By Chris Scott Barr

Most of you probably still remember what a Polaroid camera was, but I suspect that many of today’s tweens and even teens probably don’t. With the rise of the digital camera, Polaroids quickly faded into nonexistence. Strangely enough there actually hasn’t been anything that really takes its place, at least when producing near-instant pictures from the camera itself. Sure, you can buy a portable printer for peanuts these days, but it still isn’t quite the same. Well guess what folks, the Polaroid instant camera  is back, and updated for the digital age.

It seems only fitting that Polaroid be the company that rolls out a digital camera that can print instant pictures. The new Polaroid PoGo combines the best of the new and old. On one hand, it’s a regular digital camera with all of the usual benefits like an LCD screen and the ability to perform quick edits. Once you’re happy with the shot, just press a button and in 40 seconds you have yourself a 2”x3” picture to hand off to someone. The special paper is called Zink (short for Zero Ink) and is touted as “smudge-proof, water-resistant, fade-resistant and tear-proof.” You can pick up the camera for around $200, while the Zink paper can be bought in packs of 30 for $13.

[ Amazon ] VIA [ Technabob ]

By Jonathan Kimak

I loved the old Polaroid cameras. A picture that would appear and develop in a minute in your hands instead of 7 days later at a photo lab seemed like an absolute miracle of technology back when I was a kid. Of course the emergence of cheap yet high-quality digital cameras destroyed Polaroid and forced them to stop selling the instant film cameras back in February of this year.

Now Polaroid has announced that they will be bringing back instant film, and this time it will add the instant printing magic to digital cameras. The pictures will be 4×3 rectangle size, which is the size most associated with the old Polaroid cameras.

It will still be a rough market for Polaroid to compete in, even with millions of nostalgic fans. It’s already pretty easy to print out pictures from almost anywhere; most grocery stores, pharmacies and Wal-Marts have instant print kiosks for pennies per print. Still, it’s nice to see Polaroid trying, even if they are years behind the times.

[ Amateur Photographer ] VIA [ Gizmodo ]