In the era of digital technology there are still people who respect the “old” film photography. There’re still communities all over the world that enjoy even black and white film photography and find working in a dark room creative. I also was in all these for several years and it left only positive emotions.

Fancy that film cameras are still produced, and it is Fujifilm and the Summit Global Group who have launched a new film camera model lately, the Polaroid 300. Don’t be surprised: the latter is a worldwide licensee for all Polaroid branded devices.

It is an instant film camera, which means that it shoots, develops and prints images with the press of a shutter button. It resembles Fujifilm’s Instax Mini 7S film camera.

The Polaroid 300 Instant camera is equipped with a built-in automatic flash, as well as with four scene settings for various shooting conditions.

Summit Global Group collaborated also with ZINK Imaging to create its ZINK® Zero Ink® Printing Technology, which was used later in the Polaroid PoGo™ Instant Mobile Printer and the PoGo Instant Digital Camera. Now it is used with the Instant 300 new camera and is planned to be used in later products.

The return of instant film photography is a real fun, when so many years have gone since its time of bloom. There’s almost nothing in our time that can surprise a person, but it really excites.

Polaroid 300 Instant Camera – Key Features:

• Picture Size: 2.1” x 3.4”
• Image Size: 1.8” x 2.4”
• Automatic Flash
• Four Scene Settings
• Zink ® Zero Ink® Printing Technology
• Included Accessories: 4-AA batteries, Wrist strap
• Suggested Retail Price: $89.99
• Ten-packs of Instant Film: $9.99
• Body Colors: Blue, Black

Official information: polaroid.com.

Yes, it prints photos! Polaroid, the inventor of instant photography, wrapped an inkless digital printer in a digital camera to create the Polaroid PoGo Instant Digital Camera.

“This is the digital version of our traditional instant camera, which consumers have loved since the 70s,” says Jon Pollock, vice president and general manager, Digital Imaging. “With this product, Polaroid will bring the magic of instant photography to a whole new generation. It’s what consumers have told us they want — a fun, easy way to use a digital camera to print photos and share their memories instantly.”

With the push of a button, you can select from among the digital photos on the camera, crop or edit them and in less than 60 seconds, print full-color, 2×3-inch prints- all with a single device. The camera uses the same paper as the inkless Polaroid PoGo instant printer. Once the pictures are printed, they are immediately dry to the touch, durable and smudge and water resistant.

These’s not so many of digital cameras with built-in printers, but yet they exist - the Fujifilm FinePix PR21 Princam launched in October 1999, Olympus‘ Camedia C-211 Zoom (July 2000), Canon’s prototype bubblejet digicam (March 2001). With its dimensions the Polaroid PoGo instant digital camera would be among the smallest.

Featuring 3.0″ LCD display the camera has a fixed focal length lens that reduces its versatility. And battery life is a bit of a weak point, allowing taking just 75 shots with flash, or making 20 prints.

Polaroid PoGo Instant Digital Camera – Specifications:

Unfortunately, few specifications are available so far, so we don’t know some basics such as sensor resolution or lens type.

• 3.0″ color LCD Display
• Digital Zoom: 4x
• Storage SD card slot
• Printer: Built in ZINK inkless printer
• Print Type: 2″ x 3″ borderless sticky-backed prints
• Print Speed: Less than 60 seconds per print
• Print Overlay: Date, File number, Borders
• Battery Life: 75 images with flash or 20 prints
• Lithium Ion rechargeable battery
• Flash Strobe
• Self-Timer
• Pictbridge
• In-camera red-eye removal, cropping, automatic picture lighting enhancement
• Dimensions: 119mm x 76mm x 51mm
• Weight (body-only, approx.): 10 ounces; 284 grams

The Polaroid PoGo Instant Digital Camera is set to go on sale from March 2009.

More thoughts at imaging-resource.com

Polaroid is steadily expanding its digital camera business again, says dcviews.

Their latest entries in the field are the t1031, a 10 megapixel digital camera with 3.0-inch monitor, 3x optical zoom, Anti-shake image stabilization, Face tracking, and Integrated photo editing software. The t1031 camera is available in black, titanium, and orange. The new model i1035 offers about the same set of features and is available in black and titanium.

HIGHLIGHTS of these two cameras are as follows:

Polaroid t1031 Digital Camera

• Still image compression in JPEG (EXIF 2.2), DCF, DPOF, AVI, Motion
• Takes video clips with audio
• SD compatible for expanded memory
• 20 different scene modes including panoramic
• Slide show mode allows you to view all your photos on the camera screen
• Off/auto/fill flash
• Auto white balance settings
• Anti-shake image stabilization
• Face tracking for perfect faces in your pictures
• In-camera red-eye removal
• Integrated photo editing software
• Electronic self timer
• PictBridge compatible
• PC & Mac compatible

Polaroid i1035 Digital Camera

• 10.0 megapixels for pictures with sharp detail
• 3.0″ color LCD screen for previewing images before you shoot
• 3x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom lets you zoom in on your image
• 16MB built-in storage
• SD compatible for expanded memory
• USB connects your camera to your computer
• Anti-shake image stabilization eliminates blurry images from shaky hands or moving objects
• Face tracking for perfect faces in your pictures
• In-camera red-eye removal
• Dynamic lighting enhancer improves under-exposed images
• 21 scene modes optimize settings for the type of photo you are taking
• Takes video clips with audio
• Automatic and manual exposure lets you get creative with every picture
• Electronic self-timer lets you get in the picture
• PictBridge compatible for transferring images to your computer

These are both point-and-shoot compact cameras, easy to use and fit in your pocket.

Find them at eBay: the Polaroid i1035 and the Polaroid t1031.