Well gang, we fought the good fight, but it’s official: Polaroid isn’t making any more film after December 31st, 2008.

Sad though we are, we’ve found a few bits of good news scattered amid the wreckage.

1) The New Instant Camera
Fuji’s instant camera, the Instax, is now available in the United States. The photos are rectangular instead of the old familiar square format, but it’s the next-best-thing to our beloved Polaroid cameras.

Have a look at the Flickr Instax pool to see what the photos look like.

2) There’s Still Some Film Left
Unsaleable, our favorite source for Polaroid goodness, has morphed into Polapremium. You can still buy film there, sorted by camera type or film type, along with books, accessories and stuff like that. (The name’s no lie: it’s quite pricey now that supplies are limited.)

Polaroid no longer sells film on its website, but it lists sources including Calumet, Amazon, and B&H.

3) Fuji Makes Substitutes
Fuji makes versions of Type 100 and 4×5 Polaroid film. That means if you use a medium-format Polaroid back, a Polaroid pinhole or Holga camera, or a 4×5 view camera, you can still get film.

4) New Zink Technology
Instead of making film, Polaroid’s branching out with the portable digital PoGo printer. We were a little disappointed when we tried it, because it’s basically just a tiny printer. It doesn’t feel the same as having instant photos magically pop out of your camera. Sigh.

We have higher hopes for the TOMY xiao, which combines the camera and printer in one, but so far that’s only available in Asia.

5) You Can Take Action
If you refuse to go down without a fight, get an action pack from Save Polaroid. It includes pre-printed postcards to send to the powers-that-be at Polaroid. It’s worth a shot, right?

6) There’s Still Time to Play
While you can still scrounge up some film, you can still mess around with it. Try double exposures or manipulating the emulsion, especially if the film’s already expired. What have you got to lose?

7) There’s Always Poladroid
If all else fails and there is no more film, at least there’s Poladroid. It’s a free application that’s as close to real thing as it gets. You can drag & drop your photos into Poladroid to make them look like Polaroids. You can even shake the picture while it develops. Aaaahhh, that’s nice.

Bye Polaroid! We still love you! Please sell the 600 and Type 80 rights to another manufacturer so we can have them back! Pretty pretty please?

Save Polaroid
News, information, and hope for the lovelorn Polaroid fan.

p.s. We’ve teamed up with our superpals at Vimeo for a contest for the best Stop-Motion Video! Three winners get gift certificates to the Photojojo Store, and 1st place gets their video printed in our upcoming book! Go read all the details and enter. (Already on Vimeo? Just tag your video “PhotojojoBook” to enter.)

p.p.s. Check out some fun Photojojo photo projects in December’s issue of Macworld magazine!

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