No more shaking your
photos.
Since the 1940s
Polaroid has been the go-to name for instant photography, and there
can't be many of us (over 30) who haven't snapped a picture on one of
their older model cameras, and stood there gently shaking it for a
minute while the image magically appeared. Although late to the
digital photography game, in the Snap Polaroid have combined the
conveniences of instant photography, with digital images saved to an
SD card. Snap to it!
First up, the Snap
doesn't work like the older Polaroid cameras. You have to think of
this more as a digital camera with built-in mini printer. That's
because your photos aren't developed like in the old days; ghostly
faces appearing on the paper, prompting comments such “aww, it's
blurry”, but rather printed very quickly, popping out of the side
of the unit on a 2 x 3 inch photo.
Because of this, there
is no need to be precious with the paper. Whereas the old Polaroid
instant cameras required the paper bay to remain completely closed up
and dark, with the Snap you just bung in ten sheets of the Premium
ZINK no-ink paper. You can open up the back of the camera any time to
check the number of shots remaining, and even do so while the picture
is printing – like we said, this is a tiny hand-held printer.
The camera itself is
remarkably simple. There is no screen to line up your shot, or view
your saved images. Instead you get a pop up physical (or “retro”
according to Polaroid) view-finder, which is also the Polaroid Snap's
power button. You can then select from three colour modes (normal
colour, black and white, and vintage), set a ten second timer if you
wish, then tap the trigger. The 10MP sensor will click, and no more
than five seconds later your print will start to emerge.
And they're really not
bad. If you're looking for a perfectly exposed professional snap,
this ain't it. But people haven't been buying Polaroids for the past
70 years to look professional – they buy them for quick and easy
fun. The Snap carries on that legacy, with the added advantage of
storing the images to a Micro SD card as well, the port for which is
on the side next to the Micro USB charger. Because it's small and
compact (certainly smaller than the old Polaroids) you'll be able to
take this with you on a night out for instant photographic silliness.
Right now QVC are
selling the Polaroid Snap (available in purple, red, black, blue and
pink) with an 8GB Micro SD card and a pack of 30 Zink papers. Check
it out.
£79.99