Serial Number: Cam0227
Type:
Color Film Camera
Manufacturer:
Polaroid Corporation
Country of Origin:
USA
Production Period:
1945
Approximate Price:
Reference:
Status: Display
Description:
The Polaroid Swinger was a popular Land Camera produced by the Polaroid Corporation between July 1965 and 1970. At 19.95 (equivalent to US 172 in 2021) and weighing only 21 ounces,[1] it was the first truly inexpensive instant camera, a fact that helped fuel its enormous popularity and made it one of the top-selling cameras of all time. The Swinger was especially successful in the youth market due to its low price, stylish appearance, catchy Meet the Swinger jingle, as well as getting the camera into drugstores. In fact, it was so successful that it became Polaroid s best-selling product at the time and increased its share in the new camera market.[2]
History
The camera was designed by Henry Dreyfuss.[3]
One source for the name claims that when copywriter Phyllis Robinson of Doyle Dane Birnbach watched Edwin H. Land walk into her office swinging the camera from his wrist, she decided on the name Swinger .[4]
The Swinger featured an extinction exposure meter tied to the aperture which displayed the word YES in a window below the viewfinder when the exposure was set correctly. Earlier models also displayed the word NO when not properly adjusted, while later units used only the YES indicator.[5] The Swinger also included a built-in flashgun for AG-1 flashbulb and a single element lens.
The Swinger used Polaroid s 20-Series roll film, which was the first Polaroid roll film to develop outside the camera. The Swinger only used black and white film that kept its price low originally at 1.99 (equivalent to US 16.40 in 2020), but each roll produced small 2½ × 3¼ wallet size prints that were little more than half the 3 1 4 x 4 1 4 size of 40-Series Land Picture Rolls.[6][7]
By 1970, sales went down because young people did not like the quality of the photos, and those who did buy the camera used two rolls of film on average.[8]
Variants included the Model M-15 Swinger Sentinel (the Swinger II in non-US markets), which was a cheaper Swinger without the built-in flash, and the Model 3000 Big Swinger , which used 100-Series pack film instead of the old-style picture rolls. The Swinger name was also used on several international-market Polaroid cameras in the 1960s and 1970s.
Specifications
Polatriplet (plastic) lens with manual front-element focus from 1m to infinity. (Not coupled to viewfinder. Focus distance must be estimated.)
Exposure adjustment dial.
Neck strap.
Cold-clip with basic instructions.
Film type Peel-apart 80-Series Land Pack Films (3¼ x 3? , image 2¾ x 2? ) such as Polaroid 87, 88, Viva (all discontinued), or 100 series (such as Fujifilm FP-100C and FP-3000BW)
Accepts flashcubes such as Phillips PFC 4.
Shutter requires two standard 1.5V AA batteries.
