instant camera essay

The best instant cameras in 2024 – retro prints from Instax, Polaroid and more

These are the best instant cameras whether you're looking for a great gift or you want to take the ultimate analog photo!

The Quick List

Best overall, best budget, best pocket-sized, best hybrid, best all-rounder, best for simplicity, best for style, best for big photos, best square images, best zink photos.

• How to choose
• How we test

The Quick List ↩ 1. Best overall – Polaroid Now+ 2. Best budget – Instax Mini 12 3. Best pocket-sized – Polaroid Go 4. Best hybrid – Instax Mini Evo 5. Best all-rounder – Instax Mini 90 6. Best for simplicity – Polaroid Now 7. Best for style – Leica Sofort 2 8. Best for big photos – Instax Wide 300 9. Best square images – Instax Square SQ40 10. Best Zink camera – Kodak Smile Classic How to choose How we test

The best instant cameras do something that no other camera can do: give you an immediate, physical, one-of-a-kind photograph. An actual photograph!  

These photos can be gifted, scrapbooked, slipped into greeting cards, stuck on the fridge, treasured in a wallet… in short, the best instant cameras make meaningful, physical photographs, which are wonderful for wedding receptions and perfect for parties with friends.

While most models are analog, popping out an image as soon as you press the shutter, there are also digital instant cameras that marry the thrill of instant photography with the convenience of modern technology. These hybrids combine a digital camera with a built-in printer, so you can choose which shots to print (and when you print them). Some can even print photos from your phone! 

I'm currently in the process of reviewing the Generation 2 versions of the Polaroid cameras on this list (the Now+, Now and Go). I still happily use the original versions of these three cameras, but I will update this guide if I find the newer models to be superior. 

I took my first Polaroid in 1984, and I've been addicted to instant cameras ever since! I've still got a Polaroid 600 from the Eighties, and I've long been a fan of Instax – I bought the very first Instax camera (the Mini 10 ), which is now 25 years old and still works like a charm. I love the Mini Link portable printers , too, which I often use to create mini photo albums for loved ones.

This is the quickest way to navigate the best instant cameras. Check out my quick thoughts below, and you can jump to my in-depth verdict of each pick along with specs and a link to my full review.

For full-size instant photos with great quality and that elusive 'vintage look', the Now+ is my top choice. It combines the same image quality as the Polaroid Now with some advanced features that make it ideal for simple shooting and special effects alike. Read more below

With new and improved power and lens controls, the latest Mini is easier to use than ever before – simply point and shoot, and the auto exposure mode will do the rest. Affordable, colorful, desirable – this is the camera that I and everybody else wants!   Read more below

Get tiny little pocket-sized prints on the go! I think the Polaroid Go is the cutest camera ever made, and it will make you very popular at parties when you start passing it around. It's also the ideal size for kids' hands, if they catch the photo bug. Read more below

Love instant photography, but want to "print" images from your phone as well? The Mini Evo takes amazing analog photos with the option to add creative effects in-camera, and I love how it also turns my phone images into real Instax photographs.  Read more below

The only analog Instax with a rechargeable battery, which is claimed to last as long as ten film packs (which I've found about right in real-world use). This retro-style camera saves on waste, making it more eco-friendly than battery-based models. Read more below

If I don't plan on using the advanced phone-based features or tripod mount of the Now+, this is the Polaroid camera I grab for point-and-shoot simplicity. The closest thing you'll find to the  classic Polaroids of your (or your parents') childhood! Read more below

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I can't deny that this is the most beautiful-looking instant camera around, but I also can't deny that it is quite literally an Instax Mini Evo with a luscious Leica body. Still, if you want to be inspired every time you pick it up, the Sofort can't be beaten! 

