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The Polaroid Automatic 250 Land Camera is a folding instant pack-film camera manufactured from 1967 to 1969, considered by many collectors to be the best of Polaroid’s automatic Land Camera lineup. It’s a high-end model within Polaroid’s 100-400 series of folding pack-film cameras, immensely popular in its day, with roughly 750,000 units produced despite its then-premium $159.95-$160 price tag.
Optically, the camera uses a fixed three-element glass Polaroid Triplet lens with a focal length of 114mm and a maximum aperture of f/8.8. As an aperture-priority automatic camera, exposure is handled by an electronic eye that adjusts aperture automatically once the photographer sets the film speed (ISO 75, 150, 300, or 3000, with an option to fully open the aperture); no manual exposure setting is possible. The electronic shutter fires across a range from 1/1200 second down to 10 seconds, giving the camera flexibility across a range of lighting conditions.
A defining feature of the Automatic 250 is its Zeiss Ikon-designed rangefinder, built into a flip-up single viewfinder window with projected frame lines and automatic parallax correction, letting photographers focus by aligning two superimposed images, a notable step up from the simpler viewfinders on lower-spec models in Polaroid’s automatic Land Camera line. Earlier production examples feature a larger rear eyepiece window than later units, though both versions are functionally identical. The camera takes Polaroid’s 100-series pack film, loaded into the body behind a fold-down door, and the lens, shutter, and viewfinder assembly collapses into the body via folding bellows when not in use.
Build quality centers on an all-metal body construction, along with a tripod mount, a feature not found on Polaroid’s more basic consumer models of the era. The camera notably lacks the electronic development timer found on later, higher-numbered models in the same series, relying instead on manual timing of the development process. Power for the electronic shutter and exposure system originally came from a 4.5-volt battery.
Key Features
– Folding instant pack-film camera (Polaroid 100-series Packfilm)
– Fixed 114mm f/8.8 three-element glass lens (Polaroid Triplet)
– Aperture-priority automatic exposure (no manual exposure setting)
– Electronic shutter, 1/1200 sec to 10 sec
– Zeiss Ikon-designed rangefinder with projected frame lines and parallax correction
– Flip-up single-window viewfinder
– Folding bellows design
– All-metal body construction
– Tripod mount
– No electronic development timer
– Selectable film speed settings (ISO 75, 150, 300, 3000)
– Originally powered by a 4.5-volt battery
