The Polaroid I-2 is good now! Firmware update fixes auto exposure issues!
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 19 окт 2024
- After 9 long months, Polaroid are finally fixing the I-2's auto exposure issues with a firmware update!
I was lucky enough to beta-test a new firmware that re-calibrates the camera's electric eye to prevent over-exposed images. Please note that I have absolutely no idea WHEN the firmware will officially release. At the time I posted the video I was told "a few weeks". When it is ready it'll be available on the Polaroid App, and updateable to the camera over Bluetooth. The firmware will be called "1.02.1".
A recent post by a Polaroid engineer has revealed that the issue seems to have been caused by an incorrectly calibrated light meter due to effective film ISO variances in the batches of film they tuned it with.
The firmware update sadly doesn't add a battery door that makes the built in lithium ion battery user-replaceable without complete disassembly of the camera... but it does fix the cameras other major issue! Wonky auto exposure!
Like what I do? Find this video helpful or entertaining?
Feel free to buy me a beer (or two!):
ko-fi.com/thei...
Getting artifacts in the video? For best quality, manually select 1080p quality, as depending on your bandwidth, RUclips may default to 720p - and RUclips's 720p compression looks like garbage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previous videos you might like:
Tearing down the I-2 Part 1:
• Appallingly bad design...
Tearing down the I-2 Part 2:
• Doing what Polaroid wo...
The I-2 battery repalcement guide is wild!
• The iFixit Polaroid I-...
The PolaVolt - my open source i-Type battery solution for SX-70s
• The PolaVolt: a newer,...
The SX-70R - manual control Bluetooth PCB
• SX-70R - A Bluetooth P...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapters:
00:15 - Update on the battery saga
06:00 - Firmware update!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Got a Polaroid that needs some love? Hit me up!
/ instantcameraguy
/ theinstantcameraguy
www.theinstant...
![Chino Pacas - Smith (ft. Junior H & Fuerza Regida) [Video Visualizador Oficial]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BVK6k56X30Y/mqdefault.jpg)
Firmware topic starts at 06:00 after an update on the previous videos.
In case it wasn't clear from the video, I have absolutely no idea WHEN the firmware will release. At the time I posted the video I was told "a few weeks"
I do make this point clear in the video, but I think many of you are skipping around to the 'good bits' and not watching the whole thing.
When it is ready it'll be available on the Polaroid App, and updateable to the camera over bluetooth. The firmware will be called "1.02.1"
Your comment about coding the film makes me think about a future version of the camera that could read a bar code or QR code on the film to dial in exact ISO settings or similar. Sort of like how a Nespresso machine reads the code on the coffee pod to know exactly what to do each time. Might help with any batch to batch variation. Nice work on the video!
You have just described DX encoding
@@mak_tpaxep haha, that’s awesome. I didn’t know. I figured the concept was nothing new when I commented. Was just on top of mind because of being a new and first time Nespresso owner. lol.
I put a ND 2 filter on mine and 1 click down exposes perfect every time.
That’s great to hear!!! Nice to see Polaroid is willing to include folks like yourself in beta testing. Can’t wait until the FW rolls out to everyone.
Glad this finally got fixed! I agree - a replaceable battery and a few more buttons would be nice!
The Manual Option should never be an excuse. If it has an Auto-Mode, it should work.
I hope this will be available for the Now+ as well
@@jungletrooper9252 maybe!
I have no experience with the Now+ so I can't comment
@theinstantcameraguy from what I've been hearing about the I-2, it's pretty much the same experience when it comes to auto exposure. Haven't touched my Now+ in almost a year because of it
@@jungletrooper9252 interesting
Hopefully they will roll out new firmware for that soon too!
@@jungletrooper9252i sold mine for that reason, i had to set exposure comp -2 stops just to get useable pictures. Got my sx-70 refurbed by jake and never looked back
Great to see just updated my camera 🎉
the new firmware is called something like 1.0.2.1
At the time of you commenting, it is not publicly available, and will likely roll out in a few weeks
So glad that they listened and finally did something about it 👏
Thanks for the video! I should be getting my I-2 today and I hope this update won't take too long to come out of beta.
