Polaroid Gets Retro Competition

This entry was written on Oct 10, 2009 by our Digital Photography Guru Malcolm Smith

Traditional Polaroid instant film went the way of the dodo last year. But Polaroid - which has since changed hands - kept instant photography alive with the "PoGo" line.

The PoGo instant digital camera gives you 2" x 3" prints using dry ZINK (TM) technology. (ZINK stands for "zero ink.") Plus, the camera stores 5MP digital images, so you theortically get the best of both worlds. The camera, though, has limited capabilities.

Perhaps more versatile is the PoGo printer. It's Bluetooth-enabled, so you can transfer picture files from your camera phone. Or connect to any PictBridge-enabled digital camera (via a USB cable) to print directly from the camera. Like the old Polaroid instant cameras, your prints are ready in about 60 seconds.

Now, Fujifilm has introduced the Instax mini 7 camera. It's old-school in both function and style. It produces "instant" prints just as the old Polaroids did - without any digital files. Of course, this helps keep the price down, and the Instax should retail for about $85.

The Instax is larger and clunkier than the PoGo, but it will appeal to anyone with fond memories of old-style Polaroids... and it should provide you with the same fun and more-or-less instant gratification of the old Polaroid models.

Instax prints are a bit more expensive than the PoGo's, and it's less versatile. But for die-hard Polaroid purists, it will feel like a little piece of heaven.