We survey the design of the Polaroid SX-70 camera system, to exhibit what it means to design a tightly-coupled system (rather than a loosely coupled or modular one). The optics, the mechanics of the camera, and the chemistry of the film-picture unit are described as being adapted to each other so that we have a system, and the system as a whole is optimized with superfluous refinements avoided. We then discuss the picture-making experience inherent in such a system.
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