Read more below

Want to go large? The Instax Wide 300 produces the biggest and widest prints possible – I call it the "medium format of instant cameras"! It uses Instax Wide film that's perfect for group shots, landscapes, and photos for the front of the fridge! Read more below

Instax cameras deliver the best conventional image quality, but their designs are usually bright, bubbly and candy-colored. I love the SQ40 because it looks a bit more grown-up, making it a better fit for those times when you're shooting more seriously. Read more below

Instant film is expensive, and film packs are bulky. Want more affordable and more compact print refills? Go for a Zink camera – and I think the Kodak Smile Classic is the best of the bunch, and also doubles as a printer for your phone photos. Read more below

The best instant cameras I recommend in 2024

Why you can trust Digital Camera World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out how we test.

Here are my thoughts on each of the best instant cameras that have made the cut for this guide. After testing them all, I now personally own quite a few of these – I put my money where my mouth is, so you can trust my recommendations!

1. Polaroid Now+

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

✅ You want truly vintage-looking photos:  Instax prints are cleaner and crisper, but Polaroid photos have that dreamy retro quality that's straight out of an old family photo album. This is the real "vintage look"!

✅ You love extra features:  Want to do more than just point and snap? Pair this with your phone to unlock extra shooting modes, use the lens filters for cool in-camera effects, and there's even a mount for tripod use. 

❌ You want modern image quality:  If unpredictable colors, sharpness and haze aren't your jam, I recommend going for an Instax camera – which produces superior sharpness, contrast and general consistency.

❌ You just want to shoot, not mess with settings:  All the extra features are cool, but only if you use them! If you've no interest in things like double exposures or light trails, then go for the regular Polaroid Now (elsewhere on this guide).

If you're after full-size instant photos that possess quality and that elusive "vintage look", the Polaroid Now+ is the obvious choice. 

My personal favorite instant camera, it combines the same image quality and shooting experience of the base Polaroid Now with the modern-day features of the now-discontinued OneStep+, giving you the best of both worlds. 

It has several creative modes such as light painting, aperture priority, double exposure, portrait mode and many more, which are all available through the phone app (which pairs via Bluetooth). 

There are also several physical lens filters that create natty in-camera effects, which isn't something that any other instant camera is currently bundled with (the red vignette filter is the pick of the bunch, in my opinion). 

It even has a tripod mount, which again isn't present on many other instant cameras, so you can proper selfies and group shots using the self-timer, and really take advantage of the long exposure modes on offer.

Between its physical and phone-based extras, this is the most feature-rich instant camera on the market – which makes it the most fun to get creative with.

Read my full Polaroid Now+ review for more details

• Back to the top ⤴

2. Instax Mini 12

✅ You want great photos and great value:  All Instax cameras boast (broadly) the same image quality, but the smaller size of Mini prints makes them the most affordable. 

✅ You love color choices:  Instax Minis come in five bright colors, so they're brilliant for expressing yourself – and perfect for gifting, if you know someone's favorite color! 

❌ You already own a Mini 11:  Not a huge amount has been changed since last year's model, so it's not worth the upgrade if you've already got an 11. 

❌ You want a serious-looking camera: The candy colors and cutesy design aren't for everyone. For something a bit more grown-up, look to the Mini 40 or 90.

The Instax Mini is the most popular instant camera on the market – and the latest model is the Mini 12, with its irresistably cute soap-bubble redesign and new pastel colors. 

Those cosmetic changes really form the main differences from its predecessor, as technologically it only offers a few minor improvements on the Instax Mini 11 . 

These take the form of a more sophisticated lens deployment and retraction mechanism, along with a degree of parallax correction to make it easier to accurately frame your shots. It's a shame that the flash still can't be disabled, though. 

The Mini 12 is definitely the one you should go for but, since the older version is only going to go down in price, I think the 11 is still worth considering. Check out our Instax Mini 12 vs 11 comparison to see if a few pennies saved is worth missing out on the new features. 

Read our full Instax Mini 12 review for more details

3. Polaroid Go

✅ You want a truly pocketable camera:  Most cameras, even the Instax Mini, play fast and loose with "fits in your pocket". But the Polaroid Go truly is pocket-sized! 

