Polaroid Model 95 Land Camera Outfit - Case, Filters & Flash Accessories Instant camera

Polaroid Land Camera Model 95 — The World's First Instant Camera (1948) — Complete Outfit with Master Compartment Case, Two Flash Units, Exposure Meter, Filter, Close-Up & Print Coating Accessories, and Unopened Film

This is the camera that started instant photography: the Polaroid Land Camera Model 95, the first instant camera ever put into commercial production, launched in 1948 by Edwin Land. Offered here is an exceptionally complete example of it, dating from the camera's original late-1940s/early-1950s production run, with an unusually extensive set of accessories: two separate flash units, a full complement of lens and filter kits, an exposure meter, and print-coating and light-reducing accessories, all alongside the camera and its case.

The camera
Polaroid Land Camera Model 95 in excellent, lightly-used condition. Bellows are light-tight with no pinholes (checked with an internal light source in darkness); one fold sits slightly overlapped rather than perfectly flat when collapsed — a minor cosmetic/mechanical quirk that does not affect light-tightness. Shutter cocks and fires smoothly and consistently, with no resistance. Viewfinder glass is clear, with no haze or fungus. Film rollers (inside the back) are clean and shiny, with no corrosion. Lens glass looks essentially new. Folding bed locks securely and rigidly in the open position, with no wobble.

Aluminum body is in excellent condition, with only a few tiny (under 1mm) surface marks and hairline scratches near the film-exit slot. The body's leather-style covering is intact, with one small (~2mm) indentation near the bellows hinge. The leather carrying strap/loop (for securing the camera to the hand while shooting) is smooth and shows no signs of wear.

Weight of camera (body only): 1,9 kg

The case
Original leather Master Compartment Case, exterior with stitching fully intact, interior lined in blue velvet. Leather shows a small (~1cm) surface mark on the top, likely an old accidental pen mark rather than damage to the leather itself, and light surface abrasion in a few spots on the underside where the case's four metal feet sit. Interior is clean with no odour, and the velvet lining retains its lustre.

Weight of case (empty): 2,1 kg

Accessories included

Polaroid Capacitor Flash No. 201
Polaroid Wink Light (flash unit)
Various period flashbulbs: General Electric Sure Fire No. 5, and Sylvania Blue Dot
Polaroid Filter Kit 541, in its own leather case, with original instruction leaflet
Polaroid Close-Up Lens Kit 540, in its own leather case
Polaroid 4-S Light Reducer (for use with 3000-speed film outdoors)
Original Polaroid Exposure Meter, with instruction leaflet
Polaroid Print Coater (for black-and-white film only)
Unopened, sealed package of Polaroid Type 3000 film (display/collector interest only — this stock has long since expired and cannot be processed; included for completeness and authenticity, not for use)
Various original instruction leaflets

Provenance
Purchased from an antique shop in the USA in 1988, and kept in its closed case in dark, dry storage ever since — opened only two or three times in that time purely to view it. This nearly 40-year period of undisturbed storage is consistent with the outfit's light wear.

Camera serial number: G72519 (stamped inside the film compartment).

Condition summary
Overall, this outfit shows the hallmarks of a camera that saw little actual use and was carefully stored for nearly four decades — a genuinely well-preserved example rather than a typical survivor.

Why this outfit matters
This is a piece of photographic history, not just a vintage camera: the Model 95 is where instant photography began. Surviving examples themselves are common — Polaroid produced roughly 1.5 million between 1948 and 1953 — but comparable complete outfits, with this range of accessories together, do not turn up often on the collector market. This lot brings together two flash units, both the filter and close-up lens kits, the matching exposure meter, the 4-S light reducer, a print coater, period-correct flashbulbs, and an unopened film pack — a genuine opportunity to own the origin point of an entire category of photography, in outstanding, lightly-used condition.