Polaroid PhotoMax PDC-640 0.3MP Digital Camera Kit

by Polaroid

Product Details

Product Manual [546kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.3 x 2.2 inches ; 11.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00005KJG6
• Batteries: 4 AA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,061 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 27, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Polaroid PhotoMax PDC640 FL digital camera makes digital photography easy and affordable while delivering outstanding image quality for crisp, professional-looking photographs. With point-and-shoot simplicity and all of the features normally associated with much more expensive cameras, the PDC640 FL has a 1.8-inch LCD monitor/viewfinder, built-in flash, and self-timer. It has memory storage capacity in 640 x 480 mode for 12 images in superfine quality, 24 images in high resolution, and 36 images in standard resolution. In 320 x 240 mode, the PDC640 FL will hold 96 images. As a valuable bonus, this kit also includes a FlashPath reader so you can easily transfer data from the SmartMedia card to your PC. Shaped like a floppy disk, the FlashPath works directly from your floppy disk drive, so there is no need for cumbersome power supplies or cables.

The PDC640 FL's accompanying Creative Kit offers everything cyber shutterbugs need to take pictures and download them to the computer. It includes a 2 MB SmartMedia card, FlashPath reader, batteries, PC cable, TV cable, AC adapter, camera case, wrist strap, camera and software instruction manuals, quick-start card, and an online tutorial.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Little Camera, July 4, 2001

By 

D. Rapson "geekacres" (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Polaroid PhotoMax PDC-640 0.3MP Digital Camera Kit (Electronics)

I've had my PDC 640 for about a year and its great. I use my camera for photos to e-mail and to post on a personal website. With much of my family over 150 miles away its been a great way to keep everyone informed of events throughout the year.

Highlights are ease of use. The software was easy to install and intuitive to use. The LCD screen on the back of the camera lets you preview your shot. This will let you keep the current pic, or delete it and re-shoot.

The primary drawback is resolution. If you're looking to print your photos you may want to look at another camera with a couple of megapixels. However, if e-mail and web publishing is your focus, this one will give you some nice "bang for your buck".

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great bargain for some people., August 20, 2001

By 

William L. Gilstrap - See all my reviews

This review is from: Polaroid PhotoMax PDC-640 0.3MP Digital Camera Kit (Electronics)

If you use Windows 98 or 95 and mostly want pictures to share on the internet or to put on internet auctions, this camera is the best bargain around. It does make nice 640 x 480 pictures and is quite easy to use. It's sharpness is good and so is the color. It will focus up to 6 inches from the subject so is good for taking shots very close. It will make close-up pictures of objects 1 inch square. The focus is divided into zones like many vintage cameras ("Close" - "Medium Distance" - and "Far Distance", but it autofocuses within each zone and focuses exactly on the subject. Automatic exposure without flash is good, as is the automatic flash exposure. The Flash Path device is really "the thing" for older computers with no USB ports. Just take the card out of the camera, slide it into a diskette shaped device and put it in the disk drive. From there you can save the pictures to anywhere on your computer. The Polaroid software is ok but really basic. Another picture editing program is needed for much work on editing the pictures. This camera is a nice, handy size and the case slides on a belt to be carried around very easily and handily. It would be a good idea to buy a spare, larger card to go along with the standard one if you plan to take the camera very far from home. Batteries don't last very long but they do last a lot longer than most of the more expensive cameras. It uses 4 standard AA batteries. A set is included in the kit. The kit also comes standard with an AC adapter, which if used around the house, will extend the battery life a lot. There is also a serial connector cable, cable for Mac computers and a cable to connect the camera to a tv set, as well as a little hand carrying strap. Overall, this most certainly is a lot of camera for the money.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For the price, it's great!, August 6, 2001

By 

Pierre Fontaine "Pierre Fontaine" (Westchester County, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Polaroid PhotoMax PDC-640 0.3MP Digital Camera Kit (Electronics)

I purchased this camera a few days ago and while I can't speak for it's long-term value, I can give you my immediate thoughts. Firstly, you do get everything you need to start taking photos right out of the box. I was able to take my first digital photographs within fifteen minutes of opening the box. The QuickStart card is actually more confusing then it needs to be (for instance it implies that the 2MB Smart Card needs to be formatted but it is in fact already formatted), but the manual is very clear and tells you everything you need to know.

If you need a digital camera purely for web or email purposes, this camera is great. When viewed on your monitor, the images are bright and sharp. Your resolution choices are 320 x 240 or 640 x 480 at three different compression settings. Because of the resolution limitations, the images taken with this camera are not suitable for print purposes unless you like soft and fuzzy detail.

All images are actually taken at 144 DPI rather than 72 DPI (screen resolution). This is an undocumented feature but it does account for the great on-screen images. However, all the images are heavily compressed. Even the highest quality setting shows quite alot of JPEG artifacts (again not great for printouts).

The more light you can throw on your subject, the better the finished image will look. Daylight photos look very nice, while low-light, indoor photos (without using the flash) look grainy. You have a number of flash settings, all of which work great. Overall, the finished image usually comes out very good.

A great feature is the Macro setting. You can take photos of anything within a half inch to a foot and a half from your camera. I've taken photos of some products I hope to sell and they turned out really great. This is something I could never do with my point and shoot 35mm camera.

The floppy adapter is a great feature. Take the Smart Card out of the camera, put it in the adapter and pop it into your computer's disk drive. The files take just a minute or so to transfer. This negates the use of any additional cables to your computer or using the included AC adapter to power the camera while transfers are happening.

Regarding batteries, I've taken perhaps 50 photos at various resolutions over the past few days and the batteries still show a full charge. The LCD screen turns off after 30 seconds which can be quite annoying but I've gotten in the habit of only using the LCD screen to review and delete images. I now use the optical viewfinder to take most of my pictures. This saves on your batteries and while not quite as accurate as the LCD, it works fine.

So overall, for web work or emails, this camera should get four stars. The resolution could be better (even at 144 DPI internally) but you get everthing you need to take photos and get them on your computer quickly and easily. Don't even consider this camera if you want to get printouts made. You'll only be disappoined. Bite the bullet and go with a megapixel camera instead.