CONSUMING INTEREST
Snap, Crackle, Plop
By LESLIE ADRIAN
That said, the Swinger looks like a winner, designed in such a way that it is almost im- possible to make a mistake. Even the view- finder tells you yes or no at the turn of a single control. When it says yes, you take, then press another knob and pull out a strip of film and wait ten seconds. There's the picture, at a cost of less than 2s. a print. Not exactly pro- fessional photography (some of the pictures I took reminded me of my box Brownie days), but quite creditable. The satisfying thing is being able to see what sort of a mess you are making of it right away.
The shutter is set to one two-hundredth of a second and the focus is infinitely variable, thanks to high-speed film and small lens aperture. Pic- tures can be taken at two feet or two miles from the subject. A flash-gun has been built in round the lens, so that all you have to do is push in a bulb beside the lens, set the estimated distance (the yes-no trick only works in day- light) and shoot. The definition of black-and- whites taken this simple way (there is no colour— Tor less than ten quid? You'd have to be joking!,' said a- Polaroid man) is remarkably good.
There are, in fact, plenty of mistakes you can make, even with this foolproof toy. But the monosyllabic instruction leaflet tells how not to, the basic rules of play are moulded into the plastic case and all you really have to be able to do is count to ten. All that is missing is a warning in red about using the litter-baskets. Not that anyone would take the slightest notice, but it would have been a lovely PR gimmick.
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