Polaroid Spectra 1200FF Instant Camera

Besides just being fun, this camera has many business applications like documenting insurance and real estate claims, body shop claims, appraisal documentation, landscape design, "before and after" pictures, or "work-in-progress" updates. The slim, ergonomic design makes this camera extremely portable and easy to take with you everywhere.

The thing with this camera is that it compliments itself - where there's a good point for every bad point.

For example, the size of it..it's really quite heavy and large, and when the top is extended, it's a pretty big piece of equipment to be playing with. Yet..the design is really cool..no matter what the size! it's a funky silver, with the cool lens and sleek edging..there's no reason why you wouldn't want to have one!

Often, in bright bright daylight, the photos can become very white ie: too much light for the camera. This sometimes makes the photos a little blurry, and obviously the subject matter non defined. But at the same time..in the right light you have wicked intense colour.

It I find is also quite difficult at times to judge the 2 different settings; 0.6m-1.2m or 1.2m-6m. Often when you think you are in one zone and you set the camera to that...it may still often be a little blurry, as you may be just in or out of the range.

But the benefits here are that of simply having a polaroid camera..instant, instense coloured, extreme fun fotos.

So overall she aint bad..and I'd definently reccomend her to anyone - simply for the fun that I have found the polaroid to be..you can relive an excellent moment 2 minutes later.


Great Camera for indoor pictures   July 9, 2001
David Vine (San Diego, CA United States)
24 out of 24 found this review helpful

While a great camera overall, it does have a few problems,

As always, the camera was extremely easy to use, and the close up lens work great. The wide angle lens is a DEFINITE PLUS! In comparing an old Polaroid Captiva and a friends JoyCam, I was able to get an additional 20-30% more image using the 1200FF.

While the pop up design is extremly easy to manipulate, the overall size was quite surprising. This is definitely not a camera that you can slide into your camera bag or purse as an after thought. The surprisingly large size is about the same as 3 DVD cases stacked on top of each other.

SouthPaw's, nothing new here, you are still out of luck with this one. Pretty much everything on this camera is designed for right handed use, from the pop-up mechanism, the shutter release, and even the film cover release.

While it is advertised for both indoor and Outdoor photos, Outdoor photos, have a tendency to be a bit washedout, especially in low contrast situations (brightly lit objects, wide open spaces, light colored buildings, etc). It would have been nice if Polaroid would have added a contrast adjustment switch, like they did on the Captiva. In contrast, the 1200FF fill-in flash works great for indoor photos.

As with all Polaroids keep a watch over the film, extreme temperatures will greatly effect the image quality (don't leave it baking in your car), and with the pitures costing almost a buck a pop, it can turn out to be a costly mistake.

While definitely not a replacement for a standard 35mm, its overall picture quality, wide angle lens and obvious instant gratification factor, make this a great tag along camera for any family trip, or party.


I bought it in June and it stopped working on Sept 1??   September 3, 2001
20 out of 20 found this review helpful

It WAS a good camera, took very nice pictures and it seemed to depend on each packet of film for the colors??? I used it a lot and all of a sudden... just barely into 3 months of ownership,it broke.The film dragged after each picture and then it died....still drags but nothing comes out and I tried several packets of film....So much for a good camera. KMS


Excellent new design for Polaroid camera   April 11, 2001
Peter Kline (Coral Springs, FL United States)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

This new Spectra design is well thought out and quite handsome. The camera is a FIXED FOCUS, NOT AUTO FOCUS as listed in Amazon specs. Spectra film is just about this best Polaroid offers for the consumer. Although not yet available, this camera will use the new 12 exposure film pack as well as the current 10 exposure one. As far as size it is still smaller than the previous Spectra camera and lighter. The wide film size does necessitate this camera be bigger than OneStep or JoyCam.


Not As Good As You Think   May 17, 2003
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

I have an older polaroid camera that takes better pictures than this one. One must be careful about the distance between you and the object being photographed. Outdoor pictures seem to be the most problematic. The picture quality just isn't as good or consistent as it should be.