Polaroid diaries: Day out with the Polaroid Sun 660

I thought it was time for a change. After presenting the Polaroid Diaries for almost three years, I decided to add a new camera to my setup. It didn’t take that long until I found a Polaroid Sun 660 in mint condition. I had never used a camera from the 600 series, and it seemed like a challenging idea. Soon after purchasing the camera, I decided to take it with me on a half-day trip. So, in the Polaroid Diaries: Day out with the Polaroid Sun 660, I present my first edition with the new camera.

The Polaroid 600 cameras use their own film. Specifically, these cameras use the 600 film (Amazon | Pοlaroid), which is more or less the same as the i-Type. However, the 600 film (exactly like the SX-70) has a battery installed in the cartridge. This means that you don’t have to worry about bringing extra batteries: the film powers the camera.

So, all I had to do was wait for a sunny day. Of course, sunny days are not uncommon during the Greek winter, so I didn’t have to wait that long. Then, on a Sunday, the sun appeared, and I knew it was time to spend a day out with my Polaroid 660 (get yours at Polaroid US | EU | UK). Specifically, I decided to visit the archaeological site of Eleusis and enjoy a stroll around the ancient ruins. Afterward, I headed over to the modern city of Eleusis, where there is a beautiful promenade by the sea.

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What you’ll see in Polaroid Diaries: Day out with the Polaroid Sun 660

In this edition of the Polaroid Diaries, you will see many photos from a lovely day out and about. Since I wanted to push the camera to its limits and see if I could shoot decent images, I decided to have only one 600 film with me. You see, it doesn’t make much sense to have five or six films and, at the end of the day, to have just a couple of keepers. Polaroid photography is heartwarming, but it’s also an expensive hobby.

On the contrary, I always have great expectations. A polaroid film must give me at least 6-7 keepers. If I only get 2-3 decent photos per film, I usually lose interest in the camera. Spending several film packages for just a handful of images doesn’t make sense. With these things in mind, I started my day out with the Sun 660.

So, in the Polaroid Diaries: Day out with the Polaroid 660 Sun, you’ll see the photos I took at the archaeological site of Eleusis. Moreover, you’ll see some impressions of the beautiful promenade of modern Eleusis.

Let’s start.

Polaroid Diaries: Day out with the Polaroid Sun 660

It took me half an hour to reach the ancient sanctuary. That’s where the Eleusinian Mysteries took place once upon a time. It’s one of the most important locations of Greek antiquity. Walking around the sanctuary is a unique experience: you can still feel the mysterious atmosphere and see what’s left of ancient Greece. The first polaroid is a detail from the archaeological site of Eleusis.

I kept walking around the sanctuary. Remember that polaroid cameras are far from ideal for landscape photography. Although I shot some photos from a distance, I decided to play it safe for my first attempts. Photographing ancient ruins turned out to be fun. However, to my surprise, I also got nice background details. So, while I mainly focused between 1 and 3 meters, the background was rather sharp for an old polaroid camera.

This time I decided to take a step back -or actually, multiple ones. Shooting a more distant photo where I could include more things made me wonder if the picture would look bad. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The image of the Eleusis Telesterion, the most sacred spot on the site, looked great.

For the following image, I once again decided to move closer. The sun was really intense, and I didn’t know what to expect regarding highlights and shadows. Soon, I found a spot where the stones were intensively lit, but the trees behind them were in the shadow. It sounded like a good test for the Polaroid 660 Sun: could the camera provide enough detail and at the same time isolate the background? To my surprise, once again, the answer was affirmative.

After spending more than an hour at the Eleusis archaeological site, I decided to walk toward the sea. The modern city of Elefsina (Greek: Ελευσίνα) is built on the waterfront, and there’s a long promenade next to the sea. It was a beautiful day out, and I thought of enjoying the sea view -and maybe finding a nice cafe close to the water.

On my way, I came across several bitter orange trees. The bitter oranges are one of the trademarks of the Attica landscape. You can see them spread everywhere around the Greek capital. The tourists are always fascinated by them, and they falsely assume that they are oranges. However, you shouldn’t eat them unless you enjoy extreme bitterness. Anyway, at Eleusis, the bitter orange trees seemed to have an odd “haircut.” They actually looked like this:

Further on down the road to the sea, I saw a horse. That’s untypical for the Athenian landscape. Unfortunately, there was a fence in the field, and therefore I couldn’t get that close. However, I thought of shooting a polaroid. Although you can’t see it, I had the sea on my back.

Then it was time to distract me and walk next to the sea. The day was beautiful, and the sun was intense. Soon, I came across the port of Eleusis, where you can see several fishing boats. I decided to take a photo of a blue fishing boat and see if I could get nice colors.

I had one last shot in the film. Even though I was tempted to enjoy a coffee in the sunshine, I first decided to shoot the last photo. This time though, I wanted a distant, landscape photo. After strolling a bit around, I decided to shoot a picture of the sea. I saw some tankers far away, and I wanted to know if I could get a usable image. The fact that I had to shoot against the sun (generally a no-go in polaroid photography) made the idea even more tempting. The half-ring you see on the left side is the sunlight interfering in my photo.

And that’s it with my eight polaroids from a nice day out.

My Polaroid Sun 660 AF settings for this diary

First things first. The Polaroid Sun 660 is a straightforward camera, reminding us that polaroid photography doesn’t always have to be arty. Moreover, the 660 Sun uses Sonar autofocus, which practically means that it focuses using high-frequency sound waves. For a camera dating back to the 1980s, it’s really impressive how well it still performs. Last but not least, it has a flash that’s always on. Although you can override it, it’s generally recommended to keep it on.

If you’ve been following my Polaroid Diaries, you probably remember that I usually play a bit around with the settings. For example, I often changed settings in my last diary from Tuscany with the SX-70. This time though, I decided to use the Sun 660 without touching anything. I kept the exposure in the middle, and I had the flash on most of the time.

The camera’s metering was accurate, and the only time I decided to override the flash was in the last photo (the one with the sea). I don’t know if I could have a better image if I kept it on. Unfortunately, I didn’t have another film to test it.

Overall, I’m delighted with the results. I plan to review the Sun 660, but I’d like to shoot another film on a cloudy day before that. So, in the next polaroid diary with the camera, you’ll see some photos under less optimal light conditions. But, for the time being, I can say that the camera performed great and as you saw I presented all eight pictures from the film.

And that’s it with one more edition of the Polaroid Diaries and the day out with the Polaroid 660 Sun in Eleusis, Greece. Don’t forget to subscribe to the mailing list below if you want to see more polaroids, camera reviews, and tips.

*You can buy the newest (and freshest) films and Polaroid 600 cameras directly at Polaroid’s official websites.*

The US Store | The EU store | The UK Store

**If there’s no availability on the official stores, search for second-hand 660 cameras on Amazon.

More Polaroids: The complete Polaroid diaries, My SX-70 review, My Now+ review & My Polaroid GO review

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Last Updated on September 10, 2022 by George Pavlopoulos