I purchased my first SX-70 camera in 2016, an Alpha 1 Model 2 Land camera. At the time, the film provided by the Impossible Project was still not very stable, and coupled with the aging of the camera itself, despite my strong enthusiasm for shooting, many of the photos had a kind of “flawed beauty.” However, the unique folding design and simple operation of the Polaroid SX-70 series cameras have always deeply captivated me.
It wasn’t until 2023 that I learned my friend Yongmin Lu was developing the SX-70 Revolution project—designing a brand-new circuit board for the Polaroid SX-70 series cameras to provide stable light metering performance. By that time, the image quality of Polaroid film had already improved significantly.
So I purchased my second Land Camera, a Sonar, and had Yongmin modify it. After replacing it with an early SX-70 Revolution circuit board, its stability improved tremendously. This Sonar became a great creative tool for me, and paired with the powerful Polatronic Flash Gun, I’ve taken many interesting photos.
After that, I created a series of DIY items.
For the SX-70 camera, I developed a flash trigger adapter that allows the SX-70 to use standard off-the-shelf hot shoe flashes. I then gathered a number of hot shoe flashes for testing and shooting, and through this process, gradually came to understand the flash exposure logic of the SX-70.
At the same time, I learned that the SX-70 Revolution board supports manual exposure via Bluetooth. With Yongmin’s help, I experimented with flash exposure using the Bluetooth manual mode paired with a Thyristor Auto Flash. I tested the actual aperture values corresponding to each manual exposure setting, and based on this work, completed my first project: the SX-70R Dongle.
From J-Strobe to PolaStrobe
Since external flash connectivity was already possible, why not design a dedicated flash for the SX-70 series?
After the Dongle project was completed, I began working on a custom flash unit for the SX-70, which in China came to be known as the “J-Strobe“—the predecessor to the PolaStrobe. The project did not go smoothly at first. A flash unit involves many non-standard components, such as transformers, flash tubes, capacitors, etc. Each of these components had to be designed and customized according to the specific requirements of the application, and each represented a significant expense. I would like to express my gratitude to my partner, the YINYAN Photographic Equipment Factory in Changzhou, for their invaluable and nearly selfless support for this project.
Finally, after a year of challenging development and testing, the J-Strobe matured and evolved into four different variants to meet the needs of different users. Thanks to the high-quality flash tubes provided by YINYAN, the J-Strobe delivers excellent illumination quality and has been well-loved by SX-70 users. As of June 2026, over 2,000 units of the various J-Strobe versions have been sold in mainland China.
In the summer of 2025, the J-Strobe project had matured enough to be sold worldwide. Therefore, based on the latest J-Strobe Ver4.1 design, I began developing the prototype of the PolaStrobe600 .
The Instant Camera Guy from Australia provided a great deal of input. At his suggestion, the original non-removable lithium battery was replaced with a 10440 lithium battery. He also identified areas where the original design could be further enhanced, such as adding adjustable output power. I would like to express my gratitude to him for this. With the launch of the website, the PolaStrobe600 is now available in two versions: Clear Plastic and Nylon. We will be ramping up production to ensure stable supply while maintaining high quality.
After Polastrobe600
While maintaining the production and sales of the PolaStrobe600, we are also continuously working on the development of new products. The three main R&D projects currently underway are as follows:
1.SX-70R Dongle V2.0:
To address the production issues encountered with the early version of the Dongle—mainly the inconvenient installation of the OLED screen, which led to long production cycles and frequent stockouts—we are currently carrying out a series of upgrades to the Dongle. First, the OLED screen has been replaced with an LED segment display to simplify the assembly process and improve the integrity of the housing. At the same time, we have replaced the original BH1750 ambient light sensor module with a photodiode similar to the one used on the SX-70R circuit board, which offers greater sensitivity to light changes and faster response times.
The V2.0 version will feature more accurate independent metering and more intuitive information display. The production-oriented optimizations will significantly increase output to meet the needs of users. The Dongle V2.0 is currently in the prototype design phase and is expected to be completed in about one month.”
2.PolaStrobe-20I
A simple yet useful thyristor auto flash, optimized primarily for the Polaroid I2 camera. Thyristor auto flash is an older technology that allows the flash to automatically control its power output without relying on TTL signals from the camera. The PolaStrobe-20I is redesigned based on the YINYAN CY-20, with a modified circuit board that incorporates a thyristor and power control circuitry to achieve automatic functionality.
It will feature three auto aperture settings, corresponding to the I2 camera’s F8, F11, and F16 apertures (when using i-Type and 600 film). Simply match the camera aperture to the corresponding setting on the flash switch, ensure the subject is within the effective distance range, and press the shutter—without any calculation—to obtain a properly flash-exposed photo. The PolaStrobe-20I also includes a full-power manual output mode. With its adjustable-angle head, it can achieve bounce flash to illuminate the background indoors.
The prototype of the PolaStrobe-20I has been completed and has undergone extensive testing. It will be available on the market soon.
3.PolaStrobe-x:A smarter PolaStrobe. Stay tuned.