, and reinstall the pack. Usually after wasting one or two frames. Similarly, you may be unlucky to get an "sticky" Impossible film pack -although I must say it has not happened to me in a really long time-.
Another classic in my list is simply plainly when you camera dies in action. This is such a painful situation that is hard to describe how it feels. But yes, it does occur, without previous warning.
But today, it was something I have never seen before. The chemicals were so old in an expired Polaroid Sepia pack, that only the negative and part of the tab came out. Yep. Leaving the positive, the rest of the tab, and an interesting amount of crap behind. That is, inside the camera.
I promise I would have been mad if it wasn't because I found it fascinating. And again, I did not expect it. I did not even know this could happen. I was lucky enough to get problems with the last frame of the pack. But that was a pack that gave me 8 perfect images, one commonly half dry, and just at the end, the bitter one!
Mysteries of Polaroid life.
Today, only the negative and part of the tab came out while taking a picture with old expired Polaroid Sepia film. The positive remained inside the camera, together with dry chemicals made powder. Never seen this before.
