I was looking for a box to store new negatives in, and instead of an empty box, I came across some of my Polaroid Sepia prints from my beloved Polaroid Land Camera.
This was the quality of analog instant print technology we had in the early 2000s, using quality analog camera technology from the early-to-mid 1960s. The instant film and the large, sharp-lensed camera are marvels.
If you hear photographers bemoan the end of manufacturing of certain tools they knew well and loved, don’t assume it is mere nostalgia: giving up a technically advanced and highly effective tool for something cheaper to manufacture and less impressive to hold is a loss. A trade and trade-off, certainly, but also a loss.