Don't throw out that Polaroid just yet, make it digital

Just because Polaroid isn't going to sell you film for your camera anymore doesn't mean you have to go Zink and toss your analog. Geek Technique's got a guide -- surely the first of many -- to transforming an old Polaroid into a digital camera (in this case, a USB-connected webcam).

[mkeough23 @ Feb 10th 2008 9:23PM]

oooo I'll just mount that Polaroid webcam on top of my laptop screen and I'll be set!

[Rafer @ Feb 10th 2008 9:27PM]

But your mackbook air will cut it on half.

[Adam @ Feb 10th 2008 9:37PM]

For those who don't hit the read link, he just put a web cam in a polaroid body.

[Reader @ Feb 10th 2008 9:45PM]

Yeah, how lame. This isn't worth a post on Engadget at all.

[Peter @ Feb 10th 2008 9:53PM]

I wish I could vote down this Engadget post.

[Adam @ Feb 10th 2008 9:57PM]

I don't mind so much that it is on Engadget, but I do mind that Ryan wasn't upfront about what was going on. When I saw it I was like how the heck did he do that (thinking it was impossible), but then I saw it was simply a case mod to a webcam.

[Andrew H. @ Feb 11th 2008 12:22AM]

aww way to spoil it. i was so excited to be disappointed

[Ryan Block @ Feb 10th 2008 10:22PM]

Whoa, what part of "transforming an old Polaroid into a digital camera (in this case, a USB-connected webcam)" did you guys not get?

[JC @ Feb 11th 2008 1:09PM]

Ryan, your article reads like this guy somehow used the internal parts of a Polaroid camera and somehow connected them to a USB adapter to make a working webcam, which could not be further from the truth.

This shouldn't even be on the site, and even if it did make it, the article should have read, "This guy took a Polaroid camera shell and mounted a USB webcam in it. Big whoop."

[jamesFF @ Feb 10th 2008 9:54PM]

Will it have a built in photo printer?

[Taylor Kemp @ Feb 10th 2008 10:02PM]

Step 1

Get a digital camera

Step 2

Get a matching prrinter dock that will fit that camera snugly

Step 3

Duct tape said components together



Voila, Neo-polaroid!

[Brian @ Feb 10th 2008 10:39PM]

Step 4

????

Step 5

Profit!

[BatteryAcid @ Feb 10th 2008 10:47PM]

Cool, but it would have been much cooler if he had gotten a cheap camera (
(maybe a hacked digital cvs disposable), installed it in the camera (rerouted buttons and all), then installed a tiny instant photo printer.

[Patrick @ Feb 10th 2008 11:17PM]

land camera?

[aoi tsuki @ Feb 11th 2008 2:48AM]

If you're just going to mock the poor thing by turning it into its replacement, better to sell it to someone who actually appreciates a film camera.

[silverblackvoid @ Feb 11th 2008 3:55AM]

somethings should be left analog. this is a classic gadget. keep it the way it was.

[jmd @ Feb 11th 2008 2:35PM]

no, headline is very mis leading. When one transforms a polaroid to digital, one assumes it still acts like a camera.. taking pictures remotely, to be uploaded to a pc later. The webcam does not take pictures, and this camera requires a pc to be connected at all time. lame.

[spm.peapot @ Feb 11th 2008 7:04PM]

Darn it... I guess the porn industry is going to find other ways to do the proof shots.