Polaroid 330 Land Camera: Back to Life!

It’s been quite sometime since I wrote a blog entry, but my current project seemed photo-blog worthy. I recently acquired, thru a friend who found it in an old house, a Polaroid 330 Land Camera, circa 1960-1970’s. I had never seen a camera like this, and was instantly curious as to how to use it.

After some research, I learned the camera opened up (see photo above) and there were still places to get film for it! I also learned it was inoperable without battery power from a #532 Eveready 3v battery. When I finally figured out where the battery compartment was, I was disappointed to see the camera still contained the same battery from the late 60’s.. and it had completely corroded both connections.

I found a 3v battery online, but I had not a clue how I was going to get this thing working without intact battery contacts.

I came across a forum for Polaroid enthusiasts, and saw a post from a user who had the same issue with their Polaroid 450. A few users had suggested rewiring the battery compartment, and after a trip to my local RadioShack, I was ready to attempt to rewire my camera..

I purchased a 2 AAA battery holder, along with some lithium AAA batteries.. First you should remove the corroded contacts from the old wire. Trim all the way to the edge of the old contact, as the wires are only about 3 inches long. Wire the white (camera) to the red (holder) and the black (camera) to the black (holder). At this point, you should insert the AAA batteries to check if the camera is getting juice. Extend the lens to shooting position, open the back of the camera and look at the back of the lens.

If you were successful, when you cock the shutter, and press the red button on top you should hear the shutter click. I am going to solder the wires together for a more permanent connection. I need to figure out how to cram this rig in the battery holder, it will almost fit, but you will have to trim the plastic of the old holder in order to get the door to shut.

Now, I must patiently wait on film… If all goes well I might have some awesomely vintage photos to post this time next week!