Polaroid i-Zone Pocket Film Camera

Polaroid's foray into the "stickie pix" market is an ingenious idea.
What Polaroid has done with its iZone camera is bring those ubiquitous stickie pix booths --seen everywhere from Japan, where it originated, to the bowling alley, to the supermarket-- right into the palm of your hand.

What is it?
The Polaroid iZone camera is simply a plastic, almost pocket-sized camera that allows you to shoot mini color pictures and instantly process and view the pics.
The iZone comes loaded with two AA batteries and a ready-to-use roll of film with six exposures.
The iZone comes in three fruity colors: Radical Red, Bright Breezy Blue, and Cool Lime Green.
There are three easy to use functions on the camera: Indoors , Outdoor Sunny <2ft-on>, Outdoor Cloudy <2ft-on>. There is also a flash on this camera.

the Good
--Cheap: Camera costs $23.99. The camera retails for $24.99. 6 exposures are included. Stickie pix are a bit pricey and can be purchased for about $6.99. Regular pics can be purchased at the same price. The difference between "stickie pix" and "regular pix" is that the "stickie pix" has an adhesive on the backing. The backing is only moderately sticky which means they are easy to remove.

I'm sure you can find a cheaper deal on eBay but after taking into account the shipping and handling costs, it might just be worth buying at a local electronics store, discount department stores, supermarket.

--Instant gratification: Like those retro Polaroid cameras, you point and shoot. Then rip the tab out from the back of the camera. Minutes later. Viola. Your picture. The image quality is better than the digital stickie pix booths, but not nearly as clear as regular 35 mm cameras. The picture quality is comparable to the regular Polaroid instant shoot cameras.

--Bigger than stickie pix: At roughly 1.5" X 1" , the camera allows you to take pretty good close-ups. The camera best shoots at a distance within 2-5 feet. Any further, and the picture details are not as crisp.
There is an option of changing the setting the camera to outdoors and indoors. Be sure you select the correct setting. I accidently used the Outdoor Setting for an indoor shot, and the picture came up extremely dark (I could not discern who the individual in the picture was).

--Portable: The camera fits almost in the palm of your hand. It is round and measures at about eight inches long and and two inches around.
Quite frank-ly, it looks like a hot dog in bun .

--Simple to use, lots of fun: Point, click, stick. The camera is simple to use. This camera is intended for the teenage-crowd , but anyone can use it. The instructions are simple to follow which means anyone under 10 can probably figure out how to use the camera.

--Camera's intent: There are lots of uses for this camera. Go to the web page for new and creative ideas. Also check out eGnome's great review.

--Once you snap, the select knob reverts to the off position so your batteries will not be drained as quickly and you cannot accidentally take another picture.

--An orange light indicates when the flash is fully charged.

the Bad
--Design: The picture borders are beyond me. I had no idea what Polaroid had in mind . The borders attempt to be futuristic in design, but are plain ugly.
However, they are not a problem. You can shear them off with scissors to get a nice letterbox picture.

--Flash is not great: Some pictures come out dark even when flash mode is used.

--Distance shots are not great: The camera works best when you are shooting at a range of 2-5 feet.

--Back adhesive might not be as sticky as you would want or expect. Regular stickie pix have an extremely sticky backing.

--Pictures are too big. For those sticky pix collectors, the pictures might be too big for you. The iZone pics are roughly twice as big as most stickie pix. They seem like minature panoramic shots as they are wider than tall.

--Pictures are not digitally created like the stickie pix booth so you cannot create your own background as some stickie pix booths allow.

--Film is expensive. Each film cassette contains 12 exposures at a cost of about 7 dollars. Regular stickie pix booths cost on average about 4 dollars for 16 prints of the same pictures. So, you can plan on spending more money on film than the camera itself.

--Camera is basic. It does not have zoom or any additional features besides flash and three condition settings. What do you expect from a 24 dollar camera?

--Clunky. The camera is not that small as compared to disposable cameras. Hence, the camera might not fit into your pocket.


--Camera is ugly. To some, the iZone may look like a hip, futuristic device. To others, the camera may look like a cheap Fisher Price toy.

--Camera does not indicate number of exposures remaining.

--I've noticed thin orange lines on the bottom and top of the pictures (next to the letterbox black lines). All my pictures, so far, have these lines but they are not that conspicuous.

the LowDown
So far, the Polaroid's iZone is the only camera that I know of that has the sticky, mini pix technology. The camera is portable, simple-to-use, lightweight and does an excellent job at delivering instant pictures.
The camera does not perform that well at far distances and the flash is weak.
I must also warn you that this camera is simply a novelty device. The initial frenzy rate at which you snap those stickie pix will decline dramatically within about a week, so the marginal propensity to click diminishes and you will experience diminishing marginal returns of excitement.
All in all, the fun and excitement that this camera will bring to your dismal life is worth the 24 bucks. Give it a shot.