| There are plenty of choices for instant cameras, with different types of film and features. We break down the top six cams for every user’s needs. |
Instant cameras have dominated camera sales for over a decade. Fujifilm, the 800-pound gorilla in the sector, raked in over $890 million in Instax sales revenue worldwide in 2023, accounting for more than half of the company’s overall revenue.
As DSLR and mirrorless camera sales have declined recently, instant cameras, particularly Instax cameras from Fujifilm, have flourished. Perhaps that is due to appealing to a broad tent of potential users, from nostalgia-chasing Baby Boomers to younger Gen Z and Alpha users seeking a more tactile, physical and social form of photography. They’ve become more than a camera; they’re part of pop culture and it’s not uncommon to see special edition instant cameras from the likes of Taylor Swift or BTS.
If you’re new to instant cameras or in the market for your next one, we’ve looked at the landscape and have broken down the six best instant cameras you can buy today.
It’s best to start with the film stock when considering instant cameras. Fujifilm’s Instax film is by far the most popular and widely available and has been adopted by cameras made by Leica, Lomography and the occasional startup. Instax film comes in three types (mini, square and wide) and they’re not interchangeable, so deciding which format of Instax you’re most interested in before picking out a camera is vital.
| Format name | Image size | Shots per pack | Average cost of twin pack |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instax Mini | 46 × 62 mm (1.8 × 2.4″) |
10 | ∼$13 / 20 exposures |
| Instax Square |
62 x 62 mm (2.4 x 2.4″) |
10 | ∼$30 / 20 exposures |
| Instax Wide | 99 x 62 mm (3.9 x 2.4″) |
10 | ∼$20 / 20 exposures |
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There is also Polaroid film, which is presently used only by Polaroid cameras. We liked the color film for its muted colors and staying true to the nostalgic Polaroid look (which we should note is not the same film as the Polaroid of the 70s-90s, but a modern stock made by the Dutch company formerly known as the Impossible Project).
But we also felt that side by side, Instax film had better color, contrast and overall was more pleasing to the eye. Another consideration for budget-conscious shutterbugs, Polaroid’s instant film options tend to be more expensive than Instax, running roughly $2 a shot to Instax’s roughly $1 per exposure.
| Format name | Image size | Shots per pack | Average cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| i-Type | 79 × 77 mm (3.1 × 3″) |
8 | ∼$27 / 16 exposures |
| 600 |
79 × 77 mm (3.1 × 3″) |
8 | ∼$30 / 16 exposures |
| SX-7 | 79 × 77 mm (3.1 × 3″) |
8 | ∼$20 / 8 exposures |
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A little less popular is the Zink format, which is less of a film stock and more of a printing paper. We’ve seen this format show up in offerings from Kodak and Canon. Zink prints are the most economical, costing about $0.50 per shot. Unlike Instax and Polaroid film, which expose images on a light-reactive surface, Zink is photo paper with embedded ink dyes. Dyes in the paper are pressure-released and mixed to print photos. These prints tend to produce a wider range of colors than its competitors but struggle with blacks, often lacking contrast, and there’s concern over how long prints last, with some from a decade ago showing extensive fading.
| Format name | Image size | Shots per pack | Average cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zink |
5 x 7.6 mm (2 × 3″) |
50 | ∼$25 / 50 exposures |
Picking a film stock will come down to taste. However, we recommend Instax Mini: photos are vibrant with great quality, it’s a widely used format, which makes it unlikely it’ll be hard to find, and it’s affordable compared to Polaroid.
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| Photo: Fujifilm |
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For casual and beginners seeking a way into instant photography and having fun with analog photography, the Mini 12 fits the bill. It has one-button operation, includes a tiny selfie mirror and most of all, it’s affordable. Instax cameras aren’t very complicated to begin with and the Mini 12 is as simple as can be. Everything is automatic, from flash control to exposure, and the emphasis is on picture-making; point it at something from 1-1.5m (4-5ft) away, click and out pops a photo. (As its name implies, it uses the mini format of Instax film which is easy to find.)
Pricing for older models like the Mini 11 isn’t much lower than the Mini 12 and we don’t recommend them. There are subtle improvements new to this model that might keep users from getting frustrated, such as parallax correction, which aligns the viewfinder with the lens when using Close-Up Mode so users no longer have to guess where the center of the frame is (and waste film).
One limiting factor to consider is the lack of flash control, which means that if you’re too close to someone/something you will overexpose them/it. It’s only worth mentioning as something to be aware of, most instant cameras don’t let users control the flash until you get into more expensive cameras.
