UPDATE: We’ve created an ultimate guide to instant film which you can find here.
We’ve long been fans of the Fuji Instax line, even taking them all the way to the Peruvian Amazon. They are instant cameras, letting you quickly share a photo, and bring some of the magic of instant photography everywhere you go. (Fun fact: the Instax Mini film was the most popular item on Amazon this past holiday season! We’re not the only ones who love this stuff!)
So when the fine folks at Fuji asked if we wanted to try out the new Instax Mini 70 we said YEP! And then they said “Hey, we can give one to one of your readers!” and we said “YEP YEP!”.
We used the Instax to take some photos of our holidays, and it was, as usual, a blast. It was so much fun to see our little stack of shots piling up, and at the end of it all it made such a wonderful momento.
Here’s our quick review of the camera! Enjoy!
First up, this model looks GOOD. I love the colors (you can get white, blue and yellow), and the new design. Very sleek.
It also has some neat new features. It has a selfie mode, with a little mirror on the front so you can get your framing. LOVE this, especially when we have so few photos of us together, this helps!
They’ve also updated the flash and auto-exposure to automatically balance the background with the subject. I definitely see the difference, with more images getting an actual viewable background (instead of just black, as with the older models). It does slow the shutter speed down to expose for the low light, so you might notice a bit of motion blur, especially when taken with shaky toddler hands. Yep, our 3 year old took this photo of us!
That’s one thing I absolutely love about the Instax – using it with kids, both taking shots, and letting them see the images develop. It makes photography a whole lot more tangible and accessible. Max was able to figure out how to look through the viewfinder and take a shot with this camera in no time.
It was a bit tough for him to find the shutter button (since on his own camera the layout is quite different, so he’s not used to the shutter being on the front) but I think with more practice it will be no problem. He also took this shot of me!
My one gripe with this camera is that you can’t turn off the flash. It defaults to flash easily, especially indoors. Unless you have a lot of light, you’re going to be using flash. With close portraits, I’m really impressed with the quality of the flash. It’s not overly harsh, and looks nice. When you’re shooting further back in a scene, you do get more of that “flashy” look.
This model also has a self timer, high key mode (to brighten the image), a fill flash option, and a tripod mount. Lots of neat stuff going on!
You can buy them from Amazon here, for US$139, in three colors, yellow, blue and white.
And we’ll wrap it up with a few more favorite photos.
As I use the Instax more, I find that what I love it for is portraits. Nice, close portraits. The photos are low-fi, imperfect, and feel so nostalgic. It was such a fun way to document our holidays and I know I’ll look back on the shots with a smile.
