Buy Fuji Instax Camera
Arriana Vasquez is an updates writer for Wirecutter and a photographer. Her photography ranges from studio portraits to influencer, product, and street photography. For Wirecutter she has worked on several camera related guides including the best instant printer, best tripod (and monopod), and best cell phone tripod.
buy fuji instax camera
Instant cameras use film packs that include a negative, all the necessary chemical developers and substrates, and the positive paper required to produce the finished print. After you press the shutter, the print emerges from the camera, the development process begins, and the blank sheet turns into a color photograph within minutes. Most film packs come in bundles of 10 exposures, and most cameras have a countdown mechanism to tell you how many shots are left in the pack.
The Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo combines the fun of an analog instant camera (tangible prints) with some advantages of a digital camera (a review screen, filters, discretionary printing) in a tiny, portable package.
You can unlock more features using the slick Instax Mini Evo app, from printing images through your smartphone to remote shooting using your phone to customizing three shortcut buttons on the camera. The Evo will store about 45 images in its internal memory, but an additional microSD slot allows for far more storage and also means you could transfer the images from the camera onto your computer and then to all your social media platforms. The built-in battery is rated to last about 100 shots per charge.
As you rotate the dial a preview of the effect is shown on the back screen of the camera so you know what the image will look like before you take it. You can add both a lens and film effect to the same image which can lead to some fun and interesting combinations.
Kodak has also tried its own 4Pass Photo Paper in both the Mini Shot and the Kodak Photo Print Mini 2. While the credit-card-sized prints (which are also stickers) are sharp and vibrant, the process is slow and the final output is missing some of the nostalgic softness of an Instax print that harkens back to Polaroids of old. As yellow, magenta. and cyan colors are added, the print emerges and retreats from the device. The wide angle of the Mini Shot camera also distorted our images for some unflattering results.
The best instant cameras are still incredibly popular, even in today's digital age. We'll help you choose the best one so that you can start capturing and printing your very own retro photos.
It's the simplicity of the best instant cameras that makes them so appealing for people of all ages and experience levels. After all, they're so straightforward that they make some of the best cameras for kids (opens in new tab) as well as the best cameras for beginners (opens in new tab).
Fujifilm's latest Instax offering, the Mini LiPlay (8/10, WIRED Recommends), works as a camera and a printer. The pocketable form factor makes it easy to tote it around and enjoy the immediate gratification of an instant camera. As a bonus, if you want to print a photo from your phone, you can do that with the mobile app. The LiPlay has a nice glass lens, a mirror for selfies, and the ability to review images before committing them to paper. We found the embedded QR codes for audio gimmicky, but many users enjoy them.
If you're aiming for the best photo quality, this Fujifilm camera is the best instant camera the company makes. Compared to some of the other Instax Mini cameras, the Mini 90 Neo Classic is compact, comes with a long-lasting rechargeable battery, and gives you more creative control with a push-button close-up lens and a double exposure mode. We like its dual shutter buttons, which make it super easy to take a selfie from just about any angle. It often sells for around $120, so check prices often.
The Instax Mini 40 falls somewhere between the Mini 90 and Mini 11. It's a bit bigger than the Mini 90 and otherwise has the same features as the Mini 11, with the exception of its surprisingly good selfie mode. Pull out the lens to swap into a focus designed especially for close-ups of your mug (or a macro-y non-selfie.) The pebbled feel and retro black-and-silver look may make this camera more appealing than the bright and bubbly Mini 11. It's a good option for those who don't need all the bells and whistles of the Mini 90.
If you want the Polaroid look but not the bulky camera, consider the Polaroid Lab ($130). The Lab makes Polaroid images from images on your phone. It takes a photo of your phone screen, so the better phone you have, the nicer the results.
Fujifilm's Mini Link is close to our top pick, the LiPlay, but ditches the camera functionality. Instead the Mini Link prints images from your phone. Fujifilm's new mobile app is much better than its past efforts. I'd recommend this over the older SP-2 printer for that reason alone, since the results are otherwise similar.
Polaroid and Fujifilm's Instax are the two biggest brands in instant cameras. While both use similar technology, using chemical reactions that self-develop each image in your hand, the main difference between them is the type of film their cameras take.
