10ARTCC is working on a foldable Instax Square film camera based on the iconic Polaroid SX-70 design.
The Polaroid SX-70 camera is a holy grail of instant film that was akin to the first iPhone when it was released in the 1970s. The world’s only foldable SLR with a high-quality glass lens, a unique aperture and unsurpassed image quality on a nearly 4x5 integrated film format. Several manufacturers tried to replicate the success of this camera — around the time it was released and in recent times — but they always came short.
Even Polaroid’s I-2 camera, with all its modern technical advances, does not fold and has a range of issues that the company has only recently solved (analog.cafe/comments/z0ow).
Fifty-five years later, there’s still nothing that can match the SX-70. If you want that experience, you’ll need to find a vintage copy and load up some SX-70 film — an emulsion the new company is making specifically for those remaining old-stock cameras (film review: analog.cafe/r/polaroid-sx-…, vintage SX-70 review: analog.cafe/r/polaroid-sx-…).
But the renewed interest in instant film is too strong for just a single company’s re-birth (see today’s Polaroid history and how it emerged from the ashes of the original Polaroid: analog.cafe/r/a-brief-hist…). So, in spite of the brand’s odd reluctance to allow others to innovate on their platform (I discussed with Daren their prohibitive policies that forbid others from making cameras that work with their film in last month’s podcast episode: analog.cafe/comments/40ib), many small businesses turned to Fujifilm Instax.
Fujifilm, as it turns out, does not mind others making cameras for their film. MiNT has famously went from modifying the SX-70s to building their own rangefinders and TLRs for Instax film. I even used the Instax Square platform along with Jollylook’s processor to build the world’s first edible instant film camera: analog.cafe/r/building-the…. In fact, there are tons of options for Instax film out there, and it appears that we may finally get an option that approaches the genius of the SX-70.
10ARTCC is a Shenzhen-based business that had previously built Instax backs for Hasselblad cameras and several other accessories (see their store here: shop.10art.cc/en/store). Late last month, they announced their new project: POCKET FOLD 66 — an SX-70 look-alike with full SLR capability that uses Instax Square film.
The preorder for the first batch of cameras has already sold out (at $633 a piece), although the public release date and the final price are still not known.
Some details can be found on this page: 10art.cc/en/10design-en/17…. You can switch the page to use English in the top nav, although it appears that it gives a machine translation. Still, that’s enough to glean the full specs of an upcoming unit:
Body size: 16cm x 10cm x 4.5cm (folded with the viewfinder).
Dmitri Aug 7, ‘25