Polaroid SX-70 Modification for 600 Film
After my post lamenting the discontinuted Polaroid Time-Zero film, Susanna pointed me to a page of Polaroid’s website that gives suggestions about how to mod your SX-70 camera so it can accept 600 film. The modifications are pretty simple, but for all you visual people, I thought it might be helpful to see what they are talking about. Here is how to mod your Polaroid SX-70 to accept regular 600 Polaroid film:
Polaroid 600 film actually fits in an SX-70 camera pretty easily. The problem with using 600 film in the SX-70 is that it is four times more sensitive than SX-70 film. Without modification, all your photos taken with 600 film would be overexposed. To correct this problem, we are going to adjust the camera by two stops. We will use a one stop neutral density filter to cover the lens, and we will remove the neutral density filter that covers the photocell. If you are wondering why we are adjusting by two stops when the film is four times faster, here is a quick math lesson. One stop is equivalent to doubling (or halving depending on which direction you are going) the amount of light. So, 2×2=4. Alright, lets get started.
Supplies: You are going to need a few supplies in order to make this modification to your SX-70 camera. You will need a clear cd case, an x-acto knife and a one stop neutral density filter. Depending on the neutral density filter you find, you may also need some glue to affix the lens to the camera.
Step 1 The SX-70 camera has a photocell on the front of the camera to the right of the lens. This is the camera’s “eye” which it uses to sense how much light it is looking at. It is looking through a neutral density filter. We are going to remove that filter so that the camera thinks that what it is looking at is two times brighter than what it actually is. This will save us one stop. Here’s what you do:
Remove the filter retaining ring (the little chrome ring which surrounds the photocell) by gently pushing the tip of a small knife under the edge and popping out the ring. Remove the small round neutral density filter. While you have the filter out of the way, it is interesting to see how the light/dark adjustment works by covering and uncovering the light sensor.
Next you want to cut a piece of clear plastic to go in place of the neutral density filter. This is where the clear cd case comes into play. This is a little harder than you would think. If you try cutting the plastic with scissors, it will crack and splinter.
In order to get a nice circular piece of the plastic you have to cut it out with a sharp x-acto knife. I cut out a piece just slightly larger than the old filter and then sanded it down to a more round shape.
Once you have your piece of clear plastic, you can put it into the ring and try to place it back on the camera. You will notice that the cd plastic was a little thicker than the old filter, so this is going to be a tight fit.
You will probably have to sand the edges a little more so the plastic can sit a little closer to the photocell. Now the hard part is done and you are ready for step 2.
Step 2 In order to gain our second stop, we need to add a one-stop neutral density filter in front of the lens of the SX-70 camera. While there aren’t threads on the front of the lens, it is possible to screw a filter in if you “force” it. The size of filter that you need is 28mm.* There is only one problem with screwing a filter on this way: you can’t fold the camera down because the lens sticks out too far in front of the lens.
I plan on folding my camera down, so I decided to remove the glass from the filter and attach it directly in front of the lens. To get the glass out of the aluminum part of the filter, I used a needle nose pliers to bend the aluminum away from the filter. Once the aluminum was bent pack, the glass came out.
I suppose there are many ways to actually attach the glass, but I decided on hot glue. I was afraid that if I used super glue, the glue would run onto the lens and I wouldn’t be able to clean it off. Hot glue worked just fine.
Step 3 We are done with all the modifications to the camera and now all you have to do is load the film. When you look inside the empty space where the film will go, you will see a piece of square metal sticking up. This spring is what catches on the two center “nubs” of the 600 film cartridge.
You can either cut the nubs off, or you can use a card, or old Polaroid picture to cover the nubs as you slide the film in. First, insert the card in the empty camera.
Next, insert the film cartridge.
When the film has passed the spring, you can remove the card and insert the cartridge the rest of the way.
Finally close the camera. When the door closes, the camera should eject the dark slide. You are now ready to use your modified SX-70 camera!
