My first digital camera experience: polaroid digital 320

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A small point and shoot camera (11cm x 7cm x 3,5cm) from the Polaroid corporation release around the end of the nineties. It was a very basic camera, with a very low resolution compared to the megapixel monsters we find today, yet easy in use and without distracting extras. You aim the camera and push the shutter and that’s it. The focussing distance was:

  • indoors focussing : 0,9m – 1,8m
  • outdoors focussing: 0,9 – infinity

The viewfinder is a bit off center but above the lens/sensor, in that way the picture you get on the sensor is what you have seen through the viewfinder.

The software supplied was easy and in no way comparable with the tools we have nowadays. When looking at the needed specifications to run the software it shows with how little resources we had to work back in those days.

specifications:

  • A fixed lens F3.4
  • Shutterspeed: auto 1/15s – 1/7000s
  • Optical viewfinder
  • Resolution: 0,07MP – 320 x 24
  • Holds 29 pictures with a 500kb internal memory
  • 9V battery
  • No LCD screen, only a small counter on the back for picture count.
  • Picture format: JPG
  • No additional memory possible
  • No flash nor hotshoe
  • Serial connection
  • Screwhole to attach a tripod
  • TWAIN compatible
  • Software: Polaroid PhotoMAX Image Maker Software CD-ROM
    • PC with Pentium class processor
    • Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows 98
    • 16 MB of RAM
    • 50 MB available hard drive space
    • Available COMM port
    • 16-bit display adapter (24-bitrecommended)
    • High Color (16-bit) display settings at 1024×768 pixels(recommended)
    • 2x or faster CD-ROM drive
    • Mouse

pictures:

Polaroid Digital 320 Polaroid Digital 320

 

 

 

 

 

To read more about the usage of about the software:

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1182881/Polaroid-Digital-320.html#manual

At the same time spector had a service to scan analogue pictures to diskettes. Those years were really about digital photography starting to get more adult and user friendly yet lacking behind on quality while analogue was on it’s retreat with fast labs, scanning services so you could have the pictures on diskettes. Yet the scanning quality was neither that great for archival, not to mention the risk of a diskette loosing data. The size of the files was about 50kb. An option was to create a screensaver package with the pictures.

 

Please let me know if you liked it, all feedback welcome.

—

Wim

 

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