As the name suggests, The Impossible Project revived Polaroid with new cameras, including the excellent (albeit flawed) Polaroid I-2 instant camera. But at the $600 price point, the thought of breaking it is a little scary. Thankfully, iFixit has teamed up with Polaroid to help.
Known for its Right to Repair efforts, iFixit has a history of disassembling gadgets to see if they're repairable. But in recent years, the company has been offering more genuine OEM parts for devices with repair guides, making processors easier and better to use. Now it was Polaroid's turn to get the iFixit treatment, providing new genuine parts and repair guides for his I-2 Instant camera.
We liked the I-2 instant camera because of its great features like LIDAR autofocus and large viewfinder. But it's not perfect, and at $600 it's expensive for an instant camera, about the same price as the Instax Square Nons SL660 camera. When it's this expensive, you're afraid to carry it everywhere for fear of dropping it or damaging it, which takes away from the I-2's allure.
However, Polaroid's partnership with iFixit also gives you free access to some repair guides and some genuine OEM parts. As for parts, iFixit has already provided six case components, a replacement battery, a USB-C port that the I-2 uses for charging, and a display for the camera. However, while iFixit provides a guide for replacing the lens assembly, it does not yet provide the parts.
Please note that the guide suggests that some of these repairs are very difficult. Also, if you don't properly discharge your camera's flash capacitor, you could receive a “potentially dangerous electric shock.” Other pitfalls include clips that hold plastic crowbars in place. Therefore, it is best to avoid metal tools to avoid breaking the clip and damaging the camera.
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If you don't have the right tools, iFixit can bundle them with parts for you. If you have everything you need, you can also purchase parts separately.
Repairs may not be easy with iFixit's guides and official parts, but they'll be even more difficult without them. So it's good to see companies like Polaroid, Google, and Valve teaming up with iFixit to enable DIY repairs.
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