✅ You love the size more than the quality:  Instax Mini prints have better conventional image quality, but they're not as small as the delightfully diddy Polaroid Go photos.

❌ "Image quality" is top priority:  I love the dreamy feel of Polaroids, but it's not everyone's cup of tea – and the uber-hipster Polaroid look is even more prevalent here. 

❌ Price per print is important: Polaroid film is inherently pricier than Instax, and that's the case with the Go. Your pennies go further with packs of Instax Mini film. 

I fell in love with this palm-sized camera faster than it took a photo to develop – and so does everyone I show it to! It's the world's smallest analog instant camera, and it produces fittingly tiny instant photos, too. 

That's really the main calling card, here. The Polaroid Go is like a tiny burger slider, disappearing into your palm and making you feel like a giant using a miniature camera. 

For this reason it's also perfectly proportioned for little hands, making it an ideal camera for kids to shoot with. 

That said, of course, there's the price of the film to consider, as Instax Mini film works out cheaper than Polaroid Go film. But then you'll also need to replace AA batteries on a Mini, whereas the Go just is rechargeable via USB. 

Despite being so tiny, the Go boasts double exposures – which you won't get on Instax unless you opt for pricier options like the Instax Mini 90 (below). That said, the Minis produce better conventional image quality.

A fun and funky little camera, the Polaroid Go will be the star of your next party. I absolutely love mine – I bring it for the fun factor, accompanied by a Now+ or a Square SQ40 for "keeper" images.

Read my full Polaroid Go review for more details

4. Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo

✅ You don't want to print every photo:  Pure-analog instant cameras expose a photo every time you press the shutter. But here you can decide which ones to print! 

✅ You want to print photos from your phone:  Any phone photo can become an Instax photo. Great for sharing pics with friends or making sure everyone gets a physical photo!

❌ You just want to shoot:  Since this is a hybrid digital instant camera, there are lots of menus and extra buttons that get in the way of simply taking a photograph. 

❌ You want to store a lot of photos on it: The camera has internal storage for 45 photos, but you'll need to buy a microSD card to expand the memory beyond that.

This was a massive sales success for Instax, and it's my favorite hybrid digital instant camera right now (which used to be the Instax Mini LiPlay , though I still prefer the LiPlay's aesthetics). 

The Evo is like an Instax Mini that enables you to edit your photos before you print them – and you can also beam images from your phone (including ones you've taken on a "proper camera") and turn them into physical photos. 

Not only can you make tweaks and edits before printing, you can also choose from a selection of digital filters – marrying the fun of analog photography with effects familiar to the Instagram generation.

On top of that, the Mini Evo boasts a beautiful vintage design. My favorite part of the camera is the physical lever on the back; designed to mimic the film advance lever on old film cameras, here you use it to print photos when you're ready (and the image on the rear LCD even slowly "ejects" from the screen as it emerges from the side of the camera).

The ability to pair it with your phone for use as an instant printer seals the deal for me. If you love sharing photos with friends, here you can give them the one you've just taken or transform a phone snap into a sweet Instax print.  

Read our full Instax Mini Evo review for more details

5. Instax Mini 90

✅ You hate replacing batteries:  This is the only analog Instax camera that comes with a rechargeable battery – so no more waste or scrambling around when you run dry!

✅ You want helpful shooting modes:  With its optional advanced features, you can go fully automatic or choose a mode for extra creativity or a particular shooting scenario.

❌ You're on a budget:  This is the priciest Instax analog option – both the Mini 12 and the Mini 40 are much more affordable cameras. 

❌ You don't need all the extras: If you just want to take snaps, and aren't interested in things like double exposures, a lot of the extra features here will be overkill.

With its classic silver styling finished in black, brown or red leatherette, I think the Mini 90 Neo Classic is the best-looking Instax Mini camera.  

It is also the only analog Instax with a rechargeable battery, which the company claims will last up to 100 shots – which feels about right, in my personal use. So if you're concerned about waste, this is a big plus.