*(At this point in the mod, I discovered that I already had a couple neutral density filters that were 28mm. What are the odds? The filters were made for my Nikon Coolpix 995. Unfortunately, I only had an ND4 and an ND8 which are equivalent to two stops and four stops respectively. I decided that rather than purchase a one-stop filter, I would use the two stop ND4 filter. I put the filter back in front of the photo cell since the ND4 filter gave me the two stops that I needed.)
Ebay is a great place to shop for the Polaroid SX-70. Here’s what is on Ebay right now:
 | US $11.50 (2 Bids) End Date: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 6:54:25 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
 | US $41.00 (2 Bids) End Date: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 8:00:14 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
 | US $19.99 End Date: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 9:32:41 PST Buy It Now for only: US $19.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
 | US $36.00 (3 Bids) End Date: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 9:55:34 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
 | US $17.99 (1 Bid) End Date: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 10:00:01 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
 | US $59.00 (4 Bids) End Date: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 10:04:10 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
 | US $99.00 (1 Bid) End Date: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 10:43:05 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
 | US $85.00 End Date: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 10:55:44 PST Buy It Now for only: US $85.00 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
 | US $22.50 (5 Bids) End Date: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 11:00:05 PST Bid now | Add to watch list |
 | US $199.99 End Date: Wednesday Feb-08-2012 11:22:07 PST Buy It Now for only: US $199.99 Buy it now | Add to watch list |
July 8th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
i just bought an sx-70 land camera a few days ago uniformed of the discontinuation of time zero film and so was very very glad to find your incredibly helpful website. i am definetely a visual learner and this was thorough and fantastic! thank you so much. i was afraid i wasn’t going to be able to use my new beauty. i look forward to modifying mine soon, thanks again for you willingess and efforts to share this with the rest of us! mark
July 23rd, 2006 at 11:40 am
hello – i just bought a sx-70 land camera as well. i removed the black nubs on the film cartridge and it seemed to load smoothly. however, it did not eject the black card and continues to make a ‘whirring’ noise. could you please help as to what you think the problem might be.
thank you,
sarah
July 25th, 2006 at 3:22 pm
DOes anyone know any sources for inexpensive 28mm neutral density filters ?
July 26th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
if you can’t find a 28mm ND2 or find it too expensive, the alternative is to purchase a Corkin ND2 filter. It’s a square filter that can be adapted for an camera. I bought one (it’s 85 x 85mm) and am going to cut the size i need from it, like Adrian did for the cd cover. You can probably get four from the one piece of filter. So, keep one and sell the rest!
August 19th, 2006 at 4:13 pm
Thanks for the info. I held out on buying an SX70 on ebay and just came home with one from a local thrift store for $3 (!!!).
This is a long shot but I thought I’d ask. I noticed that Polaroid has made an offical adapter kit which includes the ND filter for the Japanese market. Does anyone know if anyone is offering those kits in North America? Or an english friendly Japanese site that will ship to Canada?
I can be reached at the name above via googles mail service.
August 20th, 2006 at 10:28 pm
for the filter, try here at unsaleable.com
August 22nd, 2006 at 6:49 am
I bought the official polaroid filter but still got pictures completly white (even turning the darken/lighten dial). I was wondering if I could follow your suggestion and add another stop by replacing the photocell with a white plastic…any help would be greatful… Thanks a lot !
August 22nd, 2006 at 8:47 pm
i haven’t yet made the mod to my sx-70 but will have to soon being that I only have two more packs of time-zero left in my stockpile
but once i do, will i get the same “old” look from the 600 film? i love the washed out color and hues of yellow and blue that often come through with time-zero. will i still get this effect? will different neutral filters make a difference?
October 11th, 2006 at 4:02 am
I have a SX70 model 1000. its a non-folding one. this one : http://i24.ebayimg.com/06/i/08/81/2d/0b_1.JPG
well the lens sticks out way more as you can tell. and the viewfinder is different and square shaped. any instructions as to how to convert a model 1000 camera to the same way so that 600 film runs smoothly with it? Thank you.
