Despite taking dozens of pictures on my iPhone 15 Pro Max on an average day, I’ve always loved the novelty of printed images. I bought my first instant camera for cheap from Urban Outfitters when I was in college, and since then, I’ve amassed quite the collection of printed photos meant to replicate the product Polaroid popularized in the 1970s. 

But I recently learned about Retrospekt, a company that actually sells the very Polaroid SX-70 camera that made instant photography mainstream. While Polaroid itself sells refurbished SX-70s, they’re perpetually out of stock. Alternatively, Retrospeck has 16 different SX-70 styles available to shop now starting from $379 and going up to $999 for a special gold-plated version.

Now, I’m no vintage camera aficionado, but I wasn’t going to miss the chance to see what my print-out photos might’ve looked like 50 years ago, though. My order arrived in a box that looked quite modern, but what I discovered inside was anything but. Retrospekt reconstructed the camera to verify it works properly, cleaned all the components, and refurbished the exterior so that it looks completely true to original form. 

In some ways operating the camera felt familiar to the current instant cameras I use. It has a shutter button, focus dial, exposure adjustment and viewfinder to squint through. In other ways, the SX-70 is unlike any other tech gadget I’ve used in my 27 years of life. Opening it requires a degree of delicate touch I’ve only exercised for when I tried Apple Vision Pro for the first time. It almost feels like one wrong tug could cause it to disintegrate in my hands. Luckily, I found an entire Reddit thread dedicated to the proper open and closing form of this specific instant camera.

Once I trusted myself to not break this very beautiful camera, I took it to the park with me to meet a big group of friends for an afternoon picnic. I pulled it out of my tote bag proudly, and it quickly became the center of attention. No one in my posse had ever seen a vintage camera quite like the SX-70, and certainly not a functional one.

I loaded in a pack of Polaroid Color 600 Film that goes for about $20 per 8 photos, refreshed myself with Retrospekt’s streamlined user manual, and started snapping away. It took me a few tries to lean the proper exposure settings for outdoors, but all my pictures still came out looking totally retro — in the aesthetic way my generation can’t get enough of, of course. Running though the film pack quickly, I was left with a collection of images that belonged on a Pinterest board.

Sure, I suppose I could just buy one of those iPhone apps that retro-fies everything with a filter to get a similar result. But that would take away the physical satisfaction and instant gratification of pressing that big red shutter button on the front of the SX-70 to extract a printed image. When I take pictures with my iPhone, I take at least 10 at a time, knowing there’s no consequences with not getting them all right. With this instant camera, I slowed down to take my pictures with intention, not wanting to waste even a single precious piece of film. 

Due to the price of film and lingering concerns of fragility, the SX-70 can’t come with me everywhere and take all of my photos. But for times when I can walk away with physical memories (what can I say? I’m a sucker for mementos) this is one of the most enjoyable gadgets to have in tow.