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Home / News / Retro chic – Polaroid Swinger (1965)

Retro chic – Polaroid Swinger (1965)

Get your £20 eBay bid on this bestselling instant snapper

What’s the story?

If you went out and spent £13 on a camera today you’d come back with a snapper more suited to propping open a door than taking photos. Back in 1965, however, it’d bag you a Swinger – one of the best-selling cameras of all time.

Why should I want one?

The Swinger was the first instant camera to use ‘shake it like a Polaroid picture’ film that develops right before your eyes. Plus, its quirky design should grab the attention of any fixie-riding hipster within half a mile. There’s even a cute window on top that displays the word ‘YES’ when the aperture is set to let sufficient light in. With Hipstamatic, Swankolab and other Lomo-esque apps as popular as bags of free gold these days, buying a Swinger is a cheap taste of the retro camera vibe – although it comes with significant caveats…

What to look for?

Polaroid discontinued the 20-Series roll film used by the Swinger long ago, so the chances are that if you buy one, it’ll be little more than a fashion accessory or decorative ornament. The battery was built into the film, so without one it won’t even turn on. Some internet-dwelling photo nerds claim you can modify one to use 600 or 120 film, but bear in mind that Hipstamatic only costs £1.49 – so do it for the love of it, not for the bargain.

Also

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About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home