No Upgrades Without an Overhaul: Why servicing the SX-70 is so important.

I've been meaning to do a video on this topic for a long time now... And after receiving a slew of "refurbished" cameras from clients to upgrade, I finally had the motivation to make it. This video aims to explain why it is important to have an SX-70 camera fully overhauled and serviced to get the best results. Ultimately, it is my opinion, that to get the best experience out of shooting with an SX-70, the camera should be completely overhauled and serviced from the ground up. Doing so will pre-emptively correct as good as possible the various issues that SX-70s have due to age, design flaws and cost reduction. No SX-70 is immune to these issues, and using one un-refurbished is simply asking for trouble. All you have to do is join a local SX-70 forum and you will find dozens of posts from various new users wondering why their 40 year old camera that they found in a barn isn't performing at its best. Hopefully this video will help explain why this is the case. I've broken it up into chapters for those seeking specific information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapters: 00:15 - Foreword 01:02 - Why I've changed my repair and upgrade policy 03:05 - The point of this video: Overhauling before Upgrading 08:58 - What I'm being asked to do... 09:55 - What I'll be doing from now on... 10:45 - Why I'm doing this - I simply can't speak for the work of others. 13:56 - Schrodinger's camera? 16:19 - Pre-emptive servicing - a triad of issues 18:36 - Issue 1: Age, wear and tear 20:19 - Issue 2: Design flaws in early models 24:02 - Issue 3: Cost reduction in later models 28:32 - What SX-70 is best? 30:02 - Issue 4: Cowboy repairs 32:18 - The race to the bottom 34:51 - Why I made my YouTube channel 36:04 - Closing on my opinion on repair of the SX-70 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like what I do? Find this video helpful or entertaining? Feel free to buy me a beer (or two!): https://ko-fi.com/theinstantcameraguy Getting artifacts in the video? For best quality, manually select 1080p quality, as depending on your bandwidth, YouTube may default to 720p - and YouTube's 720p compression looks like garbage ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you like this, then watch these: A full teardown and overhaul of an SX-70 - emphasizing the importance of refurbishing your camera:    • Fully overhauling a Polaroid SX-70 - Groun...   The SX-70R PCB:    • SX-70R - A Bluetooth PCB for full manual c...   SX-70 vs 600 (and i-Type) film - a deep dive!:    • SX-70 vs 600 film: Why the debate you've h...   The PolaVolt:    • The PolaVolt: a newer, even better i-Type ...   Wiring up a PolaVolt on Model 1 & 2 cameras:    • The Cheapest (And Best?) SX-70 i-Type powe...   Wiring up a PolaVolt on Alpha spec cameras:    • HOW TO: Wire up the PolaVolt i-Type Batter...   Modifying the Rezivot Power Ranger:    • Improving the Rezivot i-Type Adapter   Modifying the Retrospekt Power Pack:    • Retrospekt battery adapter hack! 1/2 price...   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Got a Polaroid that needs some love? Hit me up!   / instantcameraguy     / theinstantcameraguy   https://www.theinstantcameraguy.com