Is It Film or a Camera?

Hybrid digital camera models blur the lines but promise the best of both worlds.

James A. Martin, special to PCWorld.com

Among consumer cameras, the contrast between film and digital is getting a little blurry these days.

Kodak has started shipping a film camera that lets you preview pictures as digital images on an LCD panel. And in recent months, Olympus, Fujifilm, and Polaroid have unveiled digital cameras that also use film.

Are hybrid film/digital cameras developing into the wave of the future? Or is this just a curious snapshot in time?

Most consumers today still prefer film cameras because of their familiarity, affordability, and top image quality, says Ron Glaz, a digital camera industry analyst for IDC. At the same time, they're intrigued by the advantages digital cameras offer, such as the ability to preview instantly. The current hybrid models provide, to some degree, the best of both formats while providing consumers with a comfortable transition from film to digital, Glaz believes.

But this scenario won't last too long, Glaz points out. Within a few years, as today's tech-savvy kids enter the job market and others grow more comfortable with technology, digital cameras are expected to skyrocket in sales. This year, 5.5 million digital cameras will be sold in the U.S., according to IDC research, with a whopping 18.6 million expected in 2004.

Meanwhile, the hybrid cameras--however short-lived they may be--are generating a lot of interest.

Kodak Offers Advantix Preview

Recently awarded a "Best of What's New" award from Popular Science magazine, the Advantix Preview is the first APS film-format camera to offer digital previewing, according to Kodak.

When you take a picture, the camera captures the exposure on film and creates a digital representation of the image. You can view the digital image on the camera's 1.8-inch LCD panel to get an idea how the film image will look when printed.

If you don't like the picture, just push a button on the camera to tell the photo finisher not to print it. If the picture looks great, push a button on the camera to tell your photo processor to print up to nine copies. Either way, you save money in processing charges, according to Kodak.

The Advantix Preview (with estimated retail price of $300) uses a separate sensor and optics to capture the digital previews. Kodak software algorithms help ensure that the digital preview closely matches the look of the processed print, the company claims.

Olympus Breaks Ground With C-211 Zoom

This megapixel point-and-shoot model combines the instant gratification of a Polaroid snapshot camera with the advantages of a digital camera.

Like many digital cameras, the C-211 captures digital images that can be transferred to your PC via a USB connection or SmartMedia card. Using an LCD panel, you can choose the pics you want and delete the rest.

Unlike other digital cameras, however, the C-211 Zoom can also spit out pictures on the spot using everyday Polaroid film and a built-in printer. The pictures print in about 20 seconds. As with any instant Polaroid picture, the images take a few minutes to develop after printing.

Convenience comes at a cost, however. As PCWorld.com noted previously, the C-211 Zoom is two to three times the size and weight of other digital cameras. At $799, the price tag is a bit higher, too.

Olympus is reportedly the first to offer such a camera. Fujifilm has announced a similar digicam/printer combination, but it has yet to become available in the U.S.

Polaroid Markets I-Zone Digital, Instant Combo Cameras

The least expensive hybrid, the Polaroid I-Zone has two distinct personalities. On one side, it's a digital camera capable of capturing images at 640-by-480-dpi resolution (fine for e-mailing or Web posting but not too crisp for printing). Turn the camera over, and it's an instant camera that produces postage-stamp-size pictures.

In essence, the I-Zone is two separate cameras sharing the same body and batteries. Priced at $99, it's primarily aimed at teenagers and young adults--precisely the type of consumers who will be buying full-fledged digital cameras in the near future. (See "Polaroid Combines Sights, Sounds.")