October 11th, 2006 at 8:01 am
Thanks for the informative tutorial (I found it when searching for information on the official Polaroid ND kit for my SX-70.)
So, if I were to find the Coolpix ND4, would I then have no need for making the clear plastic circle to place over the photocell?
October 12th, 2006 at 10:31 am
Nice job on the visual demo. I’d read the web page put out by Polaroid but was hesistant to make the suggested mods because I didn’t want to screw things up. I will try them today. Thanks!!
Also, for those who would rather buy something pre-made and don’t mind spending the money, I found a merchant out of CA. The site is: http://www.sx70s.com/products.html I got this link from the Japanese site SX70 Forever at: http://www.sx70.jp/e/index.html
Please note that I don’t endorse either one of these sites as I have no experience with them, I’m just trying to be helpful.
Cheers.
October 13th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
I located a Hakuba 28mm ND4 filter at J&R (go to http://www.JR.com) for $4.98. There are limited quantities. It fits great on my SX70 Sonar. I did not remove the light meter’s ND filter, and even though it is an ND4 filter, I can see just fine through the viewfinder. However, the pictures I have taken in full daylight are a little washed out, so it still requires some tweeking with the light meter (dark/light knob) to get a properly exposed photo.
October 17th, 2006 at 4:41 am
Is there a way to adjust or modify the electronics of the camera to recalibrate the photo sensor to the faster film?
October 20th, 2006 at 8:05 pm
Thanks for posting all this. I bought my SX-70 off ebay the other day and was ensured by the seller that the film was still available. Your post has helped me immensely! Thanks
November 11th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
When adjusting the old SX-70′s for 600 film, you must bear in mind that the new film is actually ASA 640, or a bit MORE than two stops faster. With an ND-4 filter [a 28mm, screwed into the lens tunnel or a 38 mm jammed into an accessory holder] you will have to take the L/D control about one notch to the dark side. The fact that the old shutters have probably slowed down a bit over 30 years doesn’t help, either! An ND-8 filter, which reduces light by 87.5%, rather than 75%, actually works well in bright sunlight, and yields very warm colors. With that, you could go one notch to the lighten side and do well, too. With all of those options, there is really no point in removing the light cell filter. Another point: When using the 28mm screw-in filter, you have the option of removing it for truly spectacular flash coverage, with lighting for ASA 150 film being looked at by ASA 640 film. I’ve lit a room 30 feet deep with a 2350 flash — just by taking the ND-4 filter off!
November 20th, 2006 at 7:32 am
Exposure Cell Filter removal: Hi, I just removed the Expos. Cell Filter and replaced it with a (thick) business card holder. That’s what holds your identification when visiting a conference or similar. The PROS: - thick enough so it would stay flat - easy to cut (scissors) - you do not need to force the ring in place. It clicks in easily. - Of course this gives only 1 stop gain -> I took a shot positioning the darkening wheel to -1 and exposure was dead-on. Good luck, regards, Volker
December 3rd, 2006 at 4:05 pm
Hey everyone,
Just want to let you all know that a brand new film has been developed for the SX-70. It’s called SX-70 Blend. It’s made from the original cartridge, so it fits perfectly into your camera. It provides more vivid colors, better resolution, and sharper contrast than any of its predecessors. The ND filter is built into the cartridge itself, so the results are precise and and there’s no darkening of your viewfinder. It’s part of a new production from the Netherlands and fresh until 2008.
I’ve got it in-stock and available for sale at http://www.lordofthelens.net
December 29th, 2006 at 3:28 am
I just used a piece of plastic off a blister card, like what a Hot Wheel comes in or something. Sliced it out with scissors with a quickness.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Hi! This mod is very helpful, but I was wondering if you can manipulate the 600 film like you could with the time-zero film?
