Polaroid Land Camera Model 95 – ca. 1948-1953

Did you know that the first Polaroid camera went on sale 75 years ago? This model, the Model 95, is the first instant picture camera manufactured by the Polaroid Corporation. At least 1.5 million of these models were made, each with the folding viewfinder and using the revolutionary instant roll film which was self-processed in the camera!

Polaroid has become synonymous with, and was most famous for, its instant cameras. The Polaroid Land Camera Model 95 was designed by founder and chemist Dr. Edwin Land in 1948, and early models were called Land cameras instead of “instant cameras.” The Model 95 was revolutionary for implementing self-developing “instant” film that essentially turned the inside of the handheld camera into a darkroom, processing the exposure before it was pulled from the camera. It took a little over a minute to develop, and only one exposure could process at a time.

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