My childhood was in the 90s. Some of my friends' families had Polaroid cameras. They seemed like some dream to me because my parents couldn't afford such a camera, or simply didn't see the point – regular point-and-shoot cameras were much more common and popular. Thus, in my memory, Polaroid became forever associated with something cool and desirable.

And suddenly, in adulthood, a couple of years ago, my mom's friend gave me her old camera Polaroid 636 Close-up without any guarantees that it was functional. And what do you think? I was functional. I bought a film (you can't test this camera without a film pack because this pack actually contains power batteries inside), and it worked out.

In this article, I will describe Polaroid 636 Close-up, my experience testing it, and tips I've found valuable and even must-follow. Enjoy!

Polaroid 636 Close-up story and description

First of all, Polaroid started making cameras long before 90s. The company was founded in 1937, and they have been making instant cameras since 1940s. Through years they released several famous series like SX-70, Spectra, type 600 and many others.

Polaroid 636 CloseUp was introdused in 1996 as an evolution of Polaroid 600 family (more information here). The most important information for the modern users is that it uses 600 film type, and it still produced nowadays.

The model was very similar to other 600 type cameras, but has some cool features as well.

Overall:

• It uses 600 Film format (still widely available, although not very cheap)
• Has Close-up lenses for close-up pictures, e.g. portraits
• Has built in flash
• Offer exposure correction

Tips and My Results

I recently finished a large 5x8 pack of Polaroid 600 film. In total, I took 40-50 shots. I can't show some of them because they're private. However, I'll share both successful and unsuccessful shots and what I learned from shooting. I'll also include scans of the user manual with the most important tips from my perspective. So, let's go.

Tip 1. Unfortunately, you really need to clean the rollers every ~2 films

I was not very good at following this rule, and that's why the majority of my shots are affected with these lighting lines in the corners of the picture or right in the middle. If you don't want to use it intentionally as an artistic element, clean the rollers!

Tip 2. Use close-up lens as much as possible

With close-up lenses, it is possible to achieve a level of sharpness and focus that surpasses many comparable models (e.g. Fuji Instax Mini). Okay, it is not like 35mm film sharpness, but it is impressive for instant photography. I like to use it not only for portraits but also for any other pictures with interesting foregrounds. The disadvantage is that the focus area is somewhere between 0.6m and 1.2m, and sometimes I fail to estimate it precisely.

Tip 3. Carefully consider the lighting, use exposure correction

Tip 4. Experiment with various backgounds

If you live or visit Switzerland and want to try this camera, just contact me. I am not sure if I want to sell it, but I can give it away for several days to let you shoot a roll of film.

Final thoughts

That's it for today. See you next time. I am going to review a lot of other strange and interesting devices. Cheers!