Two-minute review

I grew up being photographed with, and taking photographs with, Polaroid cameras, which were pretty much standard fare for family photography in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. The Polaroid Go 2 is based on the Polaroid 1000 Land Camera in terms of aesthetics, but with a modernized and miniaturized design. Due to its small size, basic-but-fun features and ease of use, it's a contender for one of the best film cameras you can buy.

The last Polaroid camera I used and reviewed before the Go 2 was the Polaroid z340, which was released back in 2011. This was a digital camera that used a Zink printing system to produce prints with a printed rebate alongside digital image files, and while it was innovative, it lacked the charm and the quality of traditional analog Polaroid prints. The Go 2 rectifies this, taking us back to what makes Polaroid cameras so appealing: true instant analog photography.

The Polaroid Go 2 is available in multiple kits alongside accessories, with the standalone camera costing $80 / £80 / AU$90. You ultimately need some film to get started, so the Starter Set that includes the camera and a Film Double Pack (16 exposures) is potentially a better starting point, and costs $100 / £95 / AU$110. A Film Double Pack X2 (32 exposures) will set you back $40 / £20 / AU$50, and this is available with traditional white or stylish black rebates.

Polaroid Go 2: design

The Go 2 is much smaller than the Polaroid 100 Land Camera it takes its design cues from, being palm-sized but with a much more rounded finish. It's also available in black, white, blue, and red, so you can select the color you prefer. For me, the black finish looks best, contrasting nicely with the red shutter button and the Polaroid rainbow.

The camera is made using 30% recycled polycarbonate and ABS plastics, and the build quality feels good. There is some movement of the film door against its lock on the bottom of the camera when you're holding it, but this doesn’t cause any issues. Loading the camera is incredibly easy, especially if you've used instant cameras in the past; if you haven't, labelled film packs and the quick-start guide will guide you through the process.

The viewfinder is surprisingly reliable despite parallax error, which is the difference between what you see through the viewfinder and what the adjacent lens captures. One useful feature of the viewfinder is that the front is mirrored, so you can use it to help compose selfies, which can be taken using either the shutter button or the self-timer.

The camera uses an internal rechargeable battery that's charged via USB-C. Battery life is good, and the remaining charge is indicated by green, orange and red on the LED that shows the camera is switched on. The only downside here is that the battery is built-in, so you can't change or replace it, although this is only likely to be an issue after years of use.

Polaroid Go 2: performance

The Go 2 couldn’t be easier to use; it's a point-and-shoot camera with automatic exposure and a fixed-focus lens. The lens is made of polycarbonate resin, and produces an equivalent focal length of 51.1mm, which is perfect for this type of camera. The minimum focusing distance is 1.5ft / 45cm, so the Go 2 isn’t at all suited to close-up photography, unfortunately.

The shutter speed is automatically set between 1/300 sec and 1 sec, while the aperture is adjusted between f/9 and f/42. Exposure overall isn’t bad, but I found that images erred slightly towards underexposure, and the camera performs much better in brighter conditions than in low light. There is a flash that helps in low light, but it's not powerful, so its effectiveness is limited. Still, it's better to have than not.

Image quality isn’t quite what I remember of Polaroid cameras, lacking the clarity and color balance I can recall. Sure, it was never perfect from point-and-shoot Polaroid cameras, but it was better. Development time is also advertised as 10-15 minutes, which does appear correct, and this is much longer than Polaroid film of old, which only took a few minutes to develop. I suspect that the chemicals have been changed since then, potentially using a more environmentally friendly and/or less costly formula.

This wait time takes away some of the magical immediacy of using an instant camera, but at the same time it's ultimately not a problem. Prints are 2.62 x 2.12 inches / 66.6 x 53.9mm with a 1.85 x 1.81-inch / 47 x 46mm image area; the small print size is comparable to that of Fujifilm's Instax Mini prints, albeit with Polaroid's square format rather than Fujifilm's rectangular image area.

Prints also typically exhibit more color casts and haziness than I remember, producing a more retro look and feel than Polaroid film from even as late as the early noughties. This isn’t a bad thing though; it certainly taps into the popularity of retro photography effects these days, and I like it.

Two features of the camera that stand out are the self-timer and the ability to capture double exposures. These are activated using specific presses of the flash button, and for double exposures, you're shown a 1 and 2 on the shot remaining screen so you know which shot you're taking. The flash is also activated by default, so if you don’t want or need flash you have to switch it off each time you switch the camera on.

Should I buy the Polaroid Go 2?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Polaroid Go 2 instant camera

I tested the Polaroid Go 2 Instant Camera over several days, using it to capture a range of subjects in different lighting conditions. I also tested the few features that the camera has to offer, which are basic, but fun and useful nonetheless.

Since exposure is fully automatic, except for being able to switch the flash on or off, all testing was a point-and-shoot affair, but that's exactly what basic Polaroid cameras are used for – instantaneous simplicity. Having somewhere to safely store exposed prints was a necessity, however.

Having used both Polaroid and Fujifilm Instax cameras in the past, using the Go 2 was as intuitive as I'd hoped, and the small size and light weight of the camera made it much easier to carry around than full-size instant cameras.

First reviewed August 2024