I was sure I had written about this camera. Then I offered it to a friend and told her to check my blog for the photos…it wasn’t there. I remember writing it, I remember posting it. I definitely took the photos of the camera; they were on my phone. Maybe I dreamt it all?? I think I might be going a bit doolally.

Well, I suppose here we go again. Here is the OneStep 2 I bought just after Christmas. I received a pack of Impossible Instant Film. I knew it probably wouldn’t be viable; IMO they weren’t good when first produced. So an expired one held little hope. I didn’t have a camera to test it, so I looked for a cheap one that would accept that and the new i-type film. Hello OneStep 2.

I got it from Vinted. It came without a box or cable, but it used a common connector to charge the internal battery. It works as most older Polaroids do, except for charging. This feature lets you also use the newer i-type film packs, as they do not have a built-in battery. There is a great blog here with lots of technical details and example shots. Another thing this camera had was a built-in frog tongue. I installed one in a camera previously, they stop light from getting to the shot as it is ejected.

I put in the pack, and sure enough, it didn’t work. In hindsight, I should have used a fresh pack first, as this camera clearly hadn’t been used in a while and needed the ‘cogs’ working before straining it with a stuck pack.

The splurges are interesting.

Well, I couldn’t just leave it at that, so I ordered a fresh pack from Argos and took a shot in the street to check the camera worked, it did. I then went for a wander to YSP. I wanted to see the new Damien Hirst exhibit. I am so lucky to live near this great outdoor museum. I spent four years there to train as a teacher, though at the time I probably didn’t appreciate it as much.

The black card of the pack was very apt, and after one more photo, the camera jammed and stopped working. In order to get it working again, I had to remove the pack, reset the machine and put it into cleaning mode. There didn’t seem to be anything on the rollers. I put the card back into the pack so that it would be ejected and not another photo. I knew the top one was fogged now, but I didn’t want to lose more than necessary; you only get 8. As soon as I tried to take a shot and eject the fogged one, it jammed again. I gave up and enjoyed the rest of my walk with another camera.

When I got home, I cleaned it again, including isopropyl on the rollers. The next shot was ejected part of the way, fogged, of course. I had to pull it out manually. The back of it was damaged in a way that was not from the roller, like it had been stuck to the one below. Sure enough, when I inspected the pack, it was damaged, and the rest of the ‘new’ pack was stuck together. I was so annoyed, this was a new one, in date, just, but in date. I had bought it from Argos, and I wondered about the Consumer Rights Act and whether it applied to something like Polaroid film? I decided to find out. I filled in the online returns forms and took the pack back to the shop. I showed the customer service person, and they agreed the pack was damaged. I was issued a full refund. Well done Argos. I was supposed to return the whole item, but I was allowed to keep the two good photos.

I used the money to buy a double pack from Vinted, from a seller who bought the wrong-sized film. It was just out of date, but it was the same price as the Agos single pack, and well, apparently buying fresh didn’t seem to matter in terms of quality.

I shot the first pack around my house, why go somewhere special and it not work again. The results were not spectacular, and there was damage to one shot. Here are a few of the results.

This was not going well, and not changing my mind towards the Polaroid format. I had one pack left to try out and took it to Barnsley on a slightly warmer day, hoping this would get rid of some of the cool tones.

Finally, everything worked as it should, and all the shots came out as expected. Here are three of the results.

The colours are still a little off, but in a nice way. They are also a little soft, which seems to be normal for this camera. BUT, nothing got stuck, and I finished a pack, phew, finally.

Here is a review from someone who got it when it first came out and loved it. They appreciated the dreamy…soft…quality of the photos. As I said right at the beginning, I am giving my OneStep 2 away and you can see why now. If I receive any more film, I will send it their way, too. It just isn’t the camera for me. I much prefer the Instax 100 I have. The film is much more reliable. Though, as for polaroids that I have tried, this is my favourite one despite everything.