More gadget than camera (Polaroid i-Zone)

Name: Skybly

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Product:	Polaroid i-Zone
Date:	03/04/01 (439 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy and fun to use, sticker pictures

Disadvantages: expensive, somewhat annoying to carry around

The Polaroid I-Zone is an instant pocket camera that takes miniature sticker photos.


-= The camera =-

The camera comes in a range of colours, from bright green over transparent red to stylish silver. It measures about 17 x 5 x 5 cm, which makes it considerably smaller than a full-grown, bulky instant camera, but I still wouldn't consider it very handy (or maybe I'm just spoiled by my tiny Canon Ixus). Due to being completely made out of plastic it is very light-weight though.

It requires two AA batteries, as far as I can tell they are only used to charge the flash though (the rest of the camera works completely mechanical), so on a sunny day you can use it without any batteries.

Speaking of batteries - a warning: Be very careful if you carry the I-Zone around in a bag... it very easily gets switched on accidentally this way, which will result in charging the flash and completely discharging the batteries.


-= Loading the film =-

This couldn't be much easier - the film comes in a little black plastic box that just has to be inserted at the bottom of the camera. After you used up the film, you can use the box to store your pictures.


-= Taking pictures =-

The handling of the I-Zone is very straightforward - the camera is focus-free and the only setting you have to adjust before shooting is the flash, which you can set to either 1. sunny 2. cloudy or 3. indoors. Then wait a few seconds for the LED to light up (to signal that the flash is charged), target your victim through the viewfinder and press the shutter release.

The targetting can be somewhat difficult to do as what you see through the viewfinder is not always what you get. To position something in the centre of the photo, I actually have to aim a little lower and more to the right. This is especially annoying since the pictures are so small that you at least want to capture your subject on it completely. A
frame that shows what you will see on the actual photo later would have been a helpful implementation here.

After you have taken the picture, pull on the film tag firmly and evenly and you should hold a colourful strip of paper with a little glossy white rectangle on it in your hands.


-= The results =-

Over the next 60 seconds, your picture will begin to slowly fade in until the colours have fully developed, and it will hopefully show what you expected :)

I was quite surprised at the good results, the colours are true to life and brilliant and the image is sharp. Occasionally there were small bright marks, sometimes looking like flames, on the developed images - I am not sure what caused this, it might be a problem with the lighting or irregularities in the film material.

You can then proceed to cut out the picture from the strip, always cutting carefully along the marked lines - if you damage the film, it will leak acidic developer liquid, which spoils the picture and probably does not benefit your health either (also do not fold or bend the picture for this reason).

The actual picture size is about 3.7 x 2.5 cm, with a slim black border added to the top and bottom and a slightly broader border to the left and right in the colour of the film strip (they come in various colours and patterns).

The pictures are adhesive, so you can peel off the back and stick them to your refrigerator, monitor, letters, forehead, you name it.
There is also a nonadhesive film available, however I don't see the point in buying it as it seems to cost the same.


-= Purchasing the camera and film =-

This is probably the weakest point of the I-Zone - the price!
I bought mine in the USA for the discount price of about 10 pounds, but I am not sure if you can get it for that cheap in the UK - it might be worth looking around a bit.

The average price in the UK is about 18 pounds for th
e camera, including batteries and a sticker film with 12 exposures.

Film costs around 5 pounds for 12 exposures -that makes a whopping 40p per picture, which seems alot considering their size.
You might be able to get a discount if you buy a few packs at once.


-= Conclusion =-

The Polaroid I-Zone is a fun little camera, and I would recommend it with some caution:

Don't expect too much - this is a gadget, not a serious camera.
It is perfect for parties and taking snapshots of your friends, pets, etc., but you won't be using this to capture family memories or pictures of the landscape.

Try to look around a bit to find the lowest price possible - probably moreso for the film than for the camera itself - it can be quite addictive to take instant pictures of just about everything (and to then plaster your environment with the results), and the film is used up faster than you think.

Have fun :)

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