About this deal
Whoever decided to cancel production at Polaroid should be banging their head on a table, because while they assumed the future was exclusively digital, Fuji steadfastly supported their instant film format through the 2000s and into the 2010s. As digital took over the consumer space, something funny happened. People grew nostalgic for the instant photography of old, and when they found Polaroid had essentially disappeared, they turned to the next best thing, something they probably had never used before even though it had been around all along: Fuji Instax film. Fujifilm claim 12 line pairs per mm of film resolution for Instax Mini and my 600dpi scans proved capable of wringing as much detail out as possible (300dpi would have been sufficient, maybe even less). The enhanced developing process produces a more rapid image - less waiting time for complete development High Key – the original has tone and detail everywhere, but is very close to blowing out. All colour shades are light ascend natural to the eye and errors are very apparent. When printing, dynamic range is not significantly different between Instax Mini Monochrome and Color. Perhaps the range is a little better than Color, but improved highlight detail is partly because Monochrome is slightly slower than Color and neither the printer nor any of the cameras adjust for this.
However, while the image quality is great, the actual size of the image is a major limiting factor. The image is small enough that it can be difficult to make out details, and if the image is blown up too much when scanning, it can turn fuzzy despite the image itself being relatively sharp. If you want to do it all in camera, at least you now have that option. Just bear in mind (or pretend not to notice) the less than truly panchromatic colour sensitivity, slightly borked green greys, blown highlights and murky shadows, both of which are mercifully not as bad as Instax Color. Fujifilm Instax Color is much like that, but with less dynamic range, latitude, subtlety and overall charm. Blues in particular come out very dark. I almost thought it was a printer profile issue until I realised the printer was working right, but didn’t account for the film’s rendition; shots taken digitally and printed come out more or less as if they had been shot directly on Instax Mini Color. I’d not dare call these “art” but they are indicative of street scenes. Unlike the test prints, these were made with Instax cameras and then I worked them over in Photoshop to extract highlight and shadow detail, adjust mid-tones curves and sharpen any detail I found, then I desaturated them to remove colour casts. Thus, the images you see look better than the originals. I also took a few colour photos for comparison and so you have a better feeling for the light that day. For artists, I really hope that Fujifilm releases a wide version of this film (and a better Fuji Instax Wide camera to go with it), as the size is still a major limiting factor to an otherwise fantastic film format. It’s simply too small to shoot landscapes and non-portrait photography effectively.
Even in low light scenarios, due to its high-speed rating, Instax Mini Film will produce amazingly sharp images. Another user benefit is that it has been improved to lessen the developing time before you see your print - a real benefit when you are photographing young children who are notorious for wanting everything "yesterday". Instax Mini Film has also been enhanced to maintain its stability over the years making it a good choice for archival storage. Those pictures you shot when your kid was 4 - or during that trip to Disneyland will still be around long after he's out of high school. Fuji has also extended the working temperature range of this film to include 40 - 104F so you need not worry about using it year-round.
until we see the eventual release of Leica’s own version, which is most likely rebranded Fujifilm film, anyway – EMULSIVE Out of Fuji's three instant film formats, Instax Wide makes the biggest prints. The Lomo'Instant Wide is the camera to get if you're interested in taking instant and impactful snaps with that format. It offers more artist-friendly features than you get with the Fuji Instax Wide 300, including multiple exposures and a split-image attachment for the lens. Who It's For Instax Mini Picture Format Instant Film from Fuji. This is an incredibly sharp, credit card-sized, daylight-balanced ISO 800 film made for use in Instax Mini Series Cameras. Recognised for its excellent colour reproduction, the film has a glossy finish and is an excellent choice for general use, portraiture or even with electronic flash. Its also a fun film to use - easy to load, shoot and best of all - no wasted time at the lab wondering how your images came out. Due to its "mini" size, it is easier to carry, file and store when compared to larger, more traditional film formats. Resulting from improved emulsion, development accelerators and development control technology it will keep your images colour-true for yearsLow Key – high contrast low key image and I know where all the detail is and how far the light patches go into the shadows.
You can go smaller, too. The tiny Polaroid Go uses similarly tiny film, available in color only. It's cute, but we think it's worth it to use classic Polaroid or Fujifilm Instax Square film because of their bigger image size.Greens, yellows, oranges and reds come out ever so slightly green. Blues and to a lesser extent magenta, have an ever so subtle purple hue. It’s not so strong that you’d say it’s not monochromatic, but it’s enough that EMULSIVE wrote that it goes green in the shadows and when an orange filter was used, the whole image came out green. Let’s face it, a 62x46mm print isn’t going to make anybody “ooh” and “ah” over the detail. That said, scans of the images made better use of the limited resolution. I’m going to call this an informal assessment, because it’s neither properly a product review, nor a test report. However, it does go into more detail than anything I’ve found elsewhere on the internet. Looking for an instant camera? You're not alone. Instant film is as popular today as it's ever been. Fujifilm and Polaroid are still around making Instax and I-Type films, respectively, along with the cameras to match.
The original film is what matters if you are showing those in person, but the scan is what counts if you are presenting online; and I can see more detail in enlarged scans than in the originals. But what if you've got an honest-to-goodness Polaroid camera? The company has been reborn in the 21st century—it's gone through some name changes over the years, from the Impossible Project to Polaroid Originals, but today it's just called Polaroid. The more things change, the more they stay the same. You could cheat at instant photography competitions, if it wasn’t for a manufacturing defect on the printer which gives purple light leaks on the long sides of the print, but hey ho, it’s the only printer you can buy. The Fuji Instax Mini Evo is a digital-instant hybrid camera with a chic retro style and a plastic-fantastic build. The digital design means that the camera works in dimmer light and focuses closer than analog models that take the same Instax Mini film, while on-demand printing ensures that you don't waste film on missed photo ops. Who It's For
Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo
If you are presenting online (or enlarged), and intend a monochrome output then yes, I would recommend using Instax Mini Monochrome due to what I saw as better dynamic range and detail rendition. However, be aware there are some colours that don’t translate correctly into monochrome, so in certain circumstances, you may be better off using Instax Color and desaturating in post-production. I absolutely love this new instant film. I found the color Fuji Instax film to be a bit dull for my tastes, but the monochrome film creates fun, surprising images. I finally can put my great Neo 90 to good use for more than just parties. Using the Instax Share SP-2 printer gets around problems such as poor camera metering, bad focus, poor optics and lighting colour temperature. However it may introduce new problems: primarily resolution limitations.