Arctic Jack
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Sorry, I don’t know any thing about cameras, I’m hoping this is the right place to ask.
My 10 year old daughter has asked for an instant camera the last 3 years for Christmas. I’ve always said no because the £1 a photo money sink has always been too much for me. The thought of her spending £20 in 10 minutes shooting photos bothered me enough. About a month ago she was at her aunties house with her baby cousins and her aunty happened to have a Polaroid instant camera. She took a photo of my daughter with her cousins and give it to her. Which prompts her to ask the question again…
I gave this situation another look. I stumble across the Instax Mini Evo, the hybrid (digital) option. I understand she doesn’t have to print every random photo she takes. OK I’m on board at this point. I also understand in reality it’s a very poor digital camera, but a reasonable fake ‘analog’ camera. A normal iPhone is going to take much better quality pictures with a cheap portable printer. She doesn’t have a mobile phone though. It’s also the toy factor of a camera spitting out photos that takes priority over the quality of the photographs with her.
Some questions I have…
1. I’ve read the LCD screen is terrible to see outside. I‘ve seen you can buy a view finder to put in the cold shoe. Could someone point me in the right direction of a suitable one? What size would I need for this camera?
2. I saw someone using an external LED light source with this camera, it also fit into the cold shoe. It could change colours which gave the photos different effects and also worked well as a flash in low light situations. I thought this would give the camera some longevity with her interest. Again, I’ve no idea what would fit, what would work.
3. Planned obsolescence with the built in battery (I hate this). Is it possible that someone competent in repairing electronics could open the camera up and switch out the built in battery? Or are there enough safeguards in place to stop you from doing that?
My 10 year old daughter has asked for an instant camera the last 3 years for Christmas. I’ve always said no because the £1 a photo money sink has always been too much for me. The thought of her spending £20 in 10 minutes shooting photos bothered me enough. About a month ago she was at her aunties house with her baby cousins and her aunty happened to have a Polaroid instant camera. She took a photo of my daughter with her cousins and give it to her. Which prompts her to ask the question again…
I gave this situation another look. I stumble across the Instax Mini Evo, the hybrid (digital) option. I understand she doesn’t have to print every random photo she takes. OK I’m on board at this point. I also understand in reality it’s a very poor digital camera, but a reasonable fake ‘analog’ camera. A normal iPhone is going to take much better quality pictures with a cheap portable printer. She doesn’t have a mobile phone though. It’s also the toy factor of a camera spitting out photos that takes priority over the quality of the photographs with her.
Some questions I have…
1. I’ve read the LCD screen is terrible to see outside. I‘ve seen you can buy a view finder to put in the cold shoe. Could someone point me in the right direction of a suitable one? What size would I need for this camera?
2. I saw someone using an external LED light source with this camera, it also fit into the cold shoe. It could change colours which gave the photos different effects and also worked well as a flash in low light situations. I thought this would give the camera some longevity with her interest. Again, I’ve no idea what would fit, what would work.
3. Planned obsolescence with the built in battery (I hate this). Is it possible that someone competent in repairing electronics could open the camera up and switch out the built in battery? Or are there enough safeguards in place to stop you from doing that?
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