Look At This Dumb Little Camera I Bought

The Camera Review Nobody Asked For

I never thought I’d do a camera review because I don’t know, or care, enough about cameras to do a review that would be in any way helpful to anybody. Nobody wants to read or watch a review of me holding up a camera and saying “Seems OK I guess?”

Also, I don’t watch or read camera reviews, which is maybe why I ended up buying this dumb little camera.

I’m starting a new photo series and as a part of the project I wanted a new instant camera. I am not too concerned with the quality of the image, as I’m using it as a tool for organizing, keeping track of names and locations, etc. The photos might be part of the larger project but I think it’s OK if they’re bad, because I am also going to try to take some really good photos.

Kodak film is part of the project already, so rather than go with Polaroid I thought I’d incorporate their instant camera, the Printomatic. Instead of shooting instant film, what Kodak did was add a below-average camera to a tiny below-average printer, and I’m into it.

When you shoot with it, it makes all sorts of silly beeps and boops and then does that fake shutter noise. In about 20 seconds you get a little 3x2 inch print on sticker paper. It is ridiculous. Here is a photo I took of my son Orson. He is thrilled to be having his picture taken by me. He does not say “Just take the picture!” every time I take his picture.

I like that they are stickers. It was one of the reasons I picked this camera. I’m going to take a lot of OK photos with it and stick them in my notebooks.

I am starting the project this week and will write about it soon. I may be writing about how I think it will work, and how I will be continuing, or I may be writing about how it didn’t work at all and I will be adding it to my pile of failed projects.

So as for the Kodak Printomatic: It’s fun, but I think that the things I find delightful about it will annoy many people. I’m certain the worst part will be waiting for the photos to print. With a Polaroid, you can pull it, put it aside, and keep shooting. With the Printomatic, it takes about the same amount of time, but you're waiting for it as it slowly prints from the camera. This may make me want to throw it into the ocean.

Stay tuned to find out.

In conclusion, my review is this: Seems OK I guess?

Travis

While writing this I was listening to: