Polaroid Type 58

Type 58 was Polaroid's 4x5 peel-apart color print film, produced from 1968 to 1981 using Polacolor and later Polacolor 2 chemistry. The format was 4 1/8 by 5 1/8 inches, loaded one sheet at a time into a Type 545 holder that working pros relied on for proofing color sheet setups before committing to conventional E-6 or C-41 stock, rated ISO 75 in daylight. You pulled the tab, waited about a minute, peeled the print. There was no recoverable negative; the print itself was the deliverable.

The Polacolor look is what made 58 worth using over a conventional sheet film with a long lab turnaround. Colors leaned warm and slightly muted, with reds that felt earthy and blues that ran cooler than Ektachrome 64 of the same era. Skin tones rendered well enough that commercial portrait shooters used Type 58 to confirm lighting before committing a sheet of Vericolor III to the same setup. The print was a polished proof, not a draft.

Polaroid replaced Type 58 with the improved Type 59 in 1980, which ran on Polacolor ER chemistry and stayed in production until the 4x5 line ended in 2008. The two films are close cousins. If a vintage darkroom inventory lists Type 58, you are looking at the older Polacolor 2 formulation.

Use was always tripod work. ISO 75 in studio strobe is fine, but at f/22 in available light you are below an eighth of a second. Tungsten without an 80A filter produced the predictable orange cast.

Format is 4x5 sheet, Type 545 holder, the only configuration that ever existed. Long discontinued. Pod chemistry dries out faster than the emulsion fades, so many sealed packs simply do not develop anymore.

The reciprocity exponent is 1.0. Zone Light Meter applies the calculation past one second, but in practice it barely moves the dial. A metered 4-second exposure stays at roughly 4 seconds at the film. The Polacolor chemistry was forgiving in that regard, which mattered when working photographers used Type 58 for slow studio setups.