Polaroid Lcd Tv

Olympus and Polaroid Corporations jointly developed and just released a new digital printing camera, the Camedia Olympus C-211 Zoom. It features instant photo prints and is the first of its genre to appear on the market. It provides integrated record, play and print capabilities. The unique feature of having a printer built into a digital camera has particular appeal to photographers who have either need or craving for instant prints plus a digital file. Thus, it may find special application with law enforcement agencies, but should also have widespread appeal to amateur photographers.

Camedia C-211 Record and Play Modes

The front and back of this digital camera is shown in Fig. 1. It weighs 1.5 pounds, measures circa 6" X 7" and features an AF 5.4 - 16.2 mm. zoom lens rated at 1:2.8 to 4.4 to provide a 3X optical and 2X digital zoom range: the 8 element lens is equivalent to 35 - 105 mm. lens on a 35mm. It has full auto TTL and presets for white balance with automatic shutter speeds of 1/2 to 1/000 sec. There is built-in flash for fill, slow sync, and red-eye reduction for working range of 8" to 8'. Using the neck strap, the camera is easily held, focused and fired using but one hand on the molded hand grip while viewing with the 2" LCD monitor and using the thumb for zooming. The unit is powered by four AA batteries or an optional AC adapter.

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Digital Specifications

The back of the Camedia has a dial to select record, playback, printing and setup modes providing numerous functions allowing single or sequence shots; erase and format options; date/ time captions; and adjustments in print qualities of brightness, contrast, color and sharpness. Image pickup uses a solid-state 1/2.7" CCD sensor registering 2.11 megapixels stored on the supplied 8MB 3V SmartMedia flashcard and recorded in JPEG, TIFF, DCF or DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) formats.

Camedia files can be transferred using a SmartMedia PCMCIA driver, USB SmartMedia card driver (Windows 98 or Mac OS 8.6), or via USB port on the Camedia C-211 to computer using the included Camedia Master software. The quality of the digital files is readily appreciated by viewing the images on a large TV screen connected to the camera with the supplied video cable. Photo quality inkjet prints up to 6" x 9" are readily obtained.

Built-in Printer!

The front panel of the Olympus C-211 opens to receive the Polaroid 500 instant film pack for 10 photos, each of which measure just under 2 1/4" by 2 7/8". Images to be printed are previewed on the LCD monitor, given an option to append date/time captions, and are printed at resolution of 640x480 dots at 210 dpi. The glossy prints are on emulsions which resist tearing and pixelation is difficult to detect using a 5X loupe. The colors are quite good, but surpassed by viewing the files on computer monitors or TV screens. The MSRP is $799, but it is available at $599 from CCI Camera City, Inc. in Brooklyn, NY.

Bottom Line

This camera boasts nearly every feature found on current models of digital cameras coupled with the added charisma of producing immediate wallet-sized color prints to satisfy the personal needs of those wanting or having a pressing need for instant hard copies. I did have this camera evaluated by a forensic coroner involved in never-ending case studies demanding considerable photography, but he could not discern his particular professional need for instant prints of this size.

Nonetheless, it seems probable that other manufacturers will follow suit and feature digital cameras of higher resolution having built-in printers. I think Olympus and Polaroid have started something new and exciting in digital imaging.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Photographic Society of America, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group

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