Thanks,
JN
January 12th, 2007 at 7:25 am
I just force my 600 or 779 filmpack into the camera. It works all the time. Kind of like a punch into it. It seems like that little spring thing in the middle catches it. It’s kinda tough to cut the nubs off the pack with scissors every time, so it’s nice to have a quicker alternative (of course, I could remove the center thing… but the pressure from the metal flap is probably necessary(?)) I also have an official Polaroid ND filter. I’m not sure what value it is, but I’m guessing it’s a -4 filter. It adheres to the front ring. I really wish I had the info to readjust my camera to accept 640 speed film.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
try keh.com for 28mm nd 4 & 8 filters. they usually have a handful for only $3 each, way cheaper than that japanese stick-on
April 19th, 2007 at 9:48 am
So I just found an SX 70, until now I’ve been using an autofocus sx 70 and that’s worked out very well after I removed the small density filter, I tried the same out with this new SX 70 I found, which is considerablly older, I believe one of the first made with brown real leather and silver body, and with the exposure set all the way to darken and the density filter replaced with a clear plastic circle, it still gives me ultra bleached photos. They all seem to have a white haze over the top of the images even after modifying it as much as I did my Autofocus SX 70, the bottom of the shots are ok looking but then fade into a bleached white towards the top of the polaroid, I’m wondering, is the white haze simply from the 600 film speed problem or could there be something wrong with the camera, it seems to be in excellent shape!
April 30th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
I bought a Cokin P153 (ND4) filter, as it was 10 Euros in the grabbelbin, and the 28mm B+W was 40 Euros. Used a 2 Euro coin to get the size right. Its a piece of work to grind down to the correct size with a leatherman, but is doable in about 30min, your milage may vary. For the cover of the lightsensor I used a thick plastic foil (the Cokin filter came in it), you can cut it with sissors, no need for the cd case operation. works perfect for me. Thanks for the inspiration, I think I shot 20 pols on the first day I did the conversion
May 19th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
I have a SX-70 Sonar OneStep and followed your instructions on putting the 600 cartridge into the slot. But when I close the camera, the dark slide is not ejected. Nothing really happens actually. Does this mean my SX is dead?
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:54 pm
David, That doesn’t necessarily mean the camera is dead. If you didn’t hear any sound and nothing happened when the film was loaded then maybe it was just a bad pack of film. Are you by chance using expired film? If it was new film then yes the camera might be history. Cheers!
June 11th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
I bought my ND filter from CKC Power who is selling a 28mm ND4 filter for 12 dollars plus shipping.
http://www.ckcpower.com/filters.htm
Got it right away and it works perfectly with my first generation SX-70: http://img39.picoodle.com/img/img39/8/6/11/fpolaroidme129256.jpg
June 26th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Anyone know if there’s a zoom lens available for the SX-70? I know the Japanese site posted above offers one, but I was wondering if there was a cheaper alternative. Thx!
July 12th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Hey Guys !
Great tutorial ..
I was doing some massive internet research before buying the sx-70. I’m from europe where its very hard to get the same filters as in the US and shipping is just to expensive .. Any europian guys here who could help me out ?
And what is realy the best ND? number you can get for a sx-70 Alpha ?
Thanks a lot ,
Rick
July 14th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
There is NO LONGER any need to destroy your SX-70, or to darken the viewfinder with a screw-in filter or a cheap stick-on filter. There is also no need to buy grossly overpriced “Blend” film!
Just slip a $5.00 [3 for $14.95] durable and multi-re-usable PackFilter into the 600 or 779 pack, OVER the dark slide….and away you go! I’ve sold over 400 sets of 3 of them in just a couple of months on eBay, and they’re working very nicely! You’re using inexpensive 600 film from Wal*Mart, but the camera thinks it’s good old T/Z!
July 20th, 2007 at 10:13 am
Three new ideas: 1. For the filter, shoot one 135 simple B&W film if you have an old 135 Camera laying around. Simply photograph a clean background. Make it unsharp, so you have no structures, but that should not really affect the result. When you measure the middle of a white area it will exposure to 50% grey. But that´s for a virtual print. In the developed negative it will be more bright like i remember this. so simply take a series starting at +1f exposure in steps of 2/3f to may be -8 or more like you think. As a result you should have a nice series of nd filter. Thats only for the photocell! Or try old pieces of developed other film. 2. next idea. You don´t need optical quality for the cell! Take some nd folie for movie light equipment. Should be much more cheaper! Kodak had also nd filter folies, but they were not so cheap as i remember, they are optical quality. The best is to gather for a swatch-book, the samples should be big enough to cut more filters out of them. (Rosco, Strand). 3. What about an resistor adding in the circuit? any electronic freaks out here?
