Polaroid iON 230 Review

Polaroid does not specify the focal length of this micro lens although it appears to be about a 40mm in 35mm equivalent. This is a 5-element glass, fixed focus lens that works from 3 feet to infinity in normal mode, flip the switch on the side and it now works from 6-8" for closeups.

The built in flash offers Auto, On, Off and Red-Eye Reduction modes. Flash range is approx. 4 to 6 ft.

You can frame your pictures with the 1.6-inch color LCD or to save precious battery power you can use the optical eyelevel finder. On top is a slide switch to go from Play to Record mode. The 4-way controller activates the digital zoom by pushing up or down. Press it to the right for the menus. In playback you use the 4-way to select pictures and navigate menus. Next to the color LCD are the Power button, Flash mode (works as the OK button for menu selections) and the Monitor display button.

The iON 230 has 16MB of internal memory and a Secure Digital card slot. It can handle any capacity SD card up to 512MB.

The iON 230 comes with a 3.7v 500mAh lithium polymer rechargeable battery pack. Polaroid claims a fully charged battery can record 200 shots or run for approx. 60 minutes.

The included camera dock charges the battery whenever the camera is placed in the cradle. This docking cradle is also a 3-port USB 1.1 hub for your desktop. When the camera is in the cradle it may be used as a webcam with Microsoft Netmeeting software.

Unlike a lot of the cameras with charging cradles, the iON 230 may be charged without the cradle using the pigtail USB cable and the AC power supply. The dock also has a slot that can charge the battery out of the camera. These are all nice features that add value to this outfit.

One last extra, a soft carrying case that has pockets for an extra battery and an SD memory card. It has a belt loop on the back side.