I bought this camera a few days ago, perfect timing I guess
That's fantastic news. I recently bought the I-2 and thought all my color films were either expired or overheated in the manufacturer's storage. Each one produced very bright photos. I'm glad about the new firmware. There's just one thing I'm wondering about. Black-and-white films were exposed correctly, even in auto mode. I'm afraid of what will happen now. By the way, can you point out where the official POLAROID firmware update can be downloaded? I can't find it online. Great video. Congratulations!
07:11 - it'll be available via app. Firmware is called "1.02.1"
I do not know when it will be released.
really Excited!!! ordered lots of new film to play haha
Great video! Quick question for you - Are you saying that the meter works pretty accurately in your opinion in manual mode but over exposes only in auto mode? I've heard a bunch of RUclips folks saying it's the meter across the board that's the problem. So their suggestion is to underexpose -2/3 of a stop most times, regardless of whether you're in Auto or using the meter to shoot in manual mode. Can you tell me a bit about your experience / thoughts on this?
The issue affected ALL cases where you were relying on the camera's built in meter.
ie; Auto, Aperture priority and Shutter priority modes were all affected
Full manual mode technically worked fine, assuming you used an external light meter, and were thus not relying on the readings of the built in meter.
@@theinstantcameraguy Copy that! The meter is off across the board! Thanks for the info. I misunderstood and that clarification is uber helpful!
Thanks for sharing, this news needs to get out! Keep grinding Polaroid, thanks for listening.
feel free to share it around!
Firstly wonderful video. Thanks for your work. Great idea on ‘tasting notes’ for film variability.
Looking forward to someone commenting when the firmware is publicly available. I’m also keeping an eye on your Reddit.
I keep turning on my I-2 to check settings in the App .. if anyone knows a more efficient way to get notice of when it releases please shout.
Does this mean it’s worth me spending a small fortune now? When will the update be available?
No, the film is the issue
@@teleaddict23 if the camera is right for you? Sure
If you already have a decent Polaroid like an SX-70 and mainly shoot auto? Then maybe not
Nomatter how much you spend on a camera, it wont change the fact that the current color film is mediocre and that you risk spending money on packs of film that are near unusable. They have poor shelf life, are very sensitive to temperature and yield inconsistent results. Especially if you buy from a local retailer.
The BW emulsion is good though.
@@MrLennart1976 funny, because when my Australian clients have issues with film, it is almost EXCLUSIVELY the black and white emulsions. To the point where if someone is having issues, I often ask if they have tried color film
YMMV, but I take a LOT of test photos refurbishing cameras, and very rarely do I experience color film that has failed critically, and I buy ALL my film from local stores, and never refrigerate it (I use it up too fast to bother with a fridge)
I do accept though that the colors aren't for everyone though. But that is a personal aesthetic choice, and purely subjective
Huge win
I got my I-2 5 days ago and already wasted a lot of film. Any idea when the update will be out publicly? Or if there is any chance for a Public Beta? That would be nice
As alluded to at 07:11, as stated at 20:23, and as written in the pinned comment, in reply to several other comments and as written in the video description, I have NO IDEA when the firmware will see public release.
I am an independent technician and have no affiliation with Polaroid other than being selected as a beta tester.
At the time I released the video I was told "a few weeks".
When it's ready, firmware "1.02.1" will be available in the app, and can be downloaded over Bluetooth.
If you have further questions, I recommend contacting Polaroid directly.
I've been considering purchasing, really glad to see this video. Does anyone know if the firmware update has been pushed out or when / how it might be announced?
@@TheLivingWheel I got no idea!
WHEN it's released, it'll be through the Polaroid app . At the time I released the video I was told "a few weeks" whatever that means lol
Despite exposing properly, it still doesn't change the abysmal battery situation. You may want to check out my videos on that subject before you decide to pull the trigger
@@theinstantcameraguy Thanks so much!
Excellent update. Thanks Jake.