August 1st, 2007 at 10:12 am
As I love this tutorial, I am wondering one thing. How do you achieve these results with a OneStep/Time Zero SX-&0 non-folding camera? I did the card trick (where you insert the card so that the nubs don’t catch the spring) with my Time-Zero OneStep and it worked fine. But I tried with my regular OneStep and it didn’t work. The button (sorry, I’m so horrible with remembering names of stuff) that is pushed to take the photos, seems to be pushed inside and won’t let me take photos. Ack!
Basically, I would love more info on the non-folding OneStep’s & TimeZero camera’s & how to properly modify it to accept 600 film.
I apologize in advance for daftness, incorrect camera terms, etc. I just simply enjoy taking photos and overlook the “camera speak”. LOL!
August 6th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
The comment above about the Packfilters is dead on. I’ve bought one from this fella on ebay and it works fantastic in my SX-70.
August 23rd, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Is the cartridge a battery too?
I just the a “Polaroid: The Button”
It had three cards in it that weren’t used; the camera doesn’t work though.
Does it need a new cartridge for more cards and battery power?
September 2nd, 2007 at 5:08 am
Hi, I just bought an SX 70 and have no film to test it with. It seems to be in very good shape, but when I press the shutter button I can’t see any shutter closing like with a normal SLR camera – just get a short click. Does this type of camera rely on a battery in the film to make the shutter work?
September 19th, 2007 at 6:03 am
I just want to thank you for the SX-70 help and to tell you that your site has some wonderful fun information and images.
September 21st, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Great tutorial! Just picked up my sx 70 after more than a few years of neglect and was both disappointed and shocked to find Polaroid had discontinued Time Zero film. Now I’m on a quest to find a solution for this unfortunate truth before the pumpkins down the road are harvested. Curious to learn what Paul, above, is referring to when he describes the $5 Packfilter which allows one to fool the camera into behaving like it’s loaded with Time Zero. Paul? Anyone? It’s so great to witness all this sharing of ideas. Remarkable!
October 5th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
wow if it wasn’t for you i think i would have just thrown the camera out! is it possible to get the same effects as the time zero film? Where can i buy a 28mm n/ filter? thanks for helping everyone with this problem! boyd
October 30th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Hi -
Thanks for a great tutorial – worked like a champ on my Sonar Onestep. Before that I tried the Packfilter advertised above, and it almost ruined my camera as it would jam inside all the time.
Your method works great – thanks for putting it up for all to see!
November 5th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Thanks so much for the detailed explanation, that was reaaaaally helpful! Do you happen to know what’s the best procedure to adjust my sx-70 1000 polaroid camera? The only difference that seemes to be is the square objective!
November 16th, 2007 at 10:19 am
How about, after installing performing the mod with the sensor, I simply turn the exposure knob to -1. Would this give me a needed one stop? Thanks, M
December 2nd, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Quick way to get the 600 cartridges in: swipe the cartridge across the pavement a couple of times to “sand off” the nubs. Been doing it for years and it works like a charm!
December 12th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Hello guys, would like to know if any of you knows where I can buy an sx 70 converted, ready to shoot ! Tks
December 27th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Looks like you can buy SX-70 film again, though not from Polaroid.
http://www.sx70blend.com/
January 1st, 2008 at 6:28 pm
I looked on ebay for the Packfilters but could not find them. Does anyone know where or who is selling them? Thanks.
January 23rd, 2008 at 10:33 am
and what about the sx-70 sonar one step camera, does it needs nd filter too? thanks!
