Polaroid (polarizer) Polaroid (polarizer) Polaroid is a type of synthetic plastic sheet which is used as a polarizer or polarizing filter. A trademark of the Polaroid Corporation, the term has since entered common use. The original material, patented in 1929 and further developed in 1932 by Edwin H. Land, consists of many microscopic crystals of iodoquinine sulphate (herapathite) embedded in a transparent nitrocellulose polymer film. The needle-like crystals are aligned during manufacture of the film by stretching or by applying electric or magnetic fields. With the crystals aligned, the sheet is dichroic: it tends to absorb light which is polarized parallel to
Instant camera to a rectangular format. Captiva, Joycam, and Popshots (single use) cameras used a smaller 500 series film in rectangular format. I-zone cameras use a very small film format which was offered in a sticker format. Finally, Mio cameras used Polaroid Mio film which was Fuji Instax mini, branded as Polaroid and which is still available in 2015 as Fuji Instax Mini. This size produces a billfold sized photo. Polaroid still markets a mini format camera built by Fuji branded as Polaroid 300 and the film is available with both the Polaroid name and as Fuji Instax mini which are interchangeable.