This here is the Polaroid 300. It should be one of the most exciting things to happen to casual photography for a while. It's not, for three awful, terrible, why-would-you-do-that reasons.
First up? The camera is $90. Okay, okay, I can stomach $90, even though I could buy any number of classic models for a fraction of that on Ebay. So let's move onto point number two: the film. Discontinued a while back by Polaroid, the company is once again offering the instant-processing film for the 300. It comes in packs of 10 and costs $10. In other words, every time you take a picture, another buck just magically disappeared out of your wallet. Instead of taking a page from cheap disposable cameras — the spirit of which the original Polaroid instant cameras embodied — the 300 instead feels more like a printer. People hate their printers.
The third reason is perhaps the worst, though. An eagle-eyed commenter over on Engadget identified the 300 as a rebrand of FujiFilm's Instax Mini 7, which also uses 10-sheet packs of instant film. Why would you borrow someone else's design, when your own company did it right and did it best, and has a massive back-catalog of classic designs to pull from? Embarrassing.
With the right feel (and the right price), I would have bought a 300 on the spot. Thanks for the thought, at least, Polaroid. Better luck next time.
As an eagle-eyed commenter over on Engadget identified the 300 as a rebrand of FujiFilm's Instax Mini 7, which also uses 10-sheet packs of instant film. Talk about zero effort. Where's the love?)
Polaroid, via Test Freaks