The retro styling is a throwback to SLR cameras, and fittingly the Mini 90 offers some manual control over exposure – and even the option to disable the built-in flash if you feel pictures are too bright. 

Bulb and double exposure modes offer creativity options for the curious (although the results were a bit hit-and-miss), and there are shooting modes for things like parties (giving better exposure to whatever's in the background) and landscapes (for faraway scenes). 

An advantage over cheaper instant cameras is an LCD display strip at the back, revealing your chosen settings. The viewfinder is small but adequate for its purpose, and there's even a tripod thread for proper selfies! 

Read our full Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 review for more details

6. Polaroid Now

✅ You just wanna shoot!:  No overly clever modes, no confusing dials or buttons – just point, press the button and a photo pops out! 

✅ You want real, full-size, square Polaroids :  People say "Polaroids" as a catch-all term for "instant photos". But real Polaroids are 4.233 x 3.483 inches – while Instax Square photos are 2.83 x 3.39 inches.

❌ You want best bang for buck:  The Polaroid Now is cheaper than Instax Square cameras, but film packs are smaller and cost more per exposure. 

❌ You want something compact: The Polaroid Now is a bulky camera. While the Instax Squares are large, but at least slim, the Now is a chunky box – so you'll need a big bag to throw it in! 

Want to shoot classic, full-size square prints but don't need all the bells and whistles of the Now+? Then this is the one I recommend you go for. 

The base Polaroid Now is a much more straightforward shooter – no apps, no lens filters, no superfluous buttons or dials and no messing around: just point, press, and out pops an iconic Polaroid.

Given the mirrors inside Polaroid cameras, they are much bulkier than their Instax counterparts – so you won't be able to carry this around in a handbag (I caved in and bought the specially designed bag from Polaroid, as it's too chunky for my messenger bags). 

However, while the Instax Square cameras may be slimmer, to me there's nothing like the tactility of holding a big, boxy Polaroid when you're shooting old-school instant film. 

Again, Polaroids produce a much more "dreamy" and authentically vintage photo (rather than the crisp, contrasty Instax shots). If you want images with the same look as the ones your parents and grandparents took, the Now is sure to Wow.

Read my full Polaroid Now review for more details

7. Leica Sofort 2

✅ You want an instant camera for the red carpet:  While Instax and Polaroid cameras have their own style, the Sofort 2 is the only truly luxury-looking instant camera. 

✅ You want instant photos and phone prints:  A hybrid camera, this can pop out a photo as soon as you press the shutter and it can print out shots taken on your phone! 

❌ You don't have money to burn:  There's no way around it: this is the Instax Mini Evo in a shinier, sexier body. You're paying a lot more for the exact same camera. 

❌ You plan to shoot a lot of digital: The sensor resolution is designed with Instax Mini prints in mind, so don't go expecting super high-res imagery. 

Yes, Leica makes an instant camera! However, while it is a very good instant camera, I have to be absolutely straight with you: aside from the cool design and Leica Big Red Dot™, this camera is otherwise identical to the Instax Mini Evo (it even uses Instax Mini film). 

So if you only care about the actual performance, the Evo the one to go for – but if you feel that having a snazzier body and a Leica logo is just as important, the Sofort 2 is for you. I really do think this is the best-looking instant camera to date! 

Leica is renowned for its fantastic and premium style, and the Sofort 2 has it in buckets, with a small and compact shape ready to slip into a pocket, and smooth gloss finishes to the front and the back of the camera that look very chic.

Unfortunately, like other hybrid cameras, when it comes to digital image quality, it's not great with only a 4.9MP sensor. Although you can argue that, for snapping and printing Instax Mini images, the resolution is perfect. 

Still, like other hybrids, the fun factor here is the main selling point; this is something to be passed around at parties for taking (and making prints of) on-the-spot memories. And for that, the Leica Sofort 2 is a class act.

