Polaroids - more specifically SX70s.
As a kid I drooled over SX70 Polaroid cameras and the prints they produced. There was a catch though - when they first came out (in Western Canada) in 1974 they cost 240 dollars. In 1974 my Dad made 275 dollars a month and my Mom 360. With that they paid for a house, two cars, a dog and cat and 2 kids. A SX70 was going to remain a dream.
Fast forward to 2001 and the original Polaroid company goes into Chapter 11. A management team takes over the name and then manages to commit enough fraud to go bankrupt again in 2008 and thats the end of Polaroid until the impossible project under Florian Kap. A wonderful thing - and as the dreamer he ended up getting kicked out of his own company - (in that regard he and I have a lot in common) but the products weren’t that wonderful. So I passed up on a lot of Polaroids - 3 SX70s, 2 Sonnar AF SX70s, and a Polaroid 690, all in absolutely pristine condition - for the whopping sum of 90 Euros. I know, I still kick myself.
Fast forward some more to 2020 and the lockdown and the Impossible Project has now owned the Polaroid name for 3 years - and I bought a SX70 online for less money than I paid for the box of film for it. That SX70 - very battered only lived long enough to expose half the box - but it caught me. The imperfection, the possibility, the hope and desire that go into a Polaroid nowadays. I am certain Mr. Land will turn in his grave as he reads this but thats what attracted me to it - not the perfection in color science he strived for.
And then there is the pure physicality of it - opening the camera, holding it, pressing the button, hearing the whir of motors as the pluck up arm ejects the exposed film. Then comes the waiting and the watching. The hope and desire part. It’s got everything you need - at least I think so. And if you happen to be an analog photographer who isnt just into perfection - and that’s why a lot of us are still doing it I believe - dont ever pick up an SX70. They are more addictive than crack.
So don’t ask me how many of them I own now. Don’t.