Ditch digital and go back to good old analogue with these modern instant cameras perfect for candid snapshots and serious photography.
The digital revolution has given us plenty of tech gadgets like digital cameras and action cameras, but there’s a certain romance about analogue photography that manages to captivate people even today. While shooting and developing traditional film is a costly process, instant cameras allow the photographer to shoot and instantly develop a tangible photo keepsake – something you just don’t get with digital. Here are our picks of the best modern instant film cameras that you can still buy film for.
Fujifilm Instax Mini 9
Undoubtedly the harbinger of the instant camera renaissance, the humble Fujifilm Instax Mini brought the joy of physical photographs back to digital-bored Millennials with its remarkable price point. Its fixed focus and rudimentary exposure settings make it a supremely uncomplicated camera to use, and a great entry into instant cameras.
Fujifilm Instax Mini 9, $129.
Fujifilm Instax Wide 300
Traditionalists (or those taken by borrowed nostalgia) might lament the Instax Mini’s ‘half-frame’ size that causes image clarity and definition to suffer. The Fujifilm Instax Wide, however, offers all the features of its little brother with the added benefit of larger film sheets that offer increased detail. Consequently, the film is slightly more expensive.
Fujifilm Instax Wide 300, $199.
Fujifilm Instax Square SQ10
Huey Lewis isn’t the only proponent of the idea that it’s “hip to be square” – Fujifilm’s newest addition to the instant camera line is a hybrid device that offers the user the control and composition of a digital camera paired with a tangible, photo keepsake. The camera shoots digitally, but prints images onto “instax square” cartridges. The camera offers far more features than Fujifilm’s previous two analogue offerings like auto focus, an F2.4 aperture, through-the-lens metering, double exposure, bulb, mode, and filters.
Fujifilm Instax Square SQ10, $388.
Lomography Lomo’Instant Automat Glass
Want the flexibility of the Instax Square but want to keep things analogue? The Lomo’Instant Automat Glass offers a wide-angle, F4.5, multi-coated lens; automatic settings; bulb mode; multiple exposure mode; and more. The glass lens also offers incredible sharpness and clarity. But, as the camera shoots Instax Mini film, you might be left wanting slightly larger images, which leads us to the next camera on the list…
Lomography Lomo’Instant Automat Glass, $275.
Lomography Lomo’Instant Wide
A step up from the previous Lomography offering, the Lomo’Instant Wide offers the same feature-set as the Automat Glass, only that the camera shoots Instax Wide film instead. The Lomo’Instant Wide also adds a fully manual shooting mode that gives series photographers full control of their images.
Lomography Lomo’Instant Wide, $298.
