photographer's frustration

i've been having land camera nightmare after nightmare and they just won't stop. first, my land camera 100 arrives and my excitement is promptly crushed when after loading my film (the directions included with fujifilm instant film are highly oversimplified, if only i had watched the youtube tutorial before this experience) i go to snap my first shot, let it develop, pull the print apart and... my image is completely black. i did this three more times before throwing in the towel and deciding the camera was broken. luckily, i thought, it's only 10 bucks down the drain.

so I order a new camera, this time the 230 model, that says on eBay has been film tested and is in working condition. a few days later, I realize that maybe the problem with my first land cam is that the battery it came with is dead...! of course! so, now with two models of the polaroid and about $100 invested in the project, i think that maybe I now have two working land cameras that are only in need of new batteries. I ordered a 4.5 volt battery from eBay and in the meantime, i took my 100 home to test out with my sister's battery from her land camera. unfortunately, the picture is still black. maybe I somehow managed to expose the film but I sort of doubt it. so, as of now, the 100 model (along with an entire pack of film that I loaded in it) is out of commission. I guess I'm chocking that one up to experience.

so then, I receive my 4.5 v battery in the mail this morning and eager to pop it in and give my 230 a whirl, I break open the package and one side of the battery (the prongs that stick out of the - end) just snaps off. i was fuming! I tried to rig it up with tape so that it would still make enough connection to power the shutter but when I tried to snap a picture, black again. I am hoping that the seller will send a replacement battery VERY soon or else I will have some unkind words for them. what a fiasco this has become.

all I want is to take pretty pictures, is that too much to ask?!!!

while I wait and wait and wait for my land camera issues to finally be resolved, here are a few photos i've recently taken with my trusty polaroid one camera. whoever had the idea to just build the damn battery into the film pack was brilliant, now if only the price of 600 film would come down about 10 bucks or so...