Weeks before I wondered about the difference between iType and 600, I actually tested it, with some packs of color, shot in tandem. How I forgot about it entirely, I don’t quite know, and I’m glad I went into my recent archive…
I’m not sure why I look so morose in those selfies… it’s probably the over-long mustache and eyebrows in need of a trim.
So… the Polaroid OneStep+ has two, count ’em two lenses: the standard, 103mm lens, and, when you flip the switch on the top, a second portrait lens at 89mm. Focus range depends, of course, on aperture: at widest f/12, the standard has a range between 4.7 and 16.4 feet (according to the app), while the portrait goes from 1.8 to 2.9 feet; at narrowest f/64, the standard expands its range, from 1.4 feet to infinity, and the portrait widens to 0.9-3.6 feet.
The Mint SLR670-S, meanwhile, is manual focus and always at f/8, so its focus range depends largely on focus distance: up close, it’s quite narrow, and at infinity, it’s probably something like 10′ to infinity, more or less, not that this matters, as I tend to focus close most of the time with both.
I mostly took selfies and walked the cameras around the backyard, focusing, or trying to, on the peach and plum trees in bloom. I forgot to off the flash most of the time, so the OneStep+ blew out anything close, and it couldn’t get nearly as close as the SLR670-s.*
The OneStep+ did a bit better with stuff on the ground, and I found it hard to bend low enough to focus with the SLR670-s. Yes, I should’ve dropped to a knee, but the ground was cold and wet, and I had nice-ish pants on… and, yes, I’m a lazy hack.
There’s something deeply satisfying, to me anyway, about Polaroid bokeh. The film itself is never going to be particularly sharp, and out-of-focus areas have a lush softness that I find quite lovely.
So, once again, horses for courses, really. If you have $1000 to spend and want the best Polaroid experience, the SLR670-s is unbeatable; if your employer offers rewards through the Bravo! program, it often has the Polaroid OneStep+ (or another model) available for 650 points or so (if I recall) and if not you can pick up a OneStep+ for $140.
For me? Well, I’m glad and privileged to have both.
Full disclosure, I’ve had a bit of trouble with the Mint camera. The TimeMachine wiggles quite a bit and often wiggles itself slightly out of the connection, just in walking around and opening or closing the camera. When the TimeMachine is even a tiny bit out of alignment, the camera defaults to, well, I don’t know, but it wildly overexposes 600 film, and exposures with SX-70 film seem to go a bit underexposed.
Much more testing and play is required and ahead… and I recently received the Mint RF70 as a birthday gift (thanks, Mom!) so look forward to a Mint shootout at some point (or check out my Instagram, where I’m struggling to meet the minimum requirements—30 likes on 4 different pictures—to hit the free film target: you and your doubletap can help…)
*I used the Mint Close-Up lens for these, if I recall, though I didn’t need to, as the SLR670-s focuses as close as 1 foot, albeit at a slightly wider frame. I suppose this really isn’t a fair test, so I guess I’ll have to redo it sometime.
Life’s rough all over, ain’t it.
