Instant photo thread.

I used the Instax Mini in the past, but have swapped to the Polaroid Snap recently.
The Instax Mini is the better camera and it's much more easy to get film for it, but the Polaroid Snap has the big advantage that you can put in a MicroSD card and keep the photos.
I'm using them normaly when I photograph refugees, as they are a great hit with the kids, so keeping the photos is important to me, as the prints are normally given away.
There is also a Polaroid Z2300, which has a display at the back, but it's harder to get hold of and there are roumors of a new Snap before the end of the year, with a display as well, so they might get rid of some of the problems.

I have some examples here (first time I used the camera and no postprocessing) from a recent trip to to Paris.
The print outs are normally more saturated and they haveoften a little bit of a blueish colourcast.

I had a Polaroid snap for a while. Its a fun camera but the printer got knackered very quickly. The quality of the prints wasn't great really. Not in a lomo waay not great just in a bad dpi not great if that makes sense. I have a Instax mini 90 now and its great fun to use. I don't use it for work, just family gatherings and the like usually so I don't mind giving a few of the shots away. I have a couple of photo albums filled now which I'm hoping the kids will enjoy looking at when they get older.

humberklog wrote: »

I like the limited manual ability on the neo 90- 3f stops, double exposure, B and macro.

The double exposure especially is fun

humberklog wrote: »

Fuji's releasing a monochrome film this month too...exciting!

Now, This is good news indeed. Black/White is a question I had in store and nothing was on the horizon so whoop!!!

Dub. wrote: »

Some new instax stuff coming out. New square format film and camera, also a new black and white film. Amazingly, Leica have stuck their name on a mini instax camera called the Sofort.

http://instax.com/square/

http://petapixel.com/2016/09/06/fujifilm-unveils-black-white-instax-mini-film/

https://en.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-Sofort

Great news for those of us still interested in instant photos. That new square format film and camera may get me handing out money for new gear next year.

The Sofort is €280?!?! I don't understand what they've done. Changed the outside of the Neo Classic Mini 90 and nearly doubled the price? Bizarre.

I want to try the b&w film so much, it looks really interesting. I do a fair bit of b&w digital conversions so shooting it straight will be nice.

The square format looks interesting but I'm unlikely to buy a whole new camera for it. I wonder if we'll ever see a camera that handles the Instax wide, mini and square formats together? Now THAT I'd pay good money for.

Conns have the monochrome in stock

http://www.connscameras.ie/p/fuji-instax-mini-film-monochrome/4547410337556

€11.99 for ten so roughly the same as the colour which I'm surprised by


Edit: oh and its gone!

Monochrome is back in stock at Conns. I've just impulse ordered three packs :-/

ablelocks wrote: »

I'm trying to find an instant print camera for my 12 yr old that has the seemingly unique feature of being able to select which photos you would like to print.

(Polaroid Z2300 is too expensive)

The Polaroid Snap seems to be the closest, in that if you leave out the paper, it will save the photos and you can select and print later. Kind of defeats the purpose though?

The Polaroid Zip, prints from IOS
or Android devices (in her case, an ipod touch). But 2 devices to carry around is not ideal.

Fujifilm Instax Mini Range - looks like every photo is printed. in the hands of a 12 year old, I'd have a standing order for paper!

Can anyone recommend an alternative?

thanks

I posted this question this time last year, but didn't go ahead with it. However, daughter saw the Fuji Instax on the toy show last night, and thought it was cool.

so, are there any new models that allow you to select the photos you want to print?

ablelocks wrote: »

I posted this question this time last year, but didn't go ahead with it. However, daughter saw the Fuji Instax on the toy show last night, and thought it was cool.

so, are there any new models that allow you to select the photos you want to print?

Those Polaroid cameras and the Instax cameras are fundamentally different beasts. The polaroid ones are essentially digital devices that print onto special paper (some thermal activation yoke, dunno) so in the camera case you take the shot, and you can decide whether or not you want to print it out.
Instax cameras expose the shot ONTO the instant film, then eject it, in the process spreading crazy caustic magic gloop over the film which develops the film over a minute or so.

ablelocks wrote: »

I posted this question this time last year, but didn't go ahead with it. However, daughter saw the Fuji Instax on the toy show last night, and thought it was cool.

so, are there any new models that allow you to select the photos you want to print?

