While Kodak finally succumbed to the march of technology and bowed out of the camera-production biz earlier this year, another icon of the pre-digital photography age is determined to stick around. Looking to leverage its expertise in instant film cameras, the company has developed a number of digital cameras, such as the PoGo, that provide the same instant photo capabilities, but with the use of new technology. The latest is the Z2300, which packs an integrated printer to spit out prints in under a minute – no shaking required.
Introduced at this week’s CEA Line Show in New York, the Z2300 produces 2x3-inch prints of captured images using ink-free Zero Ink (ZINK) printing technology. ZINK is a thermal printing technology that produces full color hard copy prints by using heat to activate cyan, yellow, and magenta dye crystals embedded in layers inside the ZINK paper. Because the ZINK paper is coated in a protective polymer outer coating, the resulting photos are moisture and UV resistant, smudge-proof and long lasting. The ZINK technology also allows the Z2300 to be more compact than its analog predecessors – however the prints are also much smaller.
The Polaroid Z2300 is a 10-megapixel camera and packs a 3-inch LCD color display, 32 GB of internal storage and comes bundled with 4 GB of external storage. This can also be expanded with support for SD cards of up to 32 GB. In addition to stills, the camera can also capture HD video that can be viewed on the rear display with the unit’s built-in speaker providing audio playback. The display also provides the ability to crop images without connecting to a PC and users can choose to print every image they snap or pick and choose to save on paper.
The Z2300 comes in black or white and will begin shipping this August, with Polaroid currently taking preorders. The camera is priced at US$159.99, with 50-sheet packs of 2x3” ZINK paper retailing for $24.99 and 30-sheet packs selling for $14.99.
Source: Polaroid