How To… ■ Understand why instant imaging works ■ Identify when instant imaging can be most useful ■ Decide which type of instant-imaging camera to buy ■ Edit and enhance instant photos using your scanner ■ Use special online resources for i-Zone owners Do you remember those clunky Polaroid cameras from your childhood that fascinated you by spewing forth a thick sheet of film that materialized into a photograph before your eyes? The photo was amazing, but unfortunately there was no practical, economical way to reproduce and share it, since it did not yield a negative to make copies from. This chapter revisits a technology from your youth that’s being reinvigorated because of scanners. Instant images from Polaroid cameras used to be sort of one-of- a-kind objects that were difficult and costly to reproduce. Scanners have solved that problem more effectively than anyone could have imagined a decade ago. Today, Polaroid cameras are inexpensive, streamlined, and simple to use. The emergence of scanners gives you the ability to enhance, copy, and share your instant images with the world. Even more exciting, Polaroid has even developed its own mini-photographic scanner—Webster—to be used with its instant-imaging cameras and film products. How Does Instant Imaging Work? All instant imaging is based on a technology of treating paper inside the camera with layers of light-sensitive chemicals that you activate when a picture is taken. As you’ll notice, the finished Polaroid pictures are thicker than those developed by other processes. When you take your photo, the camera quickly spreads a reactive layer of chemical across the paper on which your finished picture appears. This first chemical layer, called the “timing layer,” disappears after 30 seconds. Behind the timing layer is an acid that reacts to the unexposed and exposed portions of the photo to create the finished color image. 204 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. The Interesting Development of Instant Imaging The creator of instant-imaging technology, Dr. Edwin Land, recounted the inspiration for his idea, which came to him in 1944, as follows: I recall a sunny day in Santa Fe, New Mexico, when my little daughter asked why she could not see at once the picture I had just taken of her. As I walked around the charming town, I undertook the task of solving the puzzle she had set me. Within an hour, the camera, the film, and the physical chemistry became so clear to me. The Land Legacy In 1944, Land already had several hundred patents to his name. (He was the inventor of the famous Polaroid Land camera.) He was 35 years old; his daughter, Jennifer, was three. Her innocent question caused Land to commence three years of inspired research into the process of what is now known as a one-step dry photographic process. One of the more interesting aspects of Dr. Land’s creative process was that he commonly involved user testing in his inventing and testing process. He knew that for the cameras to serve the population for which he was inventing them, they had to be simple to use. He often provided housewives with prototype cameras, and watched as they read the directions he provided to process a photo. If they had trouble with a step in the process, Dr. Land scrupulously took that into account in his product design. On February 21, 1947, Dr. Land demonstrated his one-step instant camera and film before the Optical Society of America. Less than two years later, the Polaroid Camera Model 95 and Type 40 Land camera made their sales debut at the Jordan Marsh department store in downtown Boston. Each model cost $89.75—a staggering amount back in 1947. Today’s Instant Cameras Today, you can pick up an i-Zone or a Polaroid JoyCam instant camera for a suggested retail price of less than $25. The original Polaroid camera weighed a full 4 pounds. The i-Zone and JoyCam weigh less than 10 ounces and easily fit in your purse or pocket. The JoyCam, shown in Figure 11-1, is designed for teenagers, and comes in an array of fashion-conscious colors. It produces 4.4×2.5-inch instant photographs. CHAPTER 11: Scanning Instant Images: JoyCam, i-Zone, and Other Polaroid Products 205 11 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. FIGURE 11-1 The Polaroid JoyCam The i-Zone, which appears in Figure 11-2, one of Polaroid’s bestselling cameras, is also designed for younger users. It instantly creates color photos and stickers that measure 1×1.5 inches. The camera itself is less than 7 inches, measured along its longest diameter. It has a flash range of 2.8 feet, for indoor photos and 2 feet to infinity for outdoor photos. This camera comes with two AA-size batteries. The Polaroid Spectra 1200 FF, shown in Figure 11-3, is more appealing to adult users, without sacrificing any of the convenience of the JoyCam or i-Zone. It offers a sleek, modern design with auto-flash, built-in fill-flash, and folding lens hood. It includes two manually selected focus zones. Not surprisingly, I’ve found that it produces clearer, more vivid, pictures than the i-Zone and JoyCam. The camera has a suggested retail price of $90. It has a convenient collapsible design. FIGURE 11-2 The popular i-Zone camera 206 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. FIGURE 11-3 The Spectra 1200 FF is less than 5×8 inches in size and offers high- quality 4-inch-square instant images. Polaroid Instant-Imaging Technology Is Unique Patents on the instant color film process by Land was the basis of a well- publicized infringement suit that Polaroid brought against Kodak in 1976 and won in 1985. Land spent a year in court providing detailed testimony about his instant-imaging process and the relevant patents. Land retired from Polaroid in the summer of 1982, and sold his last stock in the company before the verdict in favor of Polaroid was reached. The verdict unequivocally required Kodak to withdraw the sale of its knock-off camera and instant-imaging film worldwide. CHAPTER 11: Scanning Instant Images: JoyCam, i-Zone, and Other Polaroid Products 207 11 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. The Continuing Need for Instant-Image Cameras While digital cameras are the latest rage, with price drops making them more affordable, instant cameras occupy an important niche for kids, teens, and a large percentage of the population that isn’t able to access photos from a computer. Polaroid cameras also offer a convenient and cost-effective alternative to digital cameras in a variety of circumstances. The Ideal Cameras for Teens and Kids Would you trust a ten-year-old with a $300 digital camera? Most people wouldn’t. Digital cameras are complex and delicate. Polaroid iZone cameras were actually inspired by and invented for children and teens, and have the added advantage of providing them with the fun of an immediate result. Not surprisingly, although Polaroid cameras have many scientific and business uses, their main following today is adults, kids, and teens. For a suggested retail price of less than $30, today’s i-Zones and JoyCams are far more suited to the needs of these active users than digital cameras for the following reasons: Cost Parents are far more likely to spring for a JoyCam or i-Zone than for a digital camera for their kids. Even on sale or closeout, digital models still cost hundreds of dollars. Although a pack of Polaroid film might be pricier than a disposable camera or a roll of 35-millimeter film, you don’t have any associated developing or processing charges. Most times you come out financially ahead with Polaroid film because you didn’t have to pay to develop it. Durability and portability Parents can worry less about kids losing an instant camera, throwing them in their backpacks, or forgetting to cover the lens. The i-Zone and JoyCam cameras are clearly designed with the carefree (and sometimes careless) user in mind. The lenses are well recessed in the camera bodies, which are made of durable plastic. Both cameras are lightweight, have wristbands, and withstand a reasonable amount of bumping and jostling—although no camera is meant to be dropped on concrete from a moving bicycle. Ease of use My nine- and ten-year-old daughters had their JoyCam and i-Zone cameras out of the box, and the instructions read in less than 10 minutes. The cameras come with clear, illustrated directions and an automatic focus capability. (This is, of course, part of the legacy of their creator, Dr. Edwin Land, who tested each camera using ordinary folk.) 208 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. . reacts to the unexposed and exposed portions of the photo to create the finished color image. 204 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove. design. FIGURE 11-2 The popular i-Zone camera 206 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. FIGURE 11-3 The Spectra 1200. Land, who tested each camera using ordinary folk.) 208 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.