Polaroid SLR 680

by | Jun 29, 2026 | art, design, photography

A black Polaroid SLR-680 camera sits on a wooden desk in front of a blurry keyboard.

I recently had the horror of opening my beloved Polaroid SLR 680 to use for a day shoot, when I opened it up and heard a terrible *THUNK* – that is something you never wish to hear. I played around gently opening and closing it, but it continued to make a terrible sound and I knew that it needed some kind of service. 

So I jumped online to find possible solutions to the issue which led me to needing a necessary repair for the camera. After trying some of my tried and true places like Brooklyn Film Camera, I ultimately found the team at Retrospekt; a place I had never heard about, but one that quickly answered all my questions and concerns and made it a shopping cart simple experience to order the repair. 

After over 2-weeks, shorter than their posted turnaround time, my camera arrived boxed like a new product. The shipping box was large and well padded, but the camera was packaged in a slip-cased, clamshell box and looked like a brand new camera.

As I opened the beautifully packaged repair, the first thing that hit me was the care they put into their work. Second thing was the extensive list of tests performed and items that were repaired or replaced – it was beyond my expectation for the repair of a 40+ year old camera. 

I have been slow to get outside with it to test the repair, as 100+ degree weather does not bode well for the Polaroid 600 integral films, but have begun testing the repair and am very impressed with the work of the folks at Retrospekt

They also offer a lot of vintage and retro products as well as films and support services for many items. I have already ordered some other items from them and they are a welcome vendor in the traditional and instant film shooters bookmarks. 

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