Polaroid Two review: Polaroid Two

So by now we're all well aware that Polaroid is back in one form or another. This is the Polaroid Two, a digital camera and a printer in one. Marketed as the Polaroid Pogo in the US, we're not quite sure why the box's moniker has been re-branded for Australia and the UK.

7.0

Polaroid Two

The Good

Printer and camera in one. A novel way of sharing shots.

The Bad

Print quality fairly average. Not exactly compact.

The Bottom Line

Polaroid's renaissance continues with this novel idea of incorporating a camera and photo printer in the one unit. It just needs a bit more refinement before it's top of the class.

It's the retro future!

First impressions? Well, it looks more like a love child between a fridge and a 1980s Volvo. It's unlikely that photographers who remember Polaroid in its heyday will find much to admire about the Two. Sure, it's got the Polaroid branding but this is a strictly digital beast that uses a rechargeable battery and Zink (zero-ink) paper to produce teeny prints (2x3 inches) that pop out from the side of the camera. Flick open the back panel, underneath the 3-inch screen, to load the paper. Oh, and the prints also double as stickers when you peel the backing off.

(Credit: Polaroid)

There's little internal memory so you have to make do with the internal stuff that can store around five or six full resolution shots only before it starts crying. Considering the maximum resolution is 5 megapixels you start to get some idea of the limitations of this little machine. Grab an SD card or connect the camera to a computer via USB to offload images.

Fancy optical zoom with your order? Well, that's not a feature here either. But, you'll only be waiting one minute for your prints; much easier than hanging around waiting for that creepy Robin Williams character to finish printing your images in One Hour Photo.

Image and print quality

Like any standard compact camera, the Two has a range of photographic controls, including adjustments for white balance and ISO. Printing shots is easy enough; just press the dedicated print button underneath the control pad at the rear. There are also a few limited tweaks you can perform on images before you confirm the print job, including selective crop and red-eye adjustment, which you will need if our indoor test shots were anything to go by. Welcome back red-eye!

Outdoor shots fared a bit better, with generally pleasing colours in prints and on-screen. The lens delivered better results with natural light than with flash. Shutter lag was hardly noticeable in our tests, surprising for any compact camera. There's no HD video recording, but the Two can record VGA clips.

Should I buy one?

There's lots to like about the Polaroid Two, styling quirks aside. Then again, we'd hazard a guess that no manufacturer could make an attractive exterior out of a camera that's also equipped with its own printer. As for the price, it really depends on how you want to use the device. For casual shots or a quirky toy to give the kids to play with, it's probably not worth the outlay and ongoing costs. But for other applications, like printing instant images for office use, it could work out to be worth the money.

To get you started the Two comes with 10 sheets of Zink paper. Packs of 10 sheets retail for AU$6.95 or 30 for AU$19.95 working out to 69 cents and 66 cents per print respectively.