Springtime Update - There's Gold in Them Thar Hills...

Finally! A lot of the mush and slop is starting to dry up and there's some sunshine popping out a bit. Mother Nature is busting out saying "LET'S PARTAAAY!" (Robin Williams ref.). And here I am inside sneezing my ass off in front of a computer. Great. Grand. Wonderful.

Quick shop update followed by a few projects that I've been busy with in my free time. February and March were very busy months that saw a tidal wave of repairs and I'm getting to them as fast as I can so thanks to all that still have cameras pending for your patience. I need a shirt that says that. 

For those taking the time to read this and are considering sending in a camera for repair, please please please, just ship the camera only. Please don't include straps, boxes, cases, film, etc. Often times parts and accessories get misplaced and the added weight raises shipping costs. As for film shipped in cameras, I do my best to remove the pack in a changing bag but there's some occasions where the film can get fogged when doing initial inspections. 

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I like April. It's my month... I'm a Taurus. Stubborn AF. I usually get a creative boost by the second week or at least highly motivated to start or finish some kind of special project. April 2017 has been no exception. Those that follow me on Instagram have seen my initial prototype for using Instax mini (and square) film in unmodified SX-70 cameras. I'm bringing in a friend to solve the roller issue, so once that's resolved I'll be writing a full post on that. In the meantime...

I had a follower on IG contact me regarding an auction consisting of unused gold plated SX70 parts (thanks Justin!) owned by a former Polaroid employee that I couldn't pass up. These parts are untouched, unmodified, never in circulation, shiny, brand spanking new, NOS, Minty mint mint, whatever you want to call it. So what to do with them? My first thought would be to build a Sonar much like the "Limited Edition" stamped ones with the "gilded" gold finish. But I wanted to do a one-of-a-kind. Collectors like rarities and I love rarities but can never afford them because I pay child support hahahahahahahaha! *cry* I've done one-offs before with my painted customs and skins but nothing yet with authentic Polaroid parts. So after cruising a very brief but informative list of historical gold SX70 cameras here, why not add to the list and do a 680? Nobody else has done it... and I like the camera. A lot. Especially when it's rebuilt with stronger plated parts.

*** EDIT - Sale is currently pending for the Gold SLR680! ***

Here it is..! The world's first and only gold SLR680 built with authentic NOS gold-plated Polaroid parts. Some details to note are the professionally printed nameplate labels with mirrored gold lettering. The camera features all the same functions as the SLR680 but with a museum quality gold finish found nowhere else. Anyone else see this pitch turning into a Jaguar commercial?

There are still some details in progress... This will be presented in a piano finish rosewood wooden box lined with red felt and I'll be finding someone to build a custom strap with gold hardware. Add a gold printed certificate and it will be for sale. Keep in mind this is collector quality... not sure if this is the camera you would want to go swamp crawling through the reeds with to get a shot of a mud turtle.

Here's a few pics showing the parts and some of the build progress. Something very cool to see was the original protective tape on the faceplate. I did some light polishing to get off any surface gunk as well as old adhesive. 

Many thanks as well to the folks at www.diginate.com in London, UK. They really are an amazing resource for professional quality product labels. I did a ton of looking around and found these guys doing an image search. I'll be using them for all 2nd shot labels going forward. 

So that's it for now. I'll be posting a lot more updates on Instagram as the final details come together. Until the next post, here's to a little love and a lot more peace. I'd like to help make it happen... <3 Have a great weekend!