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| Photo: Dan Bracaglia |
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An Instax Mini 11 in a much much nicer suit, the Instax Mini 40 wraps itself in faux leather and silver trim for a retro rangefinder-eque design. The specs are identical to the Mini 11, so you won’t gain the Mini 12’s parallax correction to align the viewfinder with the lens in Close-Up Mode. Otherwise, you’ll still have an easy-to-use, automatic camera that accepts Mini film. It’s more ‘grownup’ than the candy-colored plastic design of the Mini 12, but the cool factor comes at a slightly higher cost.
Read our Instax Mini 40 hands-on
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| Photo: Fujifilm |
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If the Mini format feels too narrow, and it is if you’re seeking large group shots or landscapes, there’s the Instax Wide 300 ($120), also Fujifilm’s only wide format camera.
Shooting Wide film (about twice the width of Mini format) has to be your priority before you consider this camera. The camera itself has limited exposure compensation control and two motor-driven focus positions; otherwise, it’s fully automatic. There is an attachment for close-ups (down to 40cm). It’s also pretty bulky due to the wide format film, but the larger size does gain a comfortable hand grip.
As an alternative, we also considered the Lomography Lomo’Instant Wide ($170), like the Wide 300 it’s also a simple-to-use camera, but this model adds some manual controls, modes like multiple exposure mode, flash gels, an ultra wide-angle attachment lens and a remote trigger switch (but it’s on the lens cap making it prone to accidental presses when you go to remove/replace the cap). There is a bit of a learning curve to using the camera, focusing is difficult and we found the plastic build to be lacking in ergonomics. We didn’t think the added cost was worth recommending it over the solid and reliable Wide 300.
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| Photo: Gannon Burgett |
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Built like a tank with anodized aluminum alloy, weighing nearly 900g (2lbs), with an EF-style lens mount, the NONS SL660 brings the SLR experience to instant photography. At $600, it’s also only for the most passionate and dedicated photographers seeking a manual SLR-style instant camera that uses Instax Square film. There’s also shutter control, bulb, a hot shoe for external flash and the camera supports multiple exposures.
Introducing interchangeable lenses with a TTL viewfinder makes using EF lenses or compatible adapters for other glass possible. A note, there are no electronic contacts on the EF-style mount, so you won’t be able to adjust the aperture on genuine EF lenses and it’ll default to their widest setting. Using EF adapters, older manual lenses with an aperture ring can be used.
It’s pricey, but that price tag gets users solid build quality, a premium feel and new creative possibilities with instant photography.
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| Photo: Jeremy Gray |
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If you’re not ready to commit to a fully analog experience, a few instant cameras have combined digital capture with instant film printing. We like Fujifilm’s Instax Mini Evo. It’s about $120 more than the analog Mini 12 and you gain a digital camera and a collection of lens effects and film effects such as monochrome, vivid and sepia. The digital images are rather small at 2560 x 1920, about 4.9MP, so it won’t be mind-blowing.
There is also a tradeoff in giving up the experience of seeing a photo develop and waiting to see if you got the shot that makes instant photography unique, so on a base level, it is a different experience.
It’s a bit of having your cake and eating it too; you can capture digital images and then decide which ones you want to print out on instant film. This saves printing costs for only those choice images you genuinely want and makes it easier to transfer digital files to your computer or smartphone for saving and sharing.
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| Photo: Dan Bracaglia |
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Our reservations over its film being more expensive and not as punchy aside, the Polaroid I-2 is truly one of the best-built instant cameras on the market. It’s rather pricey, $600, which is due to all the tech jammed inside it and the purpose it was built for: for advanced users who want to revisit Poloroid’s i-Type, 600, and SX-70 film.
The camera has full manual controls, aperture and shutter priority modes, LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) autofocus and a sharp 38mm f/3.2 equiv. lens. You also get flash on/off control, an uncommon feature for instant cameras.
Polaroid spent four years developing the I-2, tapping retired Olympus engineers for AF and lens design assistance. Every detail feels intentional, from a viewfinder with displays for current shutter speed, aperture, meter reading, remaining shots, battery life and flash status to the simple film-loading mechanism.
We still prefer Instax’s color, contrast and price point, but this is the camera to beat if you’re drawn to Polaroid films.
Previously in this series, I talked about my visits to Andasibe NP, where I shot lemurs and chameleons, and to Tsingy Rouge NP, where I shot beautiful formations made by erosion. I also talked about shooting sifaka lemurs and baobab trees in Kirindy Forest reserve and about visiting several secluded stops on my way to the southern part of Madagascar. This time, I’ll talk about two short but fruitful visits: one to Isalo National Park and the other to Ranomafana National Park.
