Labs

The Polaroid PDC 5350 may be the highest-resolution camera on test, but it's proof that megapixels don't necessarily mean quality.

It boasts the most pedestrian styling of all the cameras on test. This wouldn't normally bother us - besides, it does have a certain classic charm - but the lack of design flair does carry through to the interface design and ergonomics. It's tricky even to turn this camera on; the buttons are tiny, the screen

ADVERTISEMENT

is grainy, and the icon-driven menu is ugly and unintuitive. There are a few flash modes - auto, red-eye, slow synchronisation, off; nothing out of the ordinary - but there are no special shooting modes.

Its images were easily the worst on test. It wasn't the only camera to skew the white balance towards yellow in our indoor tests (the models from Konica Minolta, Nikon and Sanyo were also offenders), but where these models displayed redeeming characteristics such as a good level of detail or noise-free images, the Polaroid's shots were distinctly substandard. Not only did they colour-shift in all our test shots, but the images lacked in detail and were over-burdened with noise.

There are some cameras on test whose features, value or handling make up for their less-than perfect-images, but the Polaroid isn't one of them. Its rechargeable battery can't compensate for a camera that's unfriendly to use, and ultimately produces unrewarding images. Don't let the high megapixel rating fool you: this is a poor effort.