It's Finally Happened....

Instant film's back, baby! It's been 2 years but it's finally time to break out the old Polaroid's! :) Photos were found here.

Former Polaroid employees bring instant film back to life
By Tim Bradshaw in London
Published: March 23 2010 02:00 | Last updated: March 23 2010 02:00

A group of former Polaroid employees in Holland has brought the instant film back to life - nearly two years after the camera maker ceased production.

Owners of Polaroid's SX-70 and 600 format cameras will be able to buy packs of new black and white film this week, with colour format film available later in the year through retailers including John Lewis in the UK and FNAC in France and Spain.

The iconic white-framed prints, which take three minutes to develop, have been produced by the Impossible Project - so named because their venture was declared impossible by Polaroid - in partnership with Ilford Photo of the UK.

Impossible acquired the last Polaroid production plant in Enschede, Netherlands, in October 2008 after the US corporation closed the factory in June 2008.

The small band of engineers, most of whom are in their 50s, have been working since then to create a new version of the "instant integral" film.

Many of the components and chemicals required for each picture were no longer available, so the new film is made up of 29 new layers and 13 new chemicals.

Producing the new film has taken slightly longer than Impossible expected, with investment totalling €2.3m ($3.1m).

Impossible plans to produce 1m packs of the film this year - each of which contains eight photos - ramping up to 3m in 2011.

With an estimated 300m functioning Polaroid cameras still in existence - gathering dust in attics or selling on Ebay - Impossible believes it could sell up to 10m films a year.

The two initial releases of film - PX 100 and PX 600 Silver Shade - will be available at the Impossible Project's website from Thursday for $21 a pack, with other retailers to follow shortly.

Limited-edition "First Flush" packs - named after the year's first crop of tea, which is typically picked in March - were unveiled at a launch event in New York yesterday.

"It will taste different every time you brew it," said Florian Kaps, an Austrian co-founder of Impossible. "It's not like a can of soda that tastes the same every time you drink it."

The popularity of digital photography has reduced film to a niche product.

Last summer, Kodak ceased production of its famous Kodachrome film after more than 70 years.

Polaroid Corporation, which was founded by Edwin Land in the 1930s, filed for bankruptcy in 2008 .