The original OneStep dates back to 1977, and the sequel borrows a lot of the same basic design, with a cream-colored casing, big red shutter button and Polaroid’s distinctive rainbow stripe down the front. However, there’s been a few tweaks borrowed from the I-1, like a more open viewfinder and two rows of lights on the top indicating how many shots are left on your film cartridge. It’s simple and low-tech, which suits the camera just fine.
Each package of film only holds eight shots, which feels a bit dicey in a world where we can take thousands of shots on our phones. However, Polaroid Originals has also developed a new film for the OneStep 2, called i-Type. The film is specifically optimized for the new camera and won’t work with vintage models.
That’s partly because it doesn’t contain a battery: Old Polaroid cameras didn’t come with an internal power source, and were actually driven by a small battery embedded in each film cartridge. That also made the film expensive, something you don’t have to worry about as much with the i-Type film at $16 a cartridge. It’ll be available in both color and black and white varieties, and the sample pictures I took had good colors and a slight dreamy quality, just as I remember from my childhood. However, it doesn’t develop any faster when you shake it.