Read our full Leica Sofort 2 review

8. Instax Wide 300

✅ You want the biggest prints possible:  Instax Wide film produces the largest images of any instant camera system. Perfect for those "prestige pics" you want as big as possible. 

✅ You shoot landscapes or group shots:  To capture the majesty of a mountain, or to fit the entire wedding party into the frame, Instax Wide is twice the size of Instax Mini film.

❌ You want to shoot selfies:  There's no self-timer mode, and the closest focusing distance (0.4m) is longer than is comfortable for most arms.  

❌ You want something small: The Instax Wide 300 is a tank of a camera! Big and bulky, it's about the size of a medium format camera – you'll definitely need a big bag! 

The Wide 300 is the daddy of the Instax family. It's powered by four AA batteries rather than the usual two, making this chunky camera not far off the size of a medium format system. 

That said, replaceable AAs will make the camera last longer than one with an integrated battery that stops holding its charge after a few years. And it's able to deliver much larger prints using the Instax Wide film packs, making it much better for group shots and landscapes. 

It's not a camera to take selfies with, though, between its bulky design, the lack of mirror, and a close focus distance that's a bit too long for most arms. And while it has a tripod mount, bizarrely there's no self-timer function (nor any other creative modes). So it's great for group photos, but only if there's someone behind the camera. 

I still love it, though. It's got the most powerful flash on this list (thanks to all those batteries) and it produces the largest photos with great image quality. So if you want sheer scale with no frills, this is your best bet. If I don't have to pack light, this is the instant camera I bring with me.

Read our full Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 review for more details

9. Instax Square SQ40

✅ You want the best quality square shots:  Instax image quality is fantastic, with superb sharpness, crisp contrast and consistent colors. 

✅ You need straightforward shooting:  Some Instax cameras get carried away with modes, menus, features and buttons. This is as simple as it gets: just aim and click! 

❌ You want easy-to-find batteries:  While AA batteries are easy to find in any corner store, the SQ40 takes CR2s – which can be tricky to find, especially on vacation.

❌ You want advanced features: If you want to get creative with things like double exposures and bulb modes, look to the Polaroid Now+ or the (smaller) Instax Mini 90.

Where Polaroids have that "dreamy" vintage look that's not to everyone's taste, Instaxes have a much more "modern" kind of image quality. So if you're looking for square instant photos that have punchy contrast and crisp sharpness, the SQ40 is the way to go. 

It steps away from the cute, brightly-colored design of the older Instax Square SQ1 and adds a sleeker and more sophisticated camera to the Square lineup. (Check out our Instax SQ1 vs SQ40 comparison for more info.)

As you'd expect, it takes pristine photographs whether you're indoors or outdoors – though I'm sad that it lacks many of the features from the discontinued Instax Square SQ6 (such as a self-timer, tripod mount, and double exposures). 

So the Polaroid Now+ trumps it if you want advanced and creative tools, but the Instax takes it for conventional image quality. 

My main gripe is that it requires tricky-to-find CR2 batteries – which, wastefulness aside, and can be a pain if you don't already have some spares when the camera runs dry! 

Read our full Fujifilm Instax Square SQ40 review for more details

10. Kodak Smile

✅ You love scrapbooking and sharing:  Zink (zero-ink) prints are durable, and also double as stickers if you peel off the back, so they're great for crafters and kids.

✅ You want to shoot affordably:  Instant film is expensive for both Instax and Polaroid, but sheets of Zink paper are a whole lot cheaper. 

❌ You shoot a lot:  The rechargeable battery is only rated for 35 shots – so if you're machine-gunning photos, you'll need to plug it in pretty quickly.

❌ You want the best image quality: Zink prints don't boast the best fidelity, being more like the results you'd get from a color photocopier than a film camera.

Both Instax and Polaroid film are expensive, but there is an alternative: Zink, ("zero-ink"). Rather than exposing a sheet of film, this uses thermal paper which is much cheaper, and also produces smudge-proof, water-resistant prints. 