I don’t have this model but hopefully the software update ( …. When Released ) will help those owners who do.
Have you updated/ modified any of these modern cameras given the perceived faults for your customers to make them work correctly ?
If so does that mean with this new software upgrade those modified cameras will not be correct anymore ?
@@monochromebluess the only mod I've ever done on these was making the battery user replaceable
I always assumed that Polaroid could fix the issue with a firmware update. I just can't believe it took 9 months
This was my biggest complaint about the I-2. It has been so wildly inconsistent for me to the point that I just went back to my slr680. Their color chemistry is still absolute garbage but I love their B&W so much that I stick with it.
Crazy that the iso of a batch of film should deviate so much that it drastically affects exposure. Still better late than never for this fix. Maybe Polaroid should give free film to all those that bought this camera from them as some sort of compensation.
I think the issue is an honest mistake
I 600 calibrated dozens of cameras back in 2022 using the available film which may now cause over-exposure on current film! It hurts me to think about such a thing
I love that they have fixed the issue. I'm just really baffled as to why its taken them 9 months to do so
Is the new firmware now available to the public? If it is, how might we go about installing it? My current Version in the app is 1.5.20. There is nowhere to install a firmware update on the app that I can see.
As alluded to at 07:11, as stated at 20:23, and as written in the pinned comment, in reply to several other comments and as written in the video description, I have NO IDEA when the firmware will see public release. I am an independent technician and have no affiliation with Polaroid other than being selected as a beta tester.
Sadly they gave me no concrete answer or timeframe
At the time I released the video I was told "a few weeks".
When it's ready, firmware "1.02.1" will be available in the app, and can be downloaded over Bluetooth.
If you have further questions, I recommend contacting Polaroid directly.
@@theinstantcameraguy thank you for your thorough response. As of now my app firmware reads 1.5.20. Perhaps others will find this useful as well as we await the update.
I'd like to also point out that Polaroid had ALWAYS tweaked their film, and I guess that's the nature of film in general. But I think instant film is especially variable. I found an article in Popular Photography from the early '80s talking about the chemistry ... And, as you mentioned, that may be what is missing now. I think modern Polaroid has become secretive in part because how critical people were during the extremely unstable Impossible days, and corporate secrecy in general. But yeah ... version notes would be super handy. Or at least notes when the chemistry has larger variances.
And with both of my SX-70s down, I'm strongly considering picking one of these up.
@@JamieMPhoto i think the big difference though was in the impossible days, most people KNEW the film was going to be a bit unpredictable and Impossible was open about it. Each pack of film came with instructions for example and each major batch revision came with sample photos so you knew what to expect
Polaroid keeps promising to be transparent but seems to fall through every time. I genuinely want to hear more about the R&D process of the new color chemistry they're working on but it hasn't even mentioned once since Reclaimed Blue promotion.
@@areallyrealisticguyd4333 I really do think more behind the scenes stuff and transparency is needed
@@theinstantcameraguy yes, in the impossible days we all forgave consistency issues because of the mammoth task they undertook and the pure passion behind it.
But in recent years a more corporate mindset have taken over it seems. Seems clear to me that the focus on r&d, on moving the product forward was reduced significantly some years ago, around the time they thought up the marketing strategy of trying to convince people that imperfection is inherent to instant photography. It's not.
Yes it's hard to make identical color emulsions. But used to be that batches that varied visibly from baseline was discarded. Today they're just shipped to market.
I think this is the same reason behind the delay in fw update, that it simply hasnt been a priority at the corporate level to spend resources on it.
How'd they mess it up in the first place
@@42crazyguy apparently by calibrating the camera exclusively with a single batch of film that behaved light sensitive
The real question I think is why did it take 9 months to fix the issue
Do you think this was the same reason the Now+ over exposed?
@@scotthamilton2016 maybe!
