3D Print Your Own Polaroid-Style Instant Camera

Once upon a time, in the days before cheap digital cameras made photos essentially free, we olds had to take our film to an actual brick-and-mortar location to get developed. If we were lucky, we’d get the prints back in 24 hours and with only a small fortune spent on film and development. Until we got those back, we wouldn’t know if the photos were winners or poorly focused garbage. But there was an alternative: instant film. Polaroid was the best known and became the Kleenex of the instant camera industry. In his most recent video, Toast demonstrates how to 3D print a DIY instant camera like that.

Instant film, pioneered by Polaroid, packages the entire development studio into the film itself. The exposure process is similar to other film cameras—though most instant cameras lack fancy features like adjustable focus. The magic happens after exposure. The camera feeds the film through rollers, which squish out development chemicals onto the film. A few minutes later, you get a photo. Just don’t shake it, shake it!

Part of the appeal of instant cameras, in addition to getting photos immediately, was their affordability. They were affordable because they were simple. They were (and still are) so simple that Toast realized he could make his own.

This design consists of two major sub-assemblies: the “camera” part that does the exposure bit and the “roller” part that squeezes the film for development. This works with Instax Mini film, which isn’t necessarily better or worse than Polaroid film.

Because lenses are very difficult to make, Toast designed the camera portion with a pinhole. That pinhole is very small in order to get sharpish images, but it does necessitate long exposure times. Therefore, this is best suited to still objects. All of the parts for the camera section are 3D-printable, with both assembly and operation being quite straightforward—the photographer must manually uncover and cover the pinhole.

The rollers on the development portion proved to be a greater challenge. Toast struggled to make rollers that could put enough even pressure on the film for proper development. Eventually, he settled on using steel towels for the rollers, which appear to work well. A manual crank and gear system helps to push the film through the rollers.

If instant photography intrigues you, head to your local thrift store to buy an old Polaroid camera for $15. But if you like making things more than you like photography, you can purchase the 3D files and instructions for this camera on Toast’s website for $12.