Land Cameras SX-70 User manual

3
CONTENTS
Opening &Closing.
Partsof the Camera
Holding.
Viewing
...... .. . .. ...
4
6
8
9
Focusing ................. .. .. 10
Loading & Unloading. .
.. 14
Shooting. .
........... 16
Daylight
Pictures. .. 18
Flash Pictures. .
.. 20
Lighten/Darken control. .. 23
Close·ups.
Time exposures
.24
.... 25
Troubleshooting
.............. 26
Care of Your SX-70 System
..... 32
Our Service Policies
........... 33
Warranty.
............. 35
Polaroid Service Centers ...... 36
This booklet tells how
to take the
best pictures with your Polaroid
SX-70 Land camera. Your camera
may look slightly different from
the one in this booklet, but it works
exactly the same. All the informa-
tion here appliesto your came
ra.
If you ever need more information
abouttaking pictures, call
us, free.
Our Customer Service represen-
tatives are glad to help.
We can be
reached on weekdays from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m., your time. From any-
where in the continental U
.S.A.
except Massachusetts, call this
number, toll-free:
800-225-1384
From Massachusetts and any-
where in Canada, call collect:
[phone]
For your convenience, these
phone numbers are
on your
camera, under the lens when
the
film door is open.

OPENING
Hold the camera in the
palm of your left hand.
Lift the small end of the
viewfinder cap, and pull it
straight up
..
...until the cover support
(A) locks. 4 5
& CL OS I NG
Push the cover support toward
the rear of the camera.
Press down
on t he viewfinder
cap slowly but firmly
..
... until both sides of the
camera latch.

PART S OF THE CAM ER A
Viewfinder
Shutter
Film
~~_"""_on+· _-./
Rollers-- ---- -'
Film door (shown open)--
Picture exit slot
Focus wheel Lighten/Darken
control
(under front edge)
_____ ---.J
Electric eye
Distance sca le
Lens (4 elemen
t, 116 mm, fiB) 6 7
Each SX-70 film pack provides ten
3% x3 V. inch pictures. Each pack
contains aflat battery
to supply
power for pictures made with that
pack. Only Polaroid SX-70 Land
film can be u se d in your camera.
For flash pictures,use a
Fla shBar
like the one pictured here. It has
five bulbs
on ea ch si de.
The threaded socket in the bottom
of your camera isa
trip od mount
that fits any regular tripod. The
picture counter
on the rear of the
camera is blank when the came
ra
is empty, and sets to 10 whena
pack
is inserted and the film door
is closed. After you take a picture,
the counter shows how manyare
left in the pack. After 10 pictu
res,
the counter st opsat 0 and the
camera won't let
yo u waste a
flashbulb. If you should reinsert a
partly u
sed or empty pack, the
counter will
re se t to 10.
The neckstrap that comes with
your camera attaches as shown.
Its length may
be adjusted for
maximum co
mfort and mo ve ment.

HOLDING
Hold the camera in your left
hand,
thumb and fingers behind
the hinge
(A).
Your fingers should not block the
exit slot (B) where the picture
comes out
of the camera, and
your
thumb should not touch the
bellows
(C) where any pressure
might interfere with movement
of the mechanism inside the
camera.
Hold your right hand like this,
t
humb and index finger extended,
other fingers curled tightly into
the palm of your hand.
Put your
thumb behind the shut-
ter, withouttouching the
be llows
(C), and put your index finger on
t
he focus wheel, as shown. 8 9
V IE W IN G
Hold the camera so your eye
is about an inch from the
viewfinder, and look through
the center of the eyepiece.
You should see a square black
frame around the scene.
If you don't
see all four corners
of the frame, move the camera
slightly until you
do.
The SX-70 viewfinder shows
you what you will get in the
finished picture,
so you can
frame your subject justthe
way you want it in your picture.
The splitcircle you
see in the
viewfinder
is a focusing aid,
which
is explained on page 12.

FOCUSING
The key to good SX-70 pictures is careful focusing. Spend afew minutes
now learning what it means and how you do it. The care with which you
focus makes the difference between taking consistently beautiful pic-
tures and disappointingones.
Focusing means adjustingthe
lens of the came
ra to get the
sharpest, clearest image of your
subject in the viewfinder.
You do
it by rolling the focus wheel- just
as you might focus with a pair
of binoculars.
There are two ways to focus:
• U
se the whole image.
• Use the split circle in the lower
centerof the viewfinder.
Both methods are described and
illustrated
on the following pages.
ACCURATE FOCUSING IS ESPECIALLY IMPO RTAN T FOR FL ASH
In addition to se tting the camera for sharp focus, focusing also
influences exposure for flash pictures.
The camera automatically sets the right flash exposure when you
accurately focus
on subjects from lOV, inchesto about 20 feet from
the camera. Although the camera can
to lerate minor errors in focusing
and still produce a properly exposed flash picture, it
is best to be sure
you have focused acc
ur ately.
10
HOW YOU FOCUS WITH
THE
WHOLE IMAGE
Look at your subjectthrough the
viewfinder.
Pay no attention to
the splitcircle when you focus
with the whole image.
Roll the focus wheel all the
way
in one direction, th en all the way
in the other. Notice that the
image changes from fuzzy (top
picture) to sharp (bottom pic-
ture) and back to fuzz
y.
Return thewheel tothe point at
which the subject began to look
sharp and clear. Now roll it just
a
bit in each direction until you
are sure thatthe most important
part
of your subject is just as
sharp and clear as you can make
it (bottom picture).
As you focus, concentrate on the
partof your subjectthat you want
sharpest in your picture. For pic-
tur es of people, that wi ll usually
be the face.
Focusing
is like tuninga radio for
best reception. Turn slightly past
the perfect setting once or twice
to
be s ur eyou have found it.
11

