Ok, I caved and bought that $32 “instant” digital camera that prints on thermal paper.
It’s a weird and wonderful shitty camera. The printer is pretty good, using error diffusion dithering but a bit slow. It’s apparently a 12MP camera that can also do 1080p video on the included 32GB SD card. Obs targeted at kids with the built in filters but there’s something about the immediateness that’s fun about it. Wonder how hackable it is?
OMG you guys, the instant thermal printer camera just got better! If you remove the SD card and plug it in with a USB cable* to your computer, it presents itself as a UVC compliant web cam! Look your best in your next Zoom or Teams meeting! 📷 😎
Some prints from the $32 thermal printing kids camera thing so you can see the output closeup. I’m surprised by the dynamic range of the prints from just a monochrome printer doing error dithering.
@paulrickards you've inspired so many internet strangers! I personally can't wait to take it out in public and give people little photos of themselves. And am SO using your business card idea.
@paulrickards Hey there. Just dropped by to mention that I got this camera because a mate saw you mention it. What an absolutely wonderful little camera!
@paulrickards Looks nice, but I'd probably go with this Kodak, just because it's for adults at the same price point without being much more fragile than the kids version.
@paulrickards indeed! I also bought one, couldn't help myself. Thanks for the tip, it will be fun! (And I'll try to remember to report back on my firmware version.)
@tokefrello Just point and shoot from what I’ve seen so far. Funny, the front of the “lens” has 16x zoom and F/2.4 but it’s all a fixed block of plastic.
@paulrickards@tokefrello Thought so - thanks! sigh Ok, I think I need this camera. I can’t not buy a Polaroid-but-with-cheap-film. Does the flash fire each time?
@tokefrello The "flash" on the front is an LED (they refer to it as "fill") and it won't fire automatically. You manually turn it on or off by holding down the right arrow button. It's not very bright. Not optimal but I guess it at least lets you see the result of the fill light on screen before taking the pic..
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