1 Incompatible with WinXP
The camera is lightweight and comes with the USB/serial port attachments, but unfortunately it's not compatible with WinXP. Going to the Polaroid website is no help. After emailing and searching the site, I found the appropriate drivers for XP.
Taking pictures is a snap, the instructions are very easy to follow, the pictures are so-so, best to take pics during daylight. It's a good entry into digi-cam if you're not familiar with uploading pics to the computer.
2 you seriously get what you pay for
This camera is nothing special. It's cheap, which is good (especially for people like me). But the picture quality really isn't that good, and I'm saying this wholeheartedly.
I bought it for my website. I write stupid and sometimes not so stupid articles about random things, and I thought it was about time I had a functional digital camera to help flesh them out.
I've had this thing for about two weeks now, and I've come to this conclusion: really good/not-so-bad pictures are only available under bright daylight, while any other condition usually produces very average/poor-looking photographs.
Indoors is mostly a no-no, unless you have a lot of light (opening some windows does help). The photographs from normally-lit indoor settings create an ugly grainy effect. Also, even if the camera is completely still and so is your subject, it ocassionally looks like you've been moving the camera while the shutter was open -- making the pictures unnecessarily blurry.
In fact, I haven't had much luck with the quality of the focus -- almost all of my results look a tad blurry.
The software DOES work with Windows XP, you just have to go to Polaroid's official site and read a tutorial on how to get it to a functional state.
If you have Photoshop, the "special effects" that can be used on your photographs are entirely useless. Even if you don't, you probably won't be using them all that often (one finds only so much excitement out of making a picture look incredibly distorted).
Then there's a problem with even well-lit daylight pictures -- at it's normal resolution (640x480), it can sometimes look like a painting. Instead of nice detailed surroundings, you may have little blobs of color everywhere. Reducing the size helps matters, but it's unforunate that I have to do that anyway. The size 640x480 isn't asking for a lot, now is it?
The packaging itself is less than stellar, too. The camera is made out of thin plastic that sometimes feels like it's going to break.
The uploading speed is fast, if you have a USB connection. And it's a great camera for starters, especially younger kids who sometimes could care a less about how great or how not great their pictures look. It IS a digital camera, it DOES make pictures appear onto your computer. So they'll have some enjoyment with it at least.
But I myself am frankly disappointed. What else could I expect from a camera this cheap? I'm looking forward to another digital camera purchase soon. Compared to the more reliable expensive cameras, this is just a piece of junk.
3 bleh
When it comes to electronics you get what u pay for. This camera is extremely basic. It has a flash which is almost too bright for its own good, this along with the camera's sensitivity to extreme light/dark makes its usefullness very enviromentally dependent. Overall picture quality depends on whether or not you can remain EXTREMELY still when ur taking it. All in all maybe usefull for frugal ebayers who need images. Not a good camera for significant moments in life type stuff. Save them pennies cause this camera ain't worth the shiping and handleing.
4 Happy Owner
Since owning the Polaroid PDC6400cf I have made many photos of different situations inside and outside.My landscape results have been most satisifing.Interrior shots have been satisifing with lighting of interior lights.Flash photos have been ok,but not the best.Ease of operation most satisifing.Battery life without using the monitor held up well.Thanks Poladoid for my beginners digital camera.Harry S.Adams
5 Very Good Camera
This camera is good for begeinners as well as advanced photographers! it is easy and quick at loading pictures to your computer and comes with good software! I Highly Reccomend this Digitil Camera For Anyone even if photography isint your fav. hobbie!
6 Can't beat it for the price!
There's a flash, auto focus, and it's very compact. There are no fancy gadgets and it doesn't take the BEST digital photos...but it's great for someone like me, who likes to send weekly photos to my relatives via e-mail. It comes with some really good software too. I can take a photo in Washington state, and my sister will have that photo 4 minutes later in Missouri. So I give it 5 stars because it was so darn inexpensive there's no room for complaint. Needs AA batteries.
7 Its ok for the price, but don't be surprised with its quirks
It takes somewhat grainy pictures and it also seems to have some problems with its colors, but for its price it is ok. Although its quality is kind of low (you wouldn't take pics with this for printing out), it is alright as a general purpose digital cam, especially in situations where you would not want to take a more expensive camera. One big problem is that this camera eats up batteries like crazy. Unless you are using rechargeables it will end up costing a lot. It might end up actually being cheaper to just buy disposable cameras and develop the film to get higher quality pictures and scan them if you need them on the comp.
8 Amazing for the price!
I have been in the computer business for a long time (worked for Microsoft and Intel) and decided to buy this digital camera to get my feet wet. I just resigned from the workforce due to the arrival of my second child and wanted to buy a camera that had at least 640 x 480 and was reasonably priced. When I saw the special price on this, I grabbed it and have not been disappointed at all. It is an amazing camera for the price. I have found that I don't need the flash at all - even in low lights indoors. As far as people reporting "fuzziness", you have to keep the camera still and take pictures within the borders of the viewfinder which can be a bit deceptive until you pay attention to the gold borders. It's been a lot of fun!
9 Is that my cat?
I bought this camera to experiment with digital cameras, but I have found that this camera takes pictures that are so fuzzy, I avoid using it. The pictures only look good if you view them as little, tiny thumbnails.