HOW THE SPLIT CIRCLE
HELPS YOU FOCUS
The split circle is most helpful
in
dim light and for flash pictures.
Look through the viewfinder and
place the splitcircle over a verti-
cal line
on your subject. It could
be a necktie, a scarf, a lapel, a
piece of jewelry, the front seam
of a shirt ora dress or,
as shown,
the line between a light and dark
area. Choose a line which is the
same distance from you
as the
point you want sharpest in your
picture,
not behind it or in front
of it _
When the line
is broken ES;i, your
subjectwill
be out-of-focus.
Rotate the focus wheel
unWo· the
line becomes continuous .
Now your subject will
be in ocus.
The split circle helps you to
focus, notto frame or to view. It
is
placed low in the viewfinder so it
will not interfere with viewing.
This means you may have to
reframe your picture afteryou
focus. When you reframe, do not
change your distancefrom the
subject; simply pointthe camera
slightly up, down,or to one side,
until you
see in the viewfinder
exactly what you want in the
picture. 1 ?
TH E DIS T ANCE SCALE
The distance scale around the lens can be used in two ways..After
focusing, you can compare the distance scale setting shown opposite the
line (A) with the actual camera-to-subject distance to
be sure you have
focused accurately.
Or, it can be used to set camera focus when the lighting
is too dim to
accurately focus through the viewfinder.
To do this,estimate the camera-
to-subject distanceand then rotate the focus wheel until the distance
scale is set
to thatdistance.
In the picture at right, the lens
is set to 5 feet.
SHARPNESS -
FROM NEAR
TO FAR-IN SUNLIGHT
On bright, sunnydays, if you focus the camera on an objectabout
15 feet away (or set the distance scale
to the 15 foot mark),everything
from about 8 feet to the mostdistant scene will be sharp in the
finished picture.
With the camera set this
way, the image you see in the viewfinder will
not show the wide range of sharpness that the finished picture will
have.
Do not attempt to use this technique on overcast days, in dim light
or with flash.
13

LOADING & UNL OAD ING
Pu sh down on the yell ow ba r to
open the film door, which should
open by itself. Never force the
door open.
Insert a film pack, holding it by
the
si d es, as shown.
Do not hold it as shown in this
picture. By squeezingtoo hard,
you could damage the film.
14
Push the pack in all the way, until
a narrow strip
(A) along the end
of the pack snaps open.
Close the
film door, keeping your
fingers away from the exit slo
t.
The camera will make a so und
and
the film cover will co me ou t.
Remove itand save it to order
copies of your favorite SX-70
picture s.
Ifthe film cover does not come
out, see page 30.
To remove a film pack: Open the
film door. Remove the pack by
pulling on the yellow tab .
15

SH OO T ING
When you have focused, frame
your subjectcarefully in the
viewfinder.
Hold the camera steady and
gently press the shutter button.
Hold
the button in...
...
until the picture comes out of
the exit slot, and all camera
sounds stop.
Remove and handle the picture
by its wide border. Watch it
develop
by itself.
Do not bend, squeeze or cut
the picture.
If ever the camera does not
eject the picture, see page 30.
CAMERA OR SUBJEC T
MOVEME NT
In dim lightor when using flash,
you
might get a blurred picture if
either the camera or the subject
moves during the exposure.
(Neither you noryour subject
should move after hearing the
first
"click ",which occurs before
the camera actually takes the
pictur
e.)
To assure sharp and clear
pictures under all conditions,
avoid these:
CAMERA MOVEMENT (top)
Hold the camera steady from the
moment you press the shutter
button until the picture comes
outof the camera.
SUBJECT MOVEMENT (center)
Generally,ask your subject to
hold still until the picture comes
out of the camera. The subject
should not move after hearing
the first "click".
CLOSED EYES (bottom)
With flash, t
he firing of a flash-
bu lb follows a fracti on of a second
after the first
"click" of the cam-
era. Some subjects tend to antic-
ipate the flash, and blink their
eyes when they hear the "
click ".
The result is that their eyes are
closed at the
moment the picture
is taken. Ask your subject to try
not to blink until afterthe flash
has fired.
16 17

DAYLIGHT PICTURES
THE ELECTRIC EYE
Expo sure for daylight pictures is
controlled by an electric
eye that
automatically sets the lens open-
ing and shutter speed according
to the light conditions it "sees"
in the scene.
LIGHTING
Two lighting rules to remember
for daylight pictures:
• Try to have the lightfal
lon the
subject from behind
you, or
from the side.
• Try to take pictures where the
lighting
on the scene is even -
about
as bright on the back-
ground
as on the subject.
Excellent lighti
ng conditions for
outdoor pictures of people are
found
on bright, hazy days, or
when a cloud covers the sun.
Another good light is bright open
shade-for example, next to a
buildingon a sunny day with
nothing overhead to block the
lightfrom the
sky.
DAYLIGHT PICTURE HINTS
Move
in close (far right picture)
and keep the background simple ;
make your subjectthe main
point of interest.
Ifthe background is a large part
of the picture, and the light on
the background is brighterthan
the lighton the subject (left
picture),the electric
eye will set
the correct exposure for the
background. Then the subject
will
be too dark. Move in close to
your subject (right picture)
so the
background light
wi ll have little
effect
on the exposure setting.
If the background
is a large part
of the picture, and the back-
ground
is much darkerthan the
subject (left picture), the electric
eye will set the correct exposure
for the background. The subject
will
be too light. This time,
move
in cl ose (right picture) to
make your subject
da rker. 18