Polaroid I531 Digital Camera

My son plays pee-wee football. Last year, I used a work camera to take pictures at the games. This season, I decided to buy a cheap digital camera to record his games. While visiting Wal-mart, I stopped by the Electronics Department and scoped out the cameras. I wanted an inexpensive camera that was compact, so I could carry it up and down the sidelines with me, or stick in my pocket if needed.

I noticed the Polaroid I531 which was priced at $89.00. I see that it is available through Epinions partners for $69.00 currently. The on-line price is a good deal, I checked just before Christmas, and the price at Wal-Mart is still $89.00. My rating of this camera is based on the purchase point, and not the overall photographic abilities. Professional cameras can be very expensive. This camera is for personal use, and was purchased for it's cost, size and zoom features.

When I opened the box, I found that there were some extra pieces. Open further inspection, I discovered that there are three different face plates that can be installed on this camera. That indicates to me that this camera is intended to be marketed toward young people. I kept the faceplate that was on it when it came...that doesn't matter to me. The box also contained a USB bridge for downloading photos to your computer. I purchased a memory card for my camera, which can also install pictures directly to my computer, so I haven't used the bridge at all.

Most of the cameras in this price range had 3.0 Mexapixels. The Polaroid I531 is slightly superior in that area, delivering 5.0 megapixels in the same price range. If you go up another fifty to a hundred dollars in price, you can find newer camera models with even more megapixels. 5.0 megapixels serves my purpose just fine. The camera I had last year had a 12X zoom, which was pure optic zoom. This camera comes with 12X zoom also, but the zoom is divided...3X optical zoom and 4X digital zoom. What that means is that you are basically stuck with 3X zoom, but are using the same zoom feature that you would use on your PC to zoom in closer on the action. The advantage of having it built into the camera is that you can better frame your subject matter from a distance, as well as capturing the image without requiring further manipulation. Most cameras in this price range are also delivering 3X optical zoom, but none of the others had the built in digital zoom. I actually like this feature. One thing I would note...from a 12X optical zoom, to a split zoom feature, there is a substantial difference in the quality of the photos. This camera delivers a much less desirable end product than the optical zoom.

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