Additionally, setting up the software that comes with this camera takes a bunch of additional work with Windows XP. You have to download special drivers and instructions from the Polaroid web page, and then you have to tell Windows to install them even though Windows tells you that this could permanently mess up your XP installation. Luckily, my computer still works.
This camera might be worth the money if only to convince you that you should spend alot more money on a better camera.
10 Money isnt everything
This camera is excellent. It takes clear pictures and is easy to use right out of the box. Dont let the price bother you, this is a great deal. Indoor or outdoor, pictures are high-quality. One hint, skip the flash most of the time. It seems too bright for most purposes.
11 Love it baby!!
It was so cool. I am 12 years old. I just bought this resently, and it is great. Me and my friends love it. We love haveing all the copies we wont of pic. Buy this now if your smart!
12 DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA
Other than buying this for a young child to experience the digital camera world, I would not recommend that anyboy purchase this camera. I purchased it thinking I could use it to put pictures on ebay, but oh, I was wrong. If there is any light in the room, the camera pictures have a white background. If you turn the flash off, you can't see. If you turn the flash on, it turns white again. I know its reasonably valued, but remember, you truly get what you pay for. Invest in something else unless you really are buying this for a child between the ages of 3-5.
13 Great, but one big problem...
This is a handy camera, great for the price. It's great for Ebay and Internet stuff, and easy to use right out of the box. The only problem is with the USB connection. According to Polaroid, the USB connection will not work with VIA USB ports, at least not without substantial effort. The serial port works okay, but it's a bit slow and tends to come loose - this must be a known problem, because the instruction manual suggest you tighten the cable each time you upload photos. Other than that, it is easy to use and takes good photos!
14 great price-good camera
I'll echo the refrain of others who have commented on these cheap type of cmaeras-"you get what you pay for". I have an Agfa esmile camera that I bought on clearance for about..., just to see what digital cameras were about and it works fine. So I got one of these on sale to check it out. However, it hooks up to your computer with a USB port and I only have Webtv so I gave it to my daughter who has a regular computer. She hooked it up, took some pictures and emailed them to us. They looked fine! She likes it and said it was easy to use and fun. If you just want to take some pictures and send them around to people on the net-it's great. It's not Ensel Adams, but look at it this way-the first time you use it over your film camera, it will pay for itself! Two tips for cheapskates like me-1. NEVER buy one of these camera without a flash.2. Try to find one with a video port as well as USB. That way you can take your pictures and see them immeadiatly but hooking up to the video input on your tv. You won't even need a computer.
15 Great buy!!!
SIMPLE to use, it doesnt have a screen but for the money this thing is incredible. This is great for E-bay or sending picture of any kind over the internet. I would reccomend this to any of my friends. A+++++
16 Good camera for the price
I bought this camera because it was an inexpensive way to try out digital photography. I prefer regular cameras because I don't have a great printer yet, but I just wanted to have this type of camera around in case I wanted to take pictures I want to see right away. It takes very nice pictures that print out great on my old printer. It was extremely easy to use and the pictures download very fast. The software was fun to use.
Since I had my fun with it, and it's so easy to use,I am going to give it to my 5 year old son to introduce him to photography. He already took some great pictures and enjoys seeing the pictures pop up on the computer. He can take as many as he wants becuase I don't have to pay for film and processing.
17 Great Buy For Your Money!!
I had never used a digital camera prior to this one. It is simple to use, I never even read the directions. Has a good selection of options to customize you pictures. It does not have an LCD screen to view pictures but for the money you cant get anything close. I use mine for E-bay and e-mailing pics on the internet, its perfect. A++
18 polariod digital
I have really enjoyed the camera. it has good results. it has been fun using it.
19 Okay for entry-level
I got this as a Christmas present and think it is an "okay" way to enter the world of digital photography. You won't spend a great deal of money, and the quality of the pictures is good for web pages or e-mailing.
Some drawbacks: The camera looks metallic but the actual outside of the camera is made of plastic. It can feel like a toy camera, despite it being a digital camera. Secondly, the memory is not removable. You have to download your pictures to your computer and then erase the pictures on the camera. The picture quality is just "okay" when you print out the pictures. The flash is pretty weak, but at least there is a flash. Not a lot of resolution on the images. They are kind of fuzzy if you scrutinize them.
The good points: You can get digital photos for websites and e-mailing for under $100, and they do look decent. No more buying film and paying for processing, and no more scanning photos. The downloading of the pictures to your computer doesn't really take that long at all. The time is manageable and fine. It has a serial and a USB connection cable included for this. It is an inexpensive way to get your feet wet in the digital photography world, and to learn about what you really want in a higher-end digital camera. The camera can hold about 30 pictures in memory. So far, my batteries are doing well in the camera and don't seem to be draining rapidly like you hear from other cameras.
This camera is made by Polaroid, and it is very much like a traditional Polaroid camera. You get a picture, the quality is decent, and you don't have to get the film processed. So if you use it as you would a Polaroid instant camera you won't be disappointed.
20 Good for price
I first purchased the polaroid320, and took it back to trade it in for this model. Much better. If you purchase a digital a flash is necessary!! The only thing that I do not like about it is that there is no LCD screen to preview your pictures. Fun software included - excellent for the novice like myself!!