January 28th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Would you know if there is a video/film about the SX 70 camera? I am a librarian and a teacher asked for the video – I’m not finding any mention of a film about this camera.
Thanks for the help.
January 29th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Thanks for posting this how-to. I shared with on my blog http://photography.uber.com/
February 14th, 2008 at 10:07 am
FORGET ABOUT ND4 FILTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think it’s a good idea to remove the cell filter and using an ND2 filter, either for the lens or for the filmpack (for the pack it seems there are only ND4 out there?!) Why? THE CAMERA WILL EVIDENTLY USE FASTER SPEEDS, AS SUGGESTET BY THE PHOTO CELL! You will gain one stop, a big difference in low light situations! Cheers, Knut.
March 13th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Since the lense of the One Step SX-70 Polaroid camera is different that the one showed above, how do i change the lense, without breaking the camera?
or do i just slide the tab all the way on the dark side?
March 30th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
AAAAAAAAaarrghh its sooo annoying to get film. its soooo rare and expensive and i want sx-70 not crappy 600. why did polaroid discountinue its production? Its supposed to be a one step camera!!!!
April 13th, 2008 at 7:12 am
yea where can we find the $5 pack filter now? Filters all seem to be so costly everywhere. I found one on Ebay but its $25!
Is the paul guy still selling em?
May 17th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
I have a problem, i have the ND Filter over the lens and I’ve changed the photo cell, and it worked great. Only a few days ago it was taking photos like this:
http://i28.tinypic.com/zs48k.jpg
and today with the same light conditions, and expoure settings its taking photos like this:
http://i30.tinypic.com/mw2vif.jpg
Can anyone help?
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:57 am
hi, thanks a lot for the tutorial, really usefull.
I did change the filter, but didn’t use a CD ; i used a PIECE OF PLASTIC FROM A WATER BOTTLE ; it’s VERY EASY to cut and not thick at all ; it took me 10 minutes with a cissor. Of course you need a white translucent bottle, not blue or green colored.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:57 am
hi. i recently found a polaroid one step land camera and it takes sx70 film. i’m wondering if this tutorial will work for my camera or if i need to do something else, if so, what would it be?
July 17th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
thanks sososos much for this! i got my camera for 2 bucks at a second hand store and i just got all my 600 film off ebay. Its taking a few photos for me to figure out the right setting on the light meter but i’m so happy i can use the camera!
x
July 18th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
this is definitely a helpful tutorial. thanks for it!
although what if i use 600 with my sx-70 without any filters? how bad would the quality turn out? are there any samples i could take a look at of photos without filters?
September 7th, 2008 at 12:15 am
This article is great! So are the many comments.
I dug up an old One-Step in my mom’s closet full of old stuff. It’s a little different from the one pictured in this article.
http://bp0.blogger.com/89Kayl7Zp3M/SCWOJDU5ZoI/AAAAAAAAARs/cXRsZxnc04/s1600-h/f223_1.jpg
That’s a picture of one like it. Would I just need to apply step 2 to modify the polaroid for the 600 film?
September 7th, 2008 at 5:52 am
thanks for this great tutorial.
i got my sx-70 from the us a few weeks ago, off e-bay for only $25!! i have since purchased a 3 pack of “warm tone packfilters” off an e-bay seller in the us, for approx $35 with postage. they are a great product and work well.
do an e-bay search for “Film Pack Filter for 600film Polaroid SX-70″… or do an advanced search for sellers: “freezpopd” and “davinci771109″
i hope they don’t mind me mentioning their names, but they are selling a good product, so give it a go!!
October 18th, 2008 at 7:59 am
i tried to load the sx 70 land camera with film but when i close it, it does not eject the blank slide and carrys on making a whirling noise.
November 9th, 2008 at 9:09 am
I want to thank you for posting this! I just ordered my camera on ebay and am looking forward to using it. I hope that I can modify it with your tutorial and snap some pics.
What a lifesaver this website is….I can’t wait to get started.
December 28th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
will this work on a sx 70 one step???
June 6th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Re your search for SX70 film…its available from Pola Premium