This page features all the news posts on DanFinnen.com in 2012 for historical reference. Some links may be broken and formatting may display incorrectly.
December 1, 2012
Polaroid Job Pro Camera Review
Just in time for the holidays, I got up a new review of the Polaroid Job Pro camera. It’s a hardy little camera, but almost identical to other fixed focus 600 cameras like the Polaroid OneStep Closeup.
November 27, 2012
2012 Holiday Guide to Buying Used Polaroid Cameras
If you’re looking for an awesome gift for the photographer in your life, why not get them a Polaroid camera and re-introduce them to the world of instant photograhpy? I’ve put together this guide complete with suggestions for different budgets. Enjoy!
17 September 2012, Monday
Nikon Coolscan V 35mm Film Scanner Guide and Review
For all you brave souls out there who want to tackle the Nikon Coolscan V, I’ve created a detailed guide to help you in your jouney. Enjoy!
11 September 2012, Tuesday
Whoops! I was recently informed by a reader that I had overlooked the little shutter that allows the Polaroid Onestep Express and Polaroid Onestep Closeup to fire without flash. I’ve updated all my reviews accordingly. I’m not a professional and am only going off my own experience with these cameras, so if you ever find something you think might be incorrect don’t hesitate to let me know. Thanks!
5 September 2012, Wednesday
Ah, can’t believe it’s September already! Where has summer gone?
By the way, my company was featured this week as Zooppa’s member of the week! Check out their blog, where you can find an interview and photos of us in action!
25 August 2012, Saturday
I just finished up updating every single one of my camera reviews on the article section! Also, I’m excited to say that I’m officially part of the eBay partner network, which allows me to post links pointing to where you can find all your favorite Polaroid cameras for sale. Using these for buying anything on eBay is hugely helpful to me and will help me continue writing for this site. Best of all, it’s free for you! Thanks for your support!
22 August 2012, Tuesday
Just tried out a frog tongue adapter on my Polaroid OneStep Closeup, and I’m happy to say it works as advertised. No more forgetting to tape a darkslide to the front of my camera and looking stupid in front of my model! Woo hoo!
If you’re curious what the frog tongue adapter is, I’ll have an article up about it soon. Basically it replaces the plastic roller thingy on modern Polaroid cameras with one that covers the image as it pops out. The Impossible Project has been selling them for about a year now.
12 August 2012, Sunday
An Introduction to Film/Digital Workflow for Photographers
Whew! I got a big one for you today. The culmination of a few months’ worth of work, this article goes over the process I use with all my film images. I wanted to present a guide for those who are just starting into the world of film or those curious about my workflow.
This is the first in a series of articles I’m writing for my Analog Film in a Digital World project, so expect more in-depth articles coming soon!
24 July 2012, Tuesday
I have a new camera review up! The Polaroid One600 is a great camera, and one of the last models Polaroid ever made before calling it quits. However, the lack of an exposure compensation lever prevents it from taking the crown of my favorite 600 type camera. Read all about it in the review!
1 July 2012, Sunday
Whew! June was one heck of a crazy month. I’m finally out of the hospital and good to go, so I’ll be rolling out all sorts of stuff here over the next few weeks!
Today I got a review up for PX 600 Silver Shade Cool film, which unfortunately is a bit of a step back for the Impossible Project silver shade line. It’s great film and super durable, but the shots are filled with tiny white dots that look terrible when scanning the film at high resolutions. If you’re in the market for some instant monochrome film, I’d snatch up some older generation silver shade while you still have the chance. Check out the full review here!
22 June 2012, Friday
It’s been a while since I’ve managed to put up a new article, but rest assured, I’ve been hard at work on all kinds of crazy photo projects! I recently got to shoot with the great local model Maryann (look up) and had a chance to test out all kinds of new film.
First up is the review for the film I used to take the image above, the fantastic PX 680 Color Shade Cool, with some of the best colors Impossible Project has come up with yet. I’ll be putting up reviews for PX 70 Color Shade Cool and PX 600 Silver Shade Cool as well over the next few days.
24 April 2012, Tuesday
The Windy City Show recently went to C2E2 and met with a whole mess of colorful figures and celebrities. Check it out as Drew talks about his prom with Sean Astin, plans for 2012 with John Cusack, and the presidential race with DotCom. For those of you who don’t know, the Windy City Show is one of the many webisode series I produce with DistractChicago.com. Enjoy!
4 April 2012, Wednesday
Whew it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Distract Chicago Productions has been eating all my time, so I haven’t been able to get a whole lot of new content up here. I always update my flickr account, so if you want to see the latest and the greatest, be sure to check there!
I have a new photo gallery called Heaven up! It’s made up of photos I took this winter on the lake shore. The unexpectedly warm winter gave me ample opportunity to wander around the parks and take everything in pretty much by myself. Spring is here again, which means I have to share the parks once again…
23 February 2012, Thursday
Muckrakers Season 2 has officially begun! I directed and wrote the series, which follows Frank and Paul to Chicago, where they quickly find out that the real world is far more difficult than any J101 class. There will be ten episodes released every Monday on DistractChicago.com for the next few weeks. If you’re a fan of Seinfeld or It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I definitely recommend checking it out.
14 February 2012, Tuesday
Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s a new camera review I’ve cooked up just for the special occasion. It’s the Polaroid OneStep Express, a sturdy and very common 600 type camera. Enjoy!
5 February 2012, Sunday
I’ve finally gotten around to updating my article on Polaroid film cartridge transfers with photo illustrations of the process. It’s nothing hard, but doing it in complete darkness can get surprisingly frustrating.
In other news, I’ve just finished up the first draft version of my company’s website. You can check it out over atdistractchicagoproductions.com. Let me know if you stumble upon any typos!
3 February 2012, Friday
The Disposables has been one of my longer running and more popular projects, and it’s time to finish it up (for the time being) with the new Disposables Part Two gallery. Everything in this gallery was taken with Fuji Quicksnaps and occasionally my F3, all on cheap film.
Speaking of analogue photography, I should have a new article about film to digital workflow up in the next few weeks…
12 January 2012, Thursday
That’s right, it’s time for another camera review already! As you can tell by the photos, the Polaroid Spectra AF is almost identical to the 1200i with just a few cosmetic changes in color. However, the Spectra AF features the full range of controls as the Spectra System plus it has a viewfinder focus readout, making it far superior to the 1200i. Check out the review for more!
1 January 2012, Sunday
It’s a brand new year, which means six months of writing down 2011 by accident. But in more exciting news, I was lucky enough to acquire several new Polaroid cameras recently, which means all sorts of new reviews as I get to use each one over the next few months!
The first up is the Polaroid 1200i, which still had film in it when I got it. I managed to get three exposures out of the ancient cartridge, which you can find over at my flickr page. It performed admirably as I abused it in the rain, but I missed the extended controls of my Polaroid Spectra System.