NorCal Dave
Senior Member.
Let's also talk about aspect ration. The image on the original polaroid print would have been square. The aspect ratio on these copies is consistent with 35mm prints.
From what I can find the Polaroid 800 that was claimed to be used, shot on Polaroid Type 40 instant film.
https://www.keh.com/shop/blog/polaroid-800-land-cameraUnlike many Polaroid cameras that utilized pack film, the 800 model used instant roll film. Roll film came in two rolls with a positive and negative, and was exposed inside the camera. This was different from pack film that develops outside the camera.
As Type 40 was discontinued in the '90s, one can load 4x5 film into old 800s and get a nearly square photo of 3.25" x 4.25":
http://www.landlist.ch/landlist/how2-rollalt.htmJust get yourself some 4x5 sheet film, and load up that old Polaroid rollfilm camera! A single 4x5 sheet fits perfectly in the film channel of Polaroid cameras designed for 40-series films, and is easy to load/unload in a darkroom or changing bag. Of course, you'll only get to use a 3.25" x 4.25" section of the 4x5 sheet...
Given that the photos being shown are in what I would nowadays call "portrait" and this is a Polaroid 800 in what looks like portrait mode, I guess it's possible if a bit cumbersome:
But it also requires the use of 2 viewfinders to focus and compose a shot:
https://www.keh.com/shop/blog/polaroid-800-land-cameraThe Polaroid 800 has both a viewfinder window, and a rangefinder window on the back of the camera. The shooter must look through the rangefinder window to focus the camera, and then through the viewfinder window to compose the image.
I would imagine an accomplished Polaroid user could quickly look at a moving object in the sky through the range finder and then composite the shot in the viewfinder, but it does sound challenging.
Do I think it was some kind of composite? Not likely.
Most likely he tossed something in the air and was tracking it with the camera.
Agreed. I suppose he would have had to attempt to set the focus first with the range finder, then maybe practice following whatever is chucked in the air through the viewfinder. As you say, with instant film he could make several tries and evaluate his results, almost like modern digital photography, though a bit more expensive.
But, as shown in the project 1947 report, not only were double exposures possible with a Polaroid 800, but some companies also actually sold masks for the lens to achieve them (bold by me):
https://www.project1947.com/kbcat/kbpdbalwyn2.htmThe authors are grateful to Canadian researcher Francois Beaulieu, who has considerable knowledge of, and experience using, early model Polaroid cameras, who came forward with the following information.
Francois advised that ‘Polaroid cameras of that period were well-known for their ability to record multiple exposures on the same print. This was due to the fact that, in those days, Polaroid prints were not automatically ejected from the camera the way that they were in later models introduced in the seventies. It was thus possible to re-cock the shutter and take another picture on the same print.’
Francois provided the authors with information on “cut-out lens caps” of that era, and an information sheet advising the photographer how to produce multiple exposure shots. Such as kit was specifically manufactured for early Polaroid cameras and was called the “Multisnap adapter.”
In the late '80s Ed Walters of Gulf Breeze FL was showing off his UFO photos all taken with a Polaroid camera:
People later found a very similar model in one of Walters's former homes:
There was evidence that Walters had been doing "ghost" photos with a Polaroid for his teen children as a sort of party trick prior to the UFO photos and showed that, even with a modern '80s era Polaroid, people figured out how to do double exposures.
So, I guess still a possibility.