While Polaroid’s are known for their Instant Cameras and also being one of the still existing photograph companies (founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land).
While Polaroid’s heyday was the ’70s through the early ’90s, the company would fade due to bankruptcy in 2001 and be report when it was acquired by its largest shareholder, the Dutch photography company, the Impossible Project.
And now the company is back, same typeface, still producing Instant Cameras but to my surprise, the Polaroid Wave Underwater Streaming Camera, which is a waterproof digital camera.
The camera is wi-fi enabled, has HD video recording, waterproof up to 10 feet, shoots 18MP still photos and has a protective case. All this for under $70.
There are a few things one should know about this camera, while you can take a photo and have a microSD card in the camera. The battery is built in and can be charged.
The rear of the camera has a viewfinder. A red button to take photos, a top button to turn the camera on and off, three buttons in the rear to get into settings, one arrow up and down to navigate and to select an option, use the red button (in the front).
Because there are not a lot of options, the camera works great for children wanting to have a digital camera to take photos and take video, but to also take video underwater.
Once you download the Polaroid Wave app, you can use wifi to stream the video to your mobile phone and take photos or record the video. But I had problems with wifi disconnections between the camera and my phone.
I tested the camera in a variety of conditions, but the results were the same, you need light. Most conditions, the camera video was much too dark for my taste. There is no way to experiment with aperture or low light situations. You need light.
The camera did survive being submerged in water and my worries of the memory card compartment worried me. But fortunately, no water got into the unit and was pleased that the waterproof portion did work.
The camera does work as a basic digital camera, if one shoots outdoors, with their friends in sunlight or good lighted situations.
Personally, I wasn’t too impressed with the Polaroid Wave Underwater Streaming Camera in terms of overall picture quality, but this is not meant to compete with a GoPro (which costs a lot more).
At under $70, it’s a camera meant for newbies and those who want to keep things simple. To take photos, shoot video and also to shoot video underwater. Again, this is not a competitor of GoPro which is 3 to 4 times the price of this camera. For those on a budget that want a camera to shoot underwater, then you can definitely give this camera a try.
But with its darkened, blurry pictures, it’s a digital camera that I can’t highly recommend but the Polaroid Wave Underwater Streaming Camera… I do give it a thumbs up for newbies and those on a budget.