Polaroid cameras take one or two types of film: the larger I-Type, which produces square format photos, and the newer 'Go' film, used by its tiny Polaroid Go camera. You can choose between color and black-and-white film, along with a range of different border colors.
Instax cameras offer a wider variety of film types: there's Instax Mini, Square and Wide film. Like Polaroid's film, these can't be mixed and matched between cameras, so choosing your preferred film type is an important part of picking the right instant camera for you.
For a full comparison between the instant camera brands, check out our Polaroid vs Instax guide. And to compare the sizes of all the different Polaroid and Instax film types, check out our full ranked list below.
7. Polaroid Zink 2x3\nCredit-card sized instant film that uses heat-sensitive ink to produce images. Colors are more traditional than Instax. Compatible with many Zink-based cameras and printers.
Analogue photography has enjoyed a revival in recent years, and the trend shows no signs of going away any time soon. Instant cameras let you have a slice of the throwback pie without the steep learning curve, expense and hassle of more complicated film photography techniques.
They might be retro, but the best instant cameras are still very on-trend, capturing your best moments and then developing and printing the results in minutes. Reliving your memories on Instagram is one thing, but there's something to be said about how that same instant gratification is achieved in physical, nostalgic printouts from instant cameras.
There's nothing that quite captures the charm, candor, and authenticity of shots taken with an instant camera, but that's not to say there's only one way to go when choosing yours. Instant cameras (and instant film, for that matter) come in many shapes and sizes. So, you not only have a variety of options to choose from, but you can also get a collection going if you're into that sort of thing.
A tiny mirror built into the front of the camera and a pop-out lens barrel for close-ups means it's easy to get an instant selfie, while the affordable packs of Instax Mini film make it a great addition to any party. It's available in a range of fun colors, so you should be able to find one that suits your style.
If the Instax Mini 11 (see number one) looks just a little too toy-like for your tastes, the Mini 40 is a more design-centric alternative. It has the same retro styling as Fuji's more expensive instant cameras, only underneath the skin it's mechanically identical to the Mini 11.
It's true that some hybrid instant cameras are even more pocketable, but they tend to 'cheat' by printing images on Zero Ink paper, rather than with a chemical development process. You get the real deal here, in square format just like the larger I-Type film, only significantly smaller.
At launch, it costs roughly the same as the full-size Polaroid Now, making it a lot pricier than the entry-level Fuji Instax Mini 11, but that's a figure worth paying if you want an instant camera you can take just about anywhere.
An adjustable lens barrel and built-in mirror are useful for close-ups and selfie shots, and the automatic flash is usually smart enough to keep indoor and low-light snaps looking good once they develop. There aren't any other shooting modes to think about, or even luxuries like a tripod thread, and the plastic construction feels noticeably less premium than the more expensive Instax SQ6, so this is a camera better suited to instant newcomers rather than creatives looking to experiment with the medium.
Canon's first instant effort is actually more of a hybrid, blending analogue 'film' with digital smarts. The Zink (zero ink) paper it uses doesn't need exposing to light like regular instant film, so the camera can be much smaller. The Ivy Cliq+ / Zoemini S is truly pocket-sized, beating even Fuji's Instax Mini LiPlay for portability.
It seems a lot simpler than other hybrid cameras, but built-in Bluetooth support lets it perform double duty as a portable printer. Being able to turn your smartphone snaps into physical prints gives it an edge over bulkier instant cameras, and it's sensibly priced too.
The Instax wide format is much larger than a digital sensor, so this equates to a moderate wide-angle lens. For a big camera, though, the Instax Wide 300 has a tiny viewfinder. It takes practice even to get your eye lined up with the eyepiece.
Unlike the original instax SQUARE model, namely the analog/digital hybrid SQUARE SQ10, the SQ6 has a different idea in mind. Shaped like the Instagram logo and very much targeted at the kind of younger user who shares their creations on the platform, the camera runs on a pair of CR2 batteries and spits out 6.2x6.2cm prints, with the selfie mirror integrated into the front of the camera allowing for more effortless self captures. 041b061a72