While there may indeed be a retro appeal to analog instant cameras, digital cameras do certainly make some things easier. Polaroid has decided to combine the two – sort of – in the form of the smartphone-controlled OneStep+.
Announced this Wednesday at the IFA 2018 tech show in Berlin, the camera itself captures images using analog technology – this is unlike some other Polaroids we've seen, that spit out old-school instant prints but utilize digital imaging systems.
Utilizing an accompanying iOS/Android app on their Bluetooth-linked smartphone, One Step+ users can do a number of things. These include:
- Taking double exposures
- Holding the shutter open for time-exposure photography, in which they can "paint with light" (i.e: move a light source around within the shot, creating trails of light in the final still image)
- Activating a timer that waits up to 25 seconds before taking a photo
- Remotely triggering the camera either via a button on the app, or using a noise (such as a hand-clap) that's detected by the phone
- Scanning prints while they're still in the camera, allowing the resulting digital versions to be cropped, adjusted and shared online
The Polaroid OneStep+ is now available via the link below, priced at US$160 (print paper not included). It's demonstrated in the following video.
Source: Polaroid