They literally are prints, though, as this is effectively a camera with a Zink printer inside – so the quality is more like a color printout or photocopy. The backs can be peeled off, though, turning them into stickers – perfect for scrapbooking.

If you're happy not shooting on film, though, I think the Kodak Smile Classic is the best Zink instant camera on the market thanks to its large sensor that captures enough detail for 3.5 x 4.25-inch pictures (unlike the typical 2 x 3-inch of most Zink printers). 

I love the design, which is inspired by classic Polaroid cameras, and although it prints every photo you take, you can also insert a microSD card to shoot digitally. There's also a companion app that enables you to add augmented reality (AR) features!

Between the lower cost, the more durable prints and the fun AR features, this makes a really good option for kids as well as adults. 

Read our full Kodak Smile Instant Print review for more details

How to choose the best instant camera

How easy is an instant camera to use.

In short, very. You don't need to worry about complicated autofocus modes, setting the right white balance, or balancing the exposure triangle – simply load your film (this can be a little fiddly first time, but should soon become a cinch) and press the shutter button. Cameras don't get much simpler than this! Some instant cameras do offer more advanced creative features, but you don't have to use them – and most instant cameras are intentionally basic to be in-keeping with the retro, no-nonsense instant camera ethos.

What's the print quality like?

Polaroid and Instax film each have very different characteristics, due to their respective and unique photochemical exposure processes. Varyingly you can expect subdued or saturated colors, crushed contrast, blown out highlights, ethereal exposures… all 'features' that would kill the success of a DSLR or mirrorless camera! The results, however, are utterly unique, producing a look that even  Lightroom presets  and Instagram filters can't replicate. They're ideal image traits if you want a vintage, retro, lo-fi aesthetic. 

Do instant cameras have any extra features?

In days past, a traditional Polaroid instant camera might have a flash, but that was about it. Nowadays you can pick up a modern instant camera with multiple photo modes, plus Bluetooth connectivity to pair with a smartphone app. This can open up extra creative control, as well as enabling you to use your phone as a remote shutter release. LCD info screens and built-in rechargeable batteries can also be found in today's instant cameras. Finally, don't rule out hybrid instant cameras – these are essentially digital cameras, but with a tiny in-built printer to turn your digital snaps into analog prints right at the point of capture.

How much will each print cost me?

If there is a downside to instant cameras, it's that each and every shot you take is going to cost you money (remember the days of traditional film photography?). Naturally, the cost of film varies considerably between cameras and depending where you buy it, but as a very rough guide, expect to pay in the region of $0.75-$1.00 per print of Fujifilm Instax film, and between $1 and $2 per print for Polaroid I-Type or Go film.

What is the best printable camera for kids?

The Polaroid Go is the best printable camera for kids, in my opinion, thanks to its simplicity and teeny tiny form factor that's the perfect size for little hands. That said, another option is the new Instax Pal – an even tinier camera which is very much designed for youngsters, though this is not a printable camera (and must be paired with something like the Instax Mini Link 2 to print pictures). Do also check out our separate guide to the best cameras for kids

Is the Instax Mini 11 or 12 better?

This question is relevant for every generation of Instax Mini, which has a pretty regular update cycle. In truth, there's no appreciable difference in image quality among any of the Instax Minis released in the last few years; the lenses and flash units stay virtually identical (as, obviously, does the instant film). 

The main differences come in the aesthetics / ergonomics, as well as the additional features on newer models. In this sense, the Instax Mini 12 is better because it possesses parallax correction – making it easier to compose images in close-up mode. But otherwise the Mini 11 produces photographs that are every bit as good. 

How we test instant cameras

We don't test instant cameras using the same scientific lab tests we do on the latest mirrorless cameras and lenses – but our evaluation is no less exhaustive! When I get an instant camera, I take it to an actual shooting environment and run a few packs of film through it (since it's possible to get a bad batch of film), seeing how it performs in a variety of