Polaroid, we know you’ve been at it for a while now, but please, just quit the ZINK stuff and just get more of your instant films going.
It’s easy to see the need to make something for the selfie crowd, hence the decision to introduce the Polaroid Mint line (comprised of a 2-in-1 photo printing camera and pocket printer), during the recent IFA in Berlin and earlier at the CE Week in New York. But really, we hope Polaroid would give up the ZINK stuff and make more of what they became famous for: instant film.
For those who missed it, the Polaroid Mint — not to be confused with the MiNT InstantFlex TL70 that uses Fujifilm Instax Mini film — is the company’s latest offering that uses ZINK technology. It has a 16MP image sensor, a microSD slot for cards of up to 265GB, a self-timer, a built-in selfie mirror, and an automatic LED flash similar to what you’ll find on smartphones. Users can add the iconic Polaroid-style border before printing. It comes in black, white, red, blue, and yellow.
Launched alongside the Mint Camera was the Mint Pocket Printer. As with previous iterations of the ZINK printers, it’s meant to be used with mobile devices and paired with the Polaroid Mint app via bluetooth connection.
The Mint Camera is priced at $99.99, while the Mint Pocket Printer will set you $129.99.
The new 2-in-1 instant camera and pocket printer, according to Polaroid BV CEO Oskar Smolokowski, offer “the latest in digital instant printing technology, portability and shareability” and move the company’s mission to create “portable products that bring people together around their photos” in a portable 2×3′ format.
We’re no strangers to these forays into the ZINK technology; some of you may have already seen a number of our first impressions and reviews of products such as the Polaroid Z2300, Polaroid Socialmatic, Polaroid Pop, and Polaroid Snap Touch. As firm believers and ardent lovers of all things that Polaroid became known for, we’re (still) not really fans of this ZINK stuff. There are now several of these pocket printers floating around, but the print quality is still nowhere near as good as instant photos — which is currently now the realm of the Fujifilm Instax.
Sure, Polaroid Originals has been at the helm of keeping the magic of real instant photography alive, all while also taking advantage of the digital side of things the right way (just check out the cool OneStep+). But this other side of Polaroid — the one which definitely has the resources to help develop more and better instant films instead — has instead been leveraging the company’s now gutted history to cater to the selfie generation with cheap prints.
So please, Polaroid, if you’re just going to keep marketing your digital products with the original Polaroid slant and aesthetics, might as well just keep the legacy going and focus on instant film.
Images via Polaroid