Which instant camera to buy

Combining retro-analogue charm with modern-day digital credentials, this is essentially a basic, low-resolution digital camera with a printer built-in for making instant snapshots.

This gives you the opportunity to properly frame up your subject, and check it's something you actually want to print, before wasting expensive film it uses Instax mini. One of the gimmicks of the LiPlay is the function to record a sound along with your image capture and "embed" it on to your print in the shape of a QR code. You can then gift that to a friend and ask them to scan the code to playback the sound - modern digital ways are much easier though so how much you bother with that remains questionable.

You might find that purchasing an Instax mini printer is a better option for better quality prints, but the LiPlay is a fun option for kids and parties.

Instant cameras might seem a little old-school in , but they're definitely still being made. Inspired by retro cameras from the days when analogue film was the norm, these modern remakes are designed to recapture the accessible fun of point-and-shoot photography. There are plenty of reasons why you might want to buy an instant camera in Unlike smartphone photography, instant cameras give you a physical print to hold in your hands straight away, stick on the fridge or share with your friends.

Another bonus is how easy it is to shoot with an instant camera. The best options are really simple to use, making it straightforward to capture warm vintage prints. Most feature just a handful of buttons and limited shooting modes, leaving you free to focus on framing.

That means they can be a great way for kids to get into photography, too. Analogue photography has enjoyed a revival in recent years, and the trend shows no signs of going away any time soon. Instant cameras let you have a slice of the throwback pie without the steep learning curve, expense and hassle of more complicated film photography techniques. Instax Mini The most common instant film format, producing pictures measuring just 62 x 46mm. Instax Square Fuji's take on the square format film popularized by Polaroid.

Camera support for these 62 x 62mm photos is more limited. Instax Wide Twice the size of instax mini and twice the price, but photos measure a meatier 99 x 62mm. Polaroid Film designed for vintage Polaroid type cameras. It can also be used in the Impossible I-1 and OneStep 2. Polaroid Zink 2x3 Credit-card sized instant film that uses heat-sensitive ink to produce images. Colors are more traditional than Instax. Compatible with many Zink-based cameras and printers. There's only one way to test instant cameras, and it isn't by pixel-peeping resolution charts — for these analogue snappers, it's all about real-world use.

After analyzing each camera's design, build quality and features, we load it up with film and take it out for a day of instant photography. We take a range of shots of different subjects: people, high-contrast scenes and objects like flowers, to give us a good sense of how well the autofocus works if the cameras has autofocus and the kind of colors you can expect in different situations. We also turn the flash on to see how that fairs, and time how long it takes for the print to be ready.

North America. Included in this guide: 1. Welcome to our guide to the best instant cameras you can buy. Fujifilm Instax Mini Specifications Lens: 60mm. Focusing: Normal and macro. Flash: Built-in. Self-timer: None. Reasons to avoid - Instax Mini prints rather small - No advanced features for pros.

Specifications Lens: mm. Focusing: Autofocus. Self-timer: Yes. Reasons to avoid - Pricier film than rivals - A little bulky. Focusing: Macro, Normal and Landscape. Reasons to avoid - Can obscure flash - Limited control. Polaroid Now. Specifications Lens: mm approx. Reasons to avoid - Bulky shape - Sometimes inconsistent - Expensive film. The Lab makes Polaroid images from images on your phone. It takes a photo of your phone screen, so the better phone you have, the nicer the results.

What sets it apart is the smartphone companion app. As of press time, the app is not the best, but it does give you the option to use features like Tripod Mode, Manual Mode, or setting a custom f-stop in Aperture Priority Mode.

It's pricey, but it does offer a good blend of modern methods and vintage execution. Sure, it has the right features, but its huge, plasticky body isn't portable compared to a Polaroid-compatible shooter or an Instax Mini camera. Its biggest drawback is the viewfinder, which can make framing close-up shots challenging. But if you want to go wide and don't mind the bulk, it's decent.

Fujifilm's Mini Link is close to our top pick, the LiPlay, but ditches the camera functionality. Instead the Mini Link prints images from your phone. Fujifilm's new mobile app is much better than its past efforts.

I'd recommend this over the older SP-2 printer for that reason alone, since the results are otherwise similar. What makes the new app more fun? Fun Modes. Party Print creates collages from multiple phones, while Match Test takes images of two people or two images of one person and prints a combined image.

It'll also tell you how "compatible" it thinks the pair is, which is gimmicky, but what party doesn't lighten up with a little gimmickry? For those of us who value portability, Fujifilm offers the Instax Mini But if you're lucky, you can sometimes find it at a significant discount.

This stylish but expensive camera is fantastic—just not for everyone. I enjoyed shooting with it but routinely questioned why it costs more than twice as much as the incredibly similar Fuji Instax Mini Here's another one like the Fujifilm Instax Mini Link. It's a portable printer, and while the app for your phone can be a little fiddly, the printer itself is simple to set up and use.

If none of that matters to you, the best instant camera for you is, of course, the one that's going to fit within your budget. Shoot and share, instantly. With an instant camera you can capture the moment, then print it out to share with everyone around you.

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