Instant Cameras

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sjwphoto

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stephen
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Good Morning All!

Quick question regarding instant cameras and if anyone has any experience using them, i'm looking at getting one as a gift for a celebration this month however i cannot seem to decide which one to go for been looking at the Instax 90 and 40, and against that the lomography instant automat - any idea how these compare? if anyone has used these and can give input that'd be fantastic!

I'm spoilt for choice when it comes to DSLRS, Mirrorless and 35mm cameras however i've zero experience with these instant cameras and naturally would like to get the best bang for my buck.

Many thanks!,

Stephen.
 
Hi Stephen,

I have a Polaroid One Step+ and am a little underwhelmed. It's very much a novelty thing IMO and the image quality isn't great. Looks ok when scanned and cleaned up a bit but not great SOOC which is pretty much why one might buy & use one.

No experience with Instax but the cameras are (IMO!) fugly compared to the Polaroid. And Instax mini images are much smaller than they look on the internet. I was tempted to try at the Photography Show, but when I saw the size of the prints, I didn't bother.

As a gift though, it's a nice thought and my Polaroid gets far more use from people wanting to experience the "shooting an instant camera". It's also very recognisable for what it is and looks more like a camera vs the Fuji "toys". I also can't comment on the Lomography camera, but I did (have my wife buy me as a present) get a Sprocket Rocket and was a bit disgusted that it cost £60 for the build quality. Made me think that Lomo definitely add a "markup" to cater for the hipster market. I wouldn't be surprised if the "automat" was part of this scheme...
 
I have Instax wide (300), square (SQ6) and mini (90) cameras. They're all fun to use. Print size aside on the square and mini, the only downsides I'd say is the quality of the lenses, the exposure latitude of the film and the lack of control on some of the cheaper Instax cameras.

Instead of a camera, have you considered an Instax Wide Link printer? I uses Instax Wide film, but prints direct from your smartphone via an app. The real benefit here is that you're much less likely to waste film. You can also edit the photos before printing (or upload from a 'proper' camera to the smartphone). The overall image quality looks to surpass that of the cameras in the reviews I've read.

I'm just looking for a viable excuse to buy one.
 
Daughter had the instax i think for a while, it was a gimmick, some novelty value but IMO poor value, each pic costs around £1
 
Cheers for the reply so far all!,

@Harlequin565 I really should of looked at them at the show myself ! however i was in the mindset of gimmicky products then, its only just occurred to me that it may make a decent present, obviously provided the camera gets used, I did look at the polaroid one step+ online however from images it seems rather bulky? i realise this is the case with most the instant cameras of this type and would much rather have smaller prints so it gets used rather than the camera being left behind due to the size of it - is this something you find or am i overthinking it there? Obviously, polaroid is synonymous with instant printing.

@adrianday I've got a canon selphy printer that hardly gets used, ill have a look at this suggestion however, thanks, This looks better in that it has its own power source, the thing that stops the selphy being used it frankly the whole setup of it! - out the three instax you have which would you recommend? it's those 3 that come up mostly when I've been looking online also!, I know its a present but no doubt i'll be itching to get my hands on it when i see the photos being taken! think im leaning more towards the instax than lomo as I've heard these can be toy like quality, and with @Harlequin565 s review of the sprocket rocket even more so now!

@cambsno yeh that's one thing i worry about, a gimmick that wouldn't be used however this will just be a little side present as part of another - The present is for my partner and i know she much rather have printed memories of events, as such it goes we take photos on the phones and they never get printed, i feel this might be a way of stopping that.

Once again, thanks for your replies guys, my own may be slow as i'm typing this on a break at work!, i look forward to seeing any more input if anyone has to share.
 
sjwphoto said:
is this something you find or am i overthinking it there?
Click to expand...
Not at all. It's a bulky box (very light though!). Great for house parties where you're not moving about and can stash it somewhere safe, but I wouldn't take it on a night out.
 
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My daughter was interested in an instant camera for a while.
In the end she agreed that her phone camera is actually better quality than most of what's on offer so she got a Canon Selphy printer instead.

There are a fair few "zink" combined digital cameras with printers as well as the traditional instant analogue outputs.

Might be worth a read
www.digitalcameraworld.com

The best hybrid instant cameras: hybrid instant cameras and printers for gifting and sharing your photos

Looking for a hybrid instant camera that can take pictures on the spot and also print photos from your phone? Look no further!
www.digitalcameraworld.com www.digitalcameraworld.com

For £50 I'm almost tempted but I know I'll use it a few times then it'll become a drawer filler.
 
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