Polaroid Pronto! Sonar OneStep1978

History

Polaroid introduced the SX-70 in 1972 as a collapsible SLR using its new integral film - a sealed unit containing all chemistry that ejected automatically after exposure and developed in daylight. The SX-70 was expensive and positioned as a premium product; Polaroid needed lower-cost alternatives to reach a broader market.

The Pronto! line appeared in 1976 as Polaroid's answer to this need. Where the SX-70 folded flat and used a reflex viewing system, the Pronto! was an upright rigid-body viewfinder camera with a plastic shell - simpler to manufacture, simpler to use, and considerably cheaper. The basic Pronto! B offered fixed focus; the Pronto! RF added a rangefinder.

Sonar autofocus arrived on the SX-70 Sonar OneStep in 1978, representing the first commercially deployed ultrasonic autofocus system in a consumer camera. The sonar module used a transducer that doubled as emitter and receiver, firing a pulse and timing the return echo to compute subject distance. Polaroid then applied this same focus mechanism to the Pronto! body to create the Pronto! Sonar OneStep, making the technology available without requiring buyers to purchase the more expensive SX-70 platform.

The Pronto! Sonar OneStep used SX-70-format integral film at its introduction. Polaroid subsequently introduced the 600-series film with higher ISO for use with new flash-integrated cameras in the early 1980s; the Pronto! line was effectively superseded by the 600 One Step and its derivatives.

Why It Matters

The Pronto! Sonar OneStep represents the democratisation of one of the most consequential focusing innovations in consumer photography history. Sonar autofocus, as first implemented on the SX-70 Sonar, proved that reliable automatic focusing was achievable without the cost of a conventional rangefinder or the complexity of phase-detection systems borrowed from SLR design. By placing this system in the lower-cost Pronto! body, Polaroid extended the technology's reach to buyers who could not justify the SX-70 Sonar's price.

The sonar mechanism also influenced the broader industry's thinking about active autofocus for compact cameras. Konica and other manufacturers studied and licensed related approaches in the early 1980s as autofocus became a competitive battleground in 35mm compact cameras. Polaroid's willingness to push the sonar system down into budget hardware accelerated that diffusion.

For collectors, the Pronto! Sonar occupies an interesting position: it is cheaper to acquire than the SX-70 Sonar but shares the same functional highlight. It is a practical shooting camera provided the sonar transducer is functional and SX-70-format film remains obtainable - which it does via Polaroid Originals / The Impossible Project's continued i-Type and SX-70 film production.

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• The Pronto! Sonar OneStep was a mass-market consumer camera; specific attribution in fine-art photography is limited in published sources.
• Polaroid's marketing for the Pronto! Sonar line emphasised family and social photography - birthday parties, sporting events - in television and print advertising of the late 1970s.
• The sonar autofocus system on both the SX-70 Sonar and Pronto! Sonar is cited in histories of autofocus development (e.g., Bryce Bayer's work on Kodak's parallel research) as a landmark in active AF implementation.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Polaroid Pronto - Pronto! line variants and basic specifications.
• Wikipedia: Polaroid SX-70 - sonar autofocus development context and SX-70 Sonar history.
• Christopher Bonanos, Instant: The Story of Polaroid (Princeton Architectural Press, 2012) - sonar development narrative and the Pronto! product strategy.