Isalo is a National Park in the Ihorombe region of Madagascar. It is a sandstone landscape dissected by wind and water erosion into rocky outcrops, plateaus, extensive plains and up to 200 m (660 ft) deep canyons. The park was created in 1962 and has been administered by the Madagascar National Parks authority since 1997. It includes landscapes considered part of the subhumid forests ecoregion. This ecoregion is home to numerous endemic species and has been given Critical/Endangered status because only small areas of native habitat remain, and most of those are highly fragmented.
As you’ve seen in previous articles, this fragmentation of ecosystems and, thus, the endangerment and rapid decline of endemic species is, unfortunately, very typical of Madagascar. Ecotourism is thus a most powerful and important tool to preserve what’s left of the fragile habitats and beautiful species of this poor country.
Isalo might not have infinite landscape photography attractions, but it does have some nice locations with fantastic rock formations, the principal of which is the famous rock arch. As with many locations in Madagascar, this arch is very crowded at sunset with tourist groups and locals but surprisingly empty during sunrise.
The arch can be photographed from both sides. The easier eastern side is basically connected to the road and is thus harder to shoot when it’s crowded, but getting to the shooting spot on the western side requires some agility and a bit of climbing and is thus much emptier, even during sunset. Thus, I chose to shoot the arch from the west during sunset and from the east during sunrise.
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The eastern side of the rock arch during a cloudy sunrise.
Canon 5D4, Canon 11-24mm F4 |
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The western side a few minutes after sunset, under a strong post-sunset glow. This phenomenon happens when the western horizon is clear of clouds. The glow is surprisingly red and reflects beautifully off of brighter surfaces such as the rock arch.
Canon 5D4, Canon 11-24mm F4 |
Apart from the arch, there are eroded rock formations nearby, surrounded by fields where termites build huge mounds, which can serve as nice foregrounds.
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A termite mound under post-sunset glow. I took this shot right after the arch shot since it was located just two minutes away.
Canon 5D4, Canon 11-24mm F4 |
As for wildlife, Isalo has a small variety, including the sportive lemur and the red-fronted brown lemur, which I had already seen and photographed. It also has a decent-sized population of the ring-tailed lemur, perhaps the most famous of this primate family.
Getting to the ring-tailed lemurs was a bit of a challenge, and it took some precarious rock climbing to get to the point where they were hanging out. Still, nothing extreme. Upon getting to the lemur group, I got plenty of interesting poses by the lemurs, which were super cute and fun to shoot.
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“Why hello there!” It seems like this lemur was a top model in a previous life!
Canon 5D4, Sigma 150-600mm F4.5-6.3 |
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I intentionally left some negative space on top of the frame since that’s where the lemur is looking.
Canon 5D4, Sigma 150-600mm F4.5-6.3 |
I will talk about ring-tailed lemurs much more extensively in the next article, but for now, I will say that it’s not only their beauty but their wonderful behaviors that make them a joy to shoot. One such behavior is licking the branches for a taste of pheromones. Both male and female ring-tailed lemurs have scent glands that secrete pungent substances, which some lemurs find irresistible!
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Like other lemurs, this species relies strongly on their sense of smell and territorial marking with scent glands, providing communication signals throughout a group’s home range. The males will participate in stink fights by dousing their tails with their pheromones and ‘wafting’ them at opponents. Additionally, lemurs of both sexes will scent-mark trees, rocks or other objects by simply rubbing their faces and bodies onto it. I guess the eyes say it all.
Canon 5D4, Sigma 150-600mm F4.5-6.3 |
What I’ll talk about next wasn’t the next stop in my trip after Isalo. That stop deserves its own article, so for now, I’ll skip it and talk about the very last stop – Ranomafana NP. The park protects more than 41,600 hectares (161 square miles) of tropical rainforest at elevations ranging from 800 to 1,200 m (2,645 to 3,937 ft) and is home to several rare species of plants and animals. Out of these species, I had a really good time shooting the golden bamboo lemur, a medium-sized lemur endemic to the area.
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Golden bamboo lemur. These guys are super fast and jump around constantly, but once in a while, they’ll stop and allow a shot or two. I think they’re absolutely beautiful!
Canon 5D4, Canon 70-300mm F4-5.6 |
This was the second bamboo lemur I shot (the first was the gray bamboo lemur in Andasibe (see the first article in the series), but it was the most photogenic, and by far the harder one to shoot. I had to run across narrow trails through thick vegetation, sometimes only to find out the lemur had already gone away. But I was very happy with this final shot: a golden bamboo lemur inside a heart-shaped leafy frame.
