The Polaroid Go: Observations, Tips, and Review of Polaroid’s Newest Format Includes the Good, Bad and Ugly Sample Images

The Polaroid Go: Observations, Tips, and Review of Polaroid’s Newest Format

Includes the Good, Bad and Ugly Sample Images

I had reservations about buying the Polaroid Go after reading many negative reviews saying it’s difficult to get a good picture compared to Instax and larger Polaroid cameras. Despite this I am always up for a challenge so took the plunge and brought one from Amazon Warehouse. I also brought the filter set consisting of red, blue and yellow plastic shields that slip over the flash and lens.

The film is quite expensive. Instax Mini which is bigger costs £15 for 20. In comparison Polaroid Go film costs £18 for 16. This equals £1.13 per film for Polaroid Go and 75p for per film for Instax. This is quite a big difference, especially considering you are more likely to get more failures with the Go film.

It is clear to see in terms of the looks department the Polaroid Go wins hands down. If Instax's Mini 11 and the Polaroid Go were friends, the Go would be the pretty one with a wild unpredictable side, and the Mini 11 the ugly but dependable friend.

I have wasted so much film, but despite this I enjoyed using it, even if I got annoyed sometimes. This camera struggles with exposure. After much trial and error here is some advice:

Half press the shutter to set the aperture and speed before fully pressing the button down.

Hold the camera steady, shutter speeds can be slow, so you need to wait until you hear the film coming out before moving the camera. Even with being careful sometimes my pictures still looked a little blurry. I think this is due to a small lens which equals less light and therefore slower shutter speeds. The film is ISO ~650 in comparison Instax is 800 so light is your best friend, the more the better.

If your picture contains a lot of sky this can result in the camera settings being based on the sky brightness and not the subject which results in an underexposed subject. I found pointing the camera down slightly from the sky and half pushing the shutter button to set exposure time and aperture, then pointing back up to take the picture can help avoid underexposure. This only seems to work on overcast days. Doing this on sunny days can result in overexposure.

Ensure you don’t take images facing the sun on bright days. This can result in strong shadows on your subject. It’s best to have the sun behind you illuminating your subject.

Ensure when taking selfies, you hold the camera as far as you can with your arm, longer arms the better, which is OK in my case because I have lanky limbs.

If your subject is more than 2 meters away and you are outside turn the flash off (by pressing the flash button). This will avoid underexposed images. I assume that when the flash is on the settings have a faster shutter speed and/or smaller aperture then when you force it off (I’m not 100% sure if this is the case but have noticed seriously underexposed images when forgetting to deactivate the flash outside). Remember after every picture the flash automatically turns back on!

You can do double exposures! Just double press the flash button. Remember that darker regions of the images results in less exposure and light regions equals more exposure, therefore try to get your second exposure to expose in the darker regions of the first exposure if you want details to overlap. Trial and error are the only way to learn, I still struggle with double exposures.

They sell a filter set that I’ve quite enjoyed, I managed to take some interesting double exposures using different coloured filters per exposure. I therefore recommend the filter kit, although it’s a bit pricey and you only get orange, red and blue. It covers the lens and the flash which can lead to some cool effects.

What you see in the viewfinder is not the same as the picture you get from the lens due to differences in position. The closer you get to your subject the more pronounced this is. To compensate for the difference, shift the camera slightly left, again it’s a matter of trial and error. The is also true when using the viewfinder as a selfie mirror.

Wait at least 5 second before removing the film from the black slide tongue and then place in the dark until it’s developed (~10 minutes).

To use the self-timer, hold the flash button down for more than 2 seconds until the orange light appears under the flash. Remember to half press then when you are ready fully press the shutter, after this you have 10 seconds.

If you sign up to the Polaroid newsletter you can get a 10% welcome offer for use on their online shop (this is what I did when buying film).

Despite trying all the above, I have still had blurry, over and under exposed images, it’s just the way it is, but the chances of this will reduce with practise.

Another issue was one pack of film brought directly from Polaroid wouldn’t feed, so after trying to remove the dark slide by hand (in the dark) it still wouldn’t feed, then when it did it jammed. This wasted a whole pack, but after an email to Polaroid customer service with images of the failed pack they kindly sent me out a double pack, so had a positive experience with Polaroids customer services based in the Netherlands. If you have a similar problem you can try to remove films that don’t feed in the dark, only the top film exposed to light will be ruined if you are careful.

The image size is quite small, despite this the square format is great. This camera is really designed for shooting on the fly because it’s the smallest instant camera you can buy. The difference in size from normal Polaroid can be seen in the picture below...

The cost of the Polaroid Now+ that comes with a cool filter set is £139. In comparison the polaroid Go ranges from £90-£110. This is not a massive difference for a much larger picture, but the I-type film is a lot more money (~£1.90 per picture). You will however find the Polaroid Now + produces more reliable images partly now to two focus ranges (two lenses auto selected), in comparison the Go is fixed focus. If you don’t mind carrying something a lot bigger and the extra cost of the film the Polaroid Now+ may be a better choice. They also do black and white I-type film which currently does not exist for the Go.

I have noticed the Go film gives a magenta tint and there appears to be almost a blue light filter on the surface of the film when held up to the light. I wear glasses and when taking selfies, they make my lenses look yellow, maybe something to do with the film colour chemistry which is different to the I-Type film. I think a higher ISO like with the Instax film would have helped the Go, but unfortunately, we are stuck with the lower sensitivity.

I do not recommend this camera if you are short of money and need each picture to succeed. Instax Mini is cheaper and more predictable so may be a better option if you wanted to get into instant photography. Another alternative is an Instax printer or Hybrid cameras like the Instax Evo camera if you wanted freedom to choose what to print as well as print from your phone via Bluetooth.

Below are some sample images, and more importantly the failures, most of which I have learnt to avoid. Despite the failures I still enjoyed the camera, but I don’t think it is for everyone. This could have been a good camera, but there are limitations due to the film size, and therefore will frustrate many people who expect perfection each time.