About
The Polaroid Flip divides the distance in front of it into four focus zones, and the nearest one runs from just 0.4m to 0.77m, with its sharpest point at 0.65m. Two lenses share the work, and an auto-switching hyperfocal optical system decides which one handles the shot.
Most instant cameras with a fixed focus pick one distance and accept soft results everywhere else. Here, sonar autofocus measures the subject and moves between the zones. Zone 2 covers 0.77m to 1.03m, Zone 3 takes 1.03m to 1.68m, and Zone 4 runs from 1.68m out to infinity. The field of view is 39.4° horizontally and 40.8° vertically, so the framing stays the same as the camera moves between zones.
Exposure gets two checks. A scene analysis LED in the viewfinder warns of under- or overexposure before the shutter is pressed, and a vacuum discharge tube strobe reaches 4.5m at f8. A separate LED display shows the mode, the film count and the battery level.
The Polaroid Flip's Bluetooth link to the Polaroid App allows full remote control of the camera, which means the shutter can be fired from across the room.
It takes both i-Type and 600 film, and the flip lid shuts over the lens when the camera is in a bag. A tripod mount and a built-in snap-on mount for lens filters give it more room to work than a point-and-shoot normally has.