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It’s hard to beat cuteness in a heart-shaped frame. This was a difficult shot technically, as it was very dark inside the thick vegetation, and my camera found it hard to focus. Only a few shots turned out good, and this is my favorite. You may remember framing as one of the methods I discussed in my landscape composition series—I would say it’s even more useful in wildlife photography!
Canon 5D4, Canon 70-300mm F4-5.6 |
In the next, final article in this series, I’ll talk about the crown jewel of my Madagascar visit: Anja Reserve.
Erez Marom is a professional nature photographer, photography guide and traveller based in Israel. You can follow Erez’s work on Instagram and Facebook, and subscribe to his mailing list for updates and to his YouTube channel.
If you’d like to experience and shoot some of the world’s most fascinating landscapes and wildlife with Erez as your guide, take a look at his unique photography workshops in Madagascar, Greenland, the Lofoten Islands, Namibia and Vietnam.
Erez also offers video tutorials discussing his images and explaining how he achieved them.
Belgian photographer Eric T’Kindt photo was awarded the overall Gold prize at this year’s World Sports Photography Awards. The photo of Japanese gymnast Daiki Hashimoto was shot at the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, Antwerp, Belgium.
T’Kindt’s photo took the overall prize having been awarded Gold in the Gymnastics category.
Nikon has announced the Z6III, its third-generation mid-range full-frame mirrorless camera. A new 24MP sensor brings speed to every part of the camera, and all the key features have been upgraded.
The newest version of Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds video-oriented flagship camera has arrived, and it includes features like internal ProRes RAW recording, 32-bit Float audio capture, phase-detect autofocus, and compatibility with Panasonic’s Real-Time LUT system and Lumix Lab app.
The Lumix S9 is Panasonic’s newest full-frame mirrorless camera. It allows users to create their own custom looks for out-of-camera colors and is the first full-frame Lumix camera aimed squarely at social media content creators.
The Sony a9 III is the world’s first full-frame mirrorless camera to feature a global electronic shutter with simultaneous readout. After extensive testing of this 120 fps sports camera, to see what you gain (and, perhaps, lose).
What’s the best camera for around $2000? This price point gives you access to some of the most all-round capable cameras available. Excellent image quality, powerful autofocus and great looking video are the least you can expect. We’ve picked the models that really stand out.
What’s the best camera for travel? Good travel cameras should be small, versatile, and offer good image quality. In this buying guide we’ve rounded-up several great cameras for travel and recommended the best.
If you want a compact camera that produces great quality photos without the hassle of changing lenses, there are plenty of choices available for every budget. Read on to find out which portable enthusiast compacts are our favorites.
‘What’s the best mirrorless camera?’ We’re glad you asked.
Above $2500 cameras tend to become increasingly specialized, making it difficult to select a ‘best’ option. We case our eye over the options costing more than $2500 but less than $4000, to find the best all-rounder.
Belgian photographer Eric T’Kindt photo was awarded the overall Gold prize at this year’s World Sports Photography Awards. The photo of Japanese gymnast Daiki Hashimoto was shot at the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, Antwerp, Belgium.
T’Kindt’s photo took the overall prize having been awarded Gold in the Gymnastics category.
Nikon has announced the Z6III, its third-generation mid-range full-frame mirrorless camera. A new 24MP sensor brings speed to every part of the camera, and all the key features have been upgraded.
The newest version of Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds video-oriented flagship camera has arrived, and it includes features like internal ProRes RAW recording, 32-bit Float audio capture, phase-detect autofocus, and compatibility with Panasonic’s Real-Time LUT system and Lumix Lab app.
The Lumix S9 is Panasonic’s newest full-frame mirrorless camera. It allows users to create their own custom looks for out-of-camera colors and is the first full-frame Lumix camera aimed squarely at social media content creators.
The Sony a9 III is the world’s first full-frame mirrorless camera to feature a global electronic shutter with simultaneous readout. After extensive testing of this 120 fps sports camera, to see what you gain (and, perhaps, lose).
What’s the best camera for around $2000? This price point gives you access to some of the most all-round capable cameras available. Excellent image quality, powerful autofocus and great looking video are the least you can expect. We’ve picked the models that really stand out.
What’s the best camera for travel? Good travel cameras should be small, versatile, and offer good image quality. In this buying guide we’ve rounded-up several great cameras for travel and recommended the best.
If you want a compact camera that produces great quality photos without the hassle of changing lenses, there are plenty of choices available for every budget. Read on to find out which portable enthusiast compacts are our favorites.
‘What’s the best mirrorless camera?’ We’re glad you asked.
Above $2500 cameras tend to become increasingly specialized, making it difficult to select a ‘best’ option. We case our eye over the options costing more than $2500 but less than $4000, to find the best all-rounder.
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