Here’s an exciting crowdsourcing project for not only film aficionados, but for all lovers of fine photography and distinct gear: New55 FILM is a Kickstarter project that needs $400,000 to fund manufacturing. As a backer you will not only receive boxes of first-run manufactured New55 FILM “First Edition,” you’ll also be making history by constructing the future of post-digital professional darkroomless analog photography.

Initiated by Bob Crowley who’s trying to make large format negative/positive film accessible again, just think of the potential of medium format instant film. Right, it’s nothing mainstream and instant film is a complex product with many stringent requirements.

In essence New55 FILM wants to replace Polaroid 55, yet it’s not a duplication of the Polaroid classic, a large format instant film that produced both a negative and a positive image.

When you pulled the sheet out of the holder after taking a photo, you would tear it in two pieces. One would be a negative you could use in the darkroom to develop your photo — and the other would be a full-on black-and-white, large format print.

The cheapest pledge will cost a backer $75 — well it’s a premium product and large format photography never has been really affordable. Or you can hunt down old expired boxes of Polaroid 55 — on eBay they’re going for well over $100.

New55 FILM utilizes the same film holder that was used with Polaroid Type 55 P/N and seems to share many of the same characteristics. New55 FILM works in the same 545 Polaroid film holder back — which are available in great numbers on eBay. They’re compatible with all sorts of large format cameras.

Time to spoil yourself a bit — like reader and photographer Dierk Topp who inspired this article and who’s enjoying his new toy, a Sinar P. Dierk’s not the only one hoping for the New55 FILM project to succeed.

For more visit Kickstarter page, the project’s website and its blog. Also check out the New55 gallery.