After trying a couple of polaroids recently, I wanted to renew my love of instant film with something different (better). As I already have an Instax mini back for the Diana F+, I searched Facebook Marketplace for something different and found this camera. The seller offered to post it and a couple of days later it arrived.
It takes Instax wide cartridges, which I haven’t tried before. The photos are twice as big as the mini size but not double the price, perfect. The film is also stable and bright.
When the camera arrived I was surprised by its size, it is truly massive. Now, the polaroids I have tried were large in size too, but they were light. This camera was large and heavy. I left it on the side table and my father said, “What is that monster?” He usually doesn’t comment on the appearance of another camera, but this one caught his eye, well he couldn’t miss it…even with his one working eye.
Fitting the camera in a bag is a bit troublesome due to the size, it is even bigger than an SLR.
Saying that, it is quite comfortable to hold due to the handgrip. I would say the neck strap is also important for comfortability and swapping the regular one for a neoprene one might be a good idea.
Introduced in 1999, it takes 4 AA batteries which is convenient. The packs have 10 shots in them and you can get them in colour or monochrome. There is a button to switch focusing from 0.9-3m to 3m-∞, the default setting being the former as Instax is generally used to capture people….apparently. There is also a lighter or darker switch, but it is not a slide like on polaroids. I haven’t used it yet as I have been fairly happy with the results. But how do you know to use it until you have taken a photo? And I don’t want to waste a photo. The aperture is set to f14 and the camera selects the shutter speed based on the conditions. You can read more technical information here.
I used my shots around Christmas time, we don’t really go all out for the season as there is really just myself and my father in the house.
Here are the shots from my first pack.
As you can see my arms are not 0.9m long so selfies are not really possible, but the rest of the set is quite nice in terms of colour and sharpness. Taking the photos was much more convenient than polaroid as I didn’t have to immediately put it in darkness. Putting it in my pocket didn’t damage the image either.
Next, I really want to try a monochrome pack as the ones I used on mini Instax had a nice look to them. I did enjoy using the camera despite the size. This version of the wide camera can be found quite cheaply online as there are a few newer versions. As for my future purchases… this one works so I don’t think I will bother 🙂
I have The Instax Wide 300 which is what replaced it, love it, but what I really love more is the Lomography Instant Wide, has a little more control and does a great job on long exposure. I recently got the LomoGraflock which I have yet to use!!! I am a fan of all thing instant!!!
If I win the lottery, I might get one…if they are smaller. In the meantime, this one works well.
That graflock looks interesting though.
Would be interesting to see what this does in good bright sunlight, either colour or black and white.
I have another cassette of colour so I will wait for a brighter day…that might take a while.
OMG!! Next to the Canon AE it looks huge! How was that ever a point and shoot?? I saw the first photo and it didn’t look any bigger than an average p&s…I digress and have to say that Fujifilm’s of any era always manage lovely sharp colours dont they, probably, for me, the nicest of makes for colourful pics..digitals included.
Hence the comparison photo as the styling made it look small in the photo. I like fuji film, I haven’t tried so many cameras.
And just looked at my list, I have tried a few and liked them 😀 not for a while though. They were easy to find in Japan.
I’ve got an Instax Wide 200. It looks similar in size to yours, but the colours of the plastic case on the 200 make it look like a Fisher Price toy! The side of our fridge is covered with it’s output (and that of my Instax Mini), which is where I think it’s niche is – it’s brilliant for capturing family moments in an Insta(x)nt. 🙂
If I had kids or pets I would probably do the same. For now it captures my creepy chimp 😀
I had no idea Instax has been with us over 20 years.
Yeah, the mini came out in 1998 with the instax 10. I tried one of those. I was surprised the wide came out only a year later though.
Surprisingly good lens on that camera – on par with the SX70. A most interesting post, as I had mentally written off all the Instax cameras as a fad. Thanks for the education!
I was surprised how much I liked it. The size of the wide is quite pleasing too. It would be interesting to try the latest version as a comparison.