30-04-2025
Woman Thrifts 1970s Polaroid for $5.59—Unprepared for What She Ends Up With
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A woman has gone viral after sharing her excitement over a vintage Polaroid camera she thrifted for just $5.59—and was amazed to find that it still works.
Hailey (@hailsjournal) posted the moment to TikTok, where the video has since garnered over 1.3 million views and more than 166,300 likes. "I cannot believe I found this," she captioned the clip.
The footage shows Hailey sitting in her car with a friend, snapping a test photo with the camera—only to discover, to their surprise, that the decades-old device still functions perfectly. The same cameras often retail for upward of $93.
The camera in question appears to be a Polaroid OneStep Land Camera, a cult classic model originally introduced in 1977. Known for its rainbow stripe and big red shutter button, the OneStep became a bestseller due to its ease of use and accessible price point. It used SX-70 film and was designed to be a true point-and-shoot experience—ideal for instant photography beginners and hobbyists alike.
A split image showing Hailey's Polaroid find and her taking a selfie with the camera.
A split image showing Hailey's Polaroid find and her taking a selfie with the camera.
@hailsjournal/@hailsjournal
While the nostalgia of instant film has made Polaroids trendy again, using vintage models comes with a learning curve. One key myth that modern users need to shake (or rather, not shake) is the idea of waving the photo around to develop it. In fact, Polaroid advises not to shake photos, since it can cause the chemicals to spread unevenly and create blotches or haze.
Instead, Polaroid users should allow their photos to develop face down out of the light.
Hailey's thrift-store treasure also sparked a wave of commentary from fellow enthusiasts and camera collectors.
"A tip, ALWAYS use the flash, even when you think it's not needed you need the flash so the picture comes out great. also don't shake the picture and instead place it down away from light," posted Amber.
"Sx-70 is 100 iso [sensitivity to light as a numerical value] film so using 600 film in normal outside settings would make it overexposed so either needs sx-70 film or an nd [neutral-density] filter over the film, but surprised it shoots alr [all right]," Vincent recommended.
"Don't shake the picture! I have the non vintage one but the instructions say to just place it face down to let it develop lol [laugh out loud] it shouldn't come out blurry if you leave," suggested another Polaroid user.
"Thrift find of the century," said another user, echoing the sentiment of many TikTok users who were stunned by Hailey's luck and the camera's performance.
Do you have any amazing thrifting finds that you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@ and they could appear on our site.