Is poloroid always so greenish yellow? I have an Instax Wide and the colours are way different and much more natural if a bit over saturated.
not necessarily. But the two films are inherently very very different
Polaroid film can vary a bit from batch to batch. If you want more info, check out the video I did on SX-70 vs 600 film, where I go a bit into the history of modern Polaroid film
A bit of the yellow cast in the sample photos comes from a combination of shooting near golden hour, and shooting indoors without flash under tungsten-lamp-style lighting. This is not something people often experience with Instax cameras, since they are designed to fire with bright white flash 24/7
do we know if the firmware update will cover the now+? it has the same issues
I have no idea
Perhaps you should write to Polaroid?
I've been holding off for this. Do you need a Windows computer to upgrade the firmware?
The Polaroid app (iOS for sure don’t know about android) can do updates over Bluetooth.
when the firmware is released publicly, it will be doable via the Polaroid app over bluetooth
The pre-release I was given had to be done via computer
Wish they’d do the same for the now+ or i wouldn’t have sold mine
3:30
No need to get so defensive Jake.
When people are surprised you aren't familar with these connectors it's because to them they're pretty common. You don't need to spend over 2 minutes explaining why you hadn't seen one before 😎
@@Ni5ei except I will get defensive when one of the comments alluded that "I must not fix very much" because I'd never seen one before.
It's like saying a dentist is no good at his job because he's never done heart surgery
It's a ridiculous and un-necessary comment to make, and utterly besides the point I was making; that this particular connector - despite being apparently commonly used on tiny cooling fans - has no place on a battery
I still can’t with the I-2 with that non-replaceable battery. For something that cost so much, it should have a battery slot. And no, that ridiculous ifixit guide isn’t good enough.
agree
I think it is likely that future versions will have batteries that are easier to replace
Partly because of people like myself making a lot of noise about the issue, and partly because European regulations are coming into affect around 2027 that will require it by law
Worried about the battery? Just do the maths: According to Polaroid one battery change is good for 15 film packs. Ok, let us say 10 = 80 pictures. A rechargable battery can normally be charged up to 500 times. Ok, let us say 250. That gives us 20.000 pictures. I doubt if the shutter and the ejection mechanics will last that long. And with far more than 1 USD/EUR (nearly 2) per picture you will have then spent a real fortune on pictures, so the price for a new camera will be just peanuts.
Objection your honor.
This is a strawman argument and is besides the point. My argument is that consumer electronics should feature batteries that the user can easily replace on their own. I am not arguing over how long the battery will last, or how much a new camera costs compared to the cost of 20 000 shots of film.
My rational is based on previous experience with similar cameras such as the Onestep Plus and Impossible I-1 and Instant Labs which are now often unusable only several years after release. These cameras require disassembly and a soldering iron to install replacement batteries. A skill set BEYOND what is had by the average consumer. The I-2 is the worst example of this, requiring a 60+ step process to dismantle.
A lithium ion battery will degrade whether you use it or not. And things like the BMS, charging circuitry etc all put a small drain on the battery even when it's not in use.
Your argument promotes wasteful thinking and belittles the techs and engineers that are pushing for progress.
Any indications or ideas of when they will roll out the update?
It’s available now, just installed the update with the App. Not tested yet.
@@TheLeiPol what firmware are you running? Mine says it’s running the latest and it says it’s 1.01.1 and whatever that is, it does NOT have the proper new exposure updates. So if yours is running that it’s NOT the one mentioned in this video.
@@TheRealHaggisMacJedi Thank you for the information. I've had a first firmware update early October 2023. This year the camera did not get much use due to a lot of continuous rain and now it has become too hot. Yesterday I switched it on and noticed a firmware update presuming it was the new one. Just looked into the App, it is 1.01.1 like you mention. Back in October 2023 I was searching what was fixed in that firmware update but I could not find it on their website. I did not contact them to ask. Surely Polaroid should make that known to their customers. I'm not in a hurry and will wait and see. Maybe I will give up on Polaroid in the future after using Polaroid during 50+ years. Fortunately, I have the Polaroid Lab which still allows me to use up my stock of film in time.
6:00 starts talking about exposure
I make this clear in the video chapters, intro text and video description lol