The Polaroid Snap Touch is the successor of the Original Snap. It now has a Display and you can select, which photos to print. It is however around 200€.
Prints of all Polaroids are around 0.50€.
I think it really depends what you want to do with it. If you keep the prints, the Fuji are the better cameras. If you give the prints away and want to keep a memory of them, the Polaroids are better.

there are two leaked models so far apparently. One is like that polaroid yoke, it'll have a digital sensor, and will print out onto instax. The other will be a conventional instax, i.e. exposes onto the film and ejects it immediately. I think Fuji have gone off the rails again with this. Instax could be a complete cash cow for them (or maybe already is) but they're flailing.

So... did anyone dipped their toes and try out the Instax Square?

From the early reviews, I think I'll pass on it. I don't like that it's effectively a printer in a digital camera.... though I've not seen a print out in person so don't know what the quality/feel of the print is. I does feel though that 'heart' so to speak is taken out of instant film.

Any good alternatives? I checked out the other Instax range and TBH, the prints are tiny. They literally are credit card sized.

Rick Shaw wrote: »

One of my kids wants Santa to bring one of these (Fuji Instax 9) this year

What do people that own them think?

My understanding is that you take a pic, it prints there and then. But I would like for the child to have something that they could mess around with by adding frames or funny editing filters .

It also seems to be somewhat expensive comparedto heading to Tesco or Harvey Norman's to print pictures.

In saying that the camera looks nice and funky, but I just don't know about not being able to store pics.

Someone help me out here.

A 7 year old child. Get this or a digital camera?

Btw vtechs camera isn't an option. I've been told that the cousin's have one , and "it's for kids"

I've not gotten one - wanted a square format... the Instax Square doesn't look great... planning on getting the OneStep 2 soon.

What I can say to you is this though. Your kid will probably get a lot more enjoyment, fun and learning out of an instant camera than a digital one. Not that the primary objective of the camera is to learn life lessons but with the dependence on physical cartridges, he/she will quickly learn the value of each shot. This will make them more aware of not "wasting" shots and therefore make them a better photographer. Plus, you have the ongoing excitement of getting new cartridges (possibly) with their own money, which makes them more invested in the whole process. On the fun side of things, instant print is far more fun than a trip to the pharmacy, spending half an hour at one of those machine rummaging through 50 photos of a plate, followed by another 50 blurry shots of the family dog, etc.

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I would disagree here. A 7 year old will not appreciate the cost of film, or worry too much about wasting film.

You don't think a 7 year old could understand that once the 10 shots (or whatever Instax have in a pack) are gone that that's it? I'm sure after the first pack or two and having to wait to buy more, they'd learn that they need to pick their targets more carefully. I'm not talking about "cost" in money terms btw, I specifically say "value". Money is a difficult concept to grasp but not being able to take more photos because you're out of film isn't. If they are interested in putting their pocket money toward packs, well that's bonus in my eyes.

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I would wonder if an instax printer would be better, they would be able to mess around with any photo they've taken with a phone/tablet and be able to print them on the same film as an instax camera. It cuts out the wasted shots when you forget to change the focus from close to infinity (happens me all the time). And when the flash fires when you don't want it etc. EDIT:I just checked the price of the printer... pretty high, and the camera is less than the last I checked...

I think that is a valid point and if the kid was just looking for a camera I'd be inclined to think that is a good enough reason to get a basic P&S. However, the kid did ask for an instant camera and IMO, if there's an actual interest in photography there, an instant camera has merit as a fun learning tool. The ability to take thousands of photos has the advantage of being able to make thousands of mistakes but when the mistakes don't actually matter, is there really as much learning in it? When you make a mistake with film... that's it, that shot is gone. Less opportunity to learn but harsher lesson. Benefits to both approaches.

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I have an instax wide camera, bought it for 20eur on adverts. It's good fun for me to use, for the reasons Bacchus mentions. No editing, limited exposures, only taking the shots I really like etc. But the film is crazy expensive, and I wouldn't use it often as a result.

I do appreciate that getting Santa to convince someone to change their mind might be difficult!

Agreed... if there is a big downside to Instant, it is the cost. While it has the potential to add to the excitement/novelty of owning an Instant camera, it could also stifle interest if you plan on getting your kid, say... 1 pack a month. The camera would in effect be useless between packs. If you want to be getting more packs than that, then yes, look at the cost. What is it now? The mini packs of 10 are €10? B&W film might be cheaper?

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Has anyone used the monochrome instax film? I was surprised to see that they are making it in Instax Wide format too. Just waiting on stock to arrive into Amazon before ordering. Should be fun.

Yup, used a fair bit of it. Its nice to use, good contrast on it.

Incidently, some gave me a Polaroid Spectra the other day and the Polaroid Originals film for that is very good.

fixxxer wrote: »

Yup, used a fair bit of it. Its nice to use, good contrast on it.

Finally ordered 2 sets of monochrome film. Looking forward to it now!