A well-designed budget digicam that doubles as a web cam and comes bundled with a great software suite. Read our Australian review.Who could forget the classic Polaroid style of point, click and print--producing a photo in a matter of minutes? While still producing instant cameras, Polaroid has followed the trend and made the transition to the digital format in recent years.
Polaroid's latest assault on the market is a range of digital cameras that includes the entry-level PDC 330. It's quite a functional camera and compares favourably to competitive, basic models at this price point.
Those who were impatient waiting for instant Polaroid shots to print will be quietly impressed in the ease of use and transformation from shot to digital representation via the bundled software. The said software, called Arcsoft Software Suite, is the greatest feature of the PDC 330 package. By following the simply laid out instructions you can have your digital shots from the camera to the hard drive of your computer and available for editing in a relatively short amount of time. Relative, that is, when you consider instant Polaroid shots only produce a single photo in the same amount of time.
In photo mode the PDC-330 is extremely easy to use--making it a great camera for people wanting to painlessly switch from film to digital. Alternatively it would be a great first time digital camera for young ones.
Weighing 158 grams (with two AA batteries inserted) and measuring 95 x 60 x 35 mm the PDC 330 is a comfortable compact size fitting neatly in one hand. Additionally, the grippy rubber buttons and grip panel on the front of the unit make it possible to use one-handed. When first handling the camera the outer casing seemed quite synthetic, flimsy and susceptible to damage. After testing it we discovered that the camera is a lot sturdier than its weightless shell would have us believe.
Using 4MB of internal memory, the PDC-330 can store approximately 38 or 150 images in high- or low-resolution respectively. Once you have downloaded your images into an album, via the Arcsoft software, the easy-to-use camera interface lets you delete all of these shots at once or one by one. There is an inbuilt flash that can be set to function automatically, whereby the camera reads light and utilises accordingly, or alternatively, manually for constant flash photography. The PDC-330 also has a timer function that can be used for group shots.
One of the main attractions of digital photography is viewing photos instantly on an LCD. The absence of an LCD on the PDC-330 is frustrating, as we were not able to review the results straight after you shoot. We must mention once again though, the software's usability makes up for this oversight.
In any case, the market that Polaroid is aiming for with the release of the PDC 330--be that first time or web cam users--would not necessarily require the LCD viewer advantage and may not consider this an oversight.
The photo quality of the PDC-330 was quite satisfactory in relation to the $AU99 retail price. However we had trouble in some lighting conditions. Shots taken in cloudy conditions produced the best results. The manual mentions that shooting into the sun will produce sun spots, however we took shots shooting away from the sun and it still affected the clarity of the image. Nighttime shooting also produces satisfactory results, but once again your positioning in proximity to bright lights is an important factor in producing good quality photos. We found that you really need to get up close to your subject when using the flash at night; otherwise your shots will be extremely dark.
The way to ensure good results using the PDC 330 is simply to take a couple of shots of the subject/s you are attempting to capture. That way if factors such as lack of light come into play you'll have a few shots on which to fall back. Once again, the Arcsoft software provided in the PDC 330 package was extremely resourceful in helping us alter shots that were low in clarity and light to produce a presentable representation.
As a live video web cam the PDC 330 quality was considerably worthy when considering the value of the product. We tested the PDC 330 as a web camera with a 33.6 Kbps Internet connection and it operated quite perceptibly and efficiently, however as with most web cameras it produced a delayed movement response.
All in all, the PDC-330 is a great entry-level digital camera. It is well designed, includes a neat package of features and is good value for money.
Polaroid PDC-330
Company: Polaroid
Price: AU$99
Distributor: Hagemeyer (Australasia) B.V.
Phone: (02) 9370 8995
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I'm having trouble downloading my photos off my camera I have an windows XP I've downloaded Pretecs DC 300 Driver and it still wont work.
It definitely wont work on an Apple 0S10 either.
Help please