New Instax camera, new instax frames

Some new Fujifilm Instax.

The boring:

Instax Mini 40 is just another Instax Mini camera. A look reminding us of the Instax Mini 90 more than the other Instax Mini, but with little settings (4). For CAD$130 it’s on the higher end price range. Still, nothing in sight for more serious photographers ; I see no reason to get one while I have a Mini 90.

The thing I can get behind:

Fujifilm also announced a new frame design for Instax Mini film. Frames are the novelty part of Instax Mini where you have frames around the picture that are not white. Black borders have been around, as well as other novelty for which I might not be their target demographics. This new contact sheet frame brings contact sheet film-like border, something the various “effect” phone apps have had. No sprocket holes, but the film name and a frame number printed in yellow. For once I can really get behind this novelty.

The latter come bundled with the former in a CAD$140 bundle.

To be released April 21st 2021

Instax hack: Wide/Square adapter

Keigo Moriyama on Emulsive explains How to shoot Instax Square in an Instax Wide camera:

One of the characteristics of these [instant film] cameras is that we can choose only one format for one camera.

[…]

The adapter design is a really simple one. Just a few rectangular shapes extruded here and there to fit in both wide and square format.

Keigo then demonstrate the prototype in a video:

It’s interesting to see all the hacks around Instax cameras.

Instax hacks

PetaPixel has two articles about hacks on top of the Fujifilm Instax instant camera.

An Instax Camera with the Leica M lens: a prototype using the SQ10 as a base, where the M lens mount replaces the lens, to produce square images. The hybrid model of small sensor and Instax printer make this work, as the coverage of an M lens is insufficient for even Instax Mini. Still the image quality is seriously limited by the quality of the sensor and the “printer”.

Combining a Hasselblad 500 and an Instax Mini 9: the Instax mini act as a film back for the Hasselblad.

We were really happy with our first tests. The full frame of the film is exposed and the images are sharper than we’ve ever seen on this type of film. There are still a few ongoing issues with light leaks and with focusing because of the slight difference in focal plane length.

Interesting to see the creativity in that area.

The Fujifilm Baby box

At a time where people mostly use digital cameras for family pictures, with phone becoming more and more the prevalent tool to snap family memories, Fujifilm is trying to bring the instant film back to fashion, outside of the niche market by offering the Baby Box as Tokyo Camera Style is telling us back in November. The Baby box is meant to help you document the early days of your child.

The box encourages parents to take a photo of their child every day to document their first year of life. Rather than just a bunch of digital files on their mom’s iPhone, these lucky kids will actually end up with an actual album of actual photographs to look back though for the rest of their lives.

Let’s hope people realize the importance of the physical picture that generations discover in shoe boxes and albums – and don’t require the complicated maintenance that electronic archive need.