Written By: David Novak, The GadgetGUY
Remember the Polaroid? Of course you do....the only device ever made that could instantly gratify us with a ready-made photographic print. I bet you were assuming that the likes of Polaroid cameras would never see the light of day again, considering our digital era.
Wrong! Emerging from a protracted dormancy, the company that Edwin Land created, introduces its first new instant camera model in years, the Z340 Instant Camera. The Z340 marries Polaroid's art of instant photo processing to modern digital rendering. The Z340 has a 14-megapixel imaging sensor, and can store the image in the familiar digital format or delivers a photo of the image via its ink-free Zero Ink Printing Technology onboard, a cutting edge process developed by ZINK.
Zink stands for Zero Ink. In other words, no ink is used to process the image, and instead depends on an advanced composite material with cyan, yellow, and magenta dye crystals embedded inside. Heat those crystals and an image appears that will last forever thanks to a smudge proof technology and a water resistant coating.
The Polaroid Z340 Instant Digital Camera also has a 2.7-inch screen, which allows you to view photos instantly, as well as make small edits. Photos can be downloaded to a computer from its SD card or you can print them instantly using the device’s built-in printer. The sizes of the prints, 3×4″, are the same exact size as the first Polaroid camera.
While the Polaroid Z340′s form factor is anything but that of today’s traditional point and shoot digital cameras, it weighs about 1.5 lbs and can capture up to 75 photos and print 25 images on a single battery charge.
Available now at Polaroid online store, B&H, Adorama, and Amazon.com for $299.99. Also available is the 30-sheet ZINK paper refill pack for $19.99.
David Novak is an internationally syndicated columnist. His column, the GadgetGUY, appears in over 120 newspapers around the world each week, enjoying over 3 million in readership. He's also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, PC Magazine, Popular Science, Newsweek, GQ, and more. The GadgetGUY has his pulse on everything related to new gadgets, computers, camcorders, car tech, cameras, gaming, TVs, computers, wireless devices, media devices, cell phones, home appliances, wearable technology, sports science, power tools and gadget news.
