Polaroid's instant cameras might be known for their point-and-shoot simplicity, but the new Bluetooth-equipped Polaroid Now+ has landed to give analogue snappers some new tricks to play with.
The Polaroid Now+ succeeds last year's Polaroid Now and is effectively a cross between that camera and the Polaroid OneStep+ from 2018. The big upgrade from the Polaroid Now is Bluetooth connectivity, which means the Now+ connects to Polaroid's revamped app.
This app opens up creative features like light painting, double exposures and a manual mode. It also includes two new features that are commonly found on more advanced cameras: an aperture priority mode and tripod mode. Unusually for a Polaroid camera, this lets you play with depth of field and long exposures.
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The original Polaroid Now was the first Polaroid camera to have an autofocus lens, which helped remove some of the guesswork from instant shooting (while still leaving room for happy accidents). The Now+ also has autofocus, and adds a new tripod mount to help support those long exposures.
Unlike previous Polaroid instant cameras, the Now+ also comes with a lens filter kit. These clip-on filters let you saturate the colors or deepen the contrast in your snaps, while adding effects like starbursts. And because those filters are prime candidates for getting lost down your sofa, you also get a carry case to keep them safe.
The Polaroid Now+ is available to buy now for £139.99 (around $192 / AU$264) in three colorways: the standard White and Black versions, plus a new Blue Gray model. The latter is available exclusively from Polaroid's store and is, in the company's words, "the most elegant Polaroid camera to date". The Polaroid Go might be slightly offended about that, but it certainly looks dapper.
Analysis: A sensible 'greatest hits' of Polaroid
The Polaroid Now+ doesn't do anything we haven't seen in an instant camera before. But it does offer a compelling combination of features that effectively mixes the best bits from the Polaroid Now and OneStep+. And that's a combination that should be a lot of fun.
The Lomography Lomo'Instant is arguably an even more versatile instant camera, given you can buy it with three interchangeable lenses: a 35mm portrait lens, fisheye lens and close-up lens. The Lomo'Instant also comes with color gels (the equivalent of the Now+'s filters) and lets you shoot long exposures.
But Lomography's cameras also tend to come with a slightly steep learning curve. We found the Polaroid Now to be very straightforward to use, particularly thanks to its autofocus, and the addition of a load more features in the Polaroid app mean the Now+ should (in theory) strike a good balance between versatility and usability.
While Polaroid's I-Type film tends to work out more expensive than its Fujifilm Instax equivalents, we are also fans of the Polaroid film's size (each print measures 4.2x3.4in) and its warm, vintage style.
Put this all together and the Polaroid Now+ looks like another sensible step forward for its small range of compact cameras, which includes the recent Polaroid Go. We're in the process of testing the Now+ and will give you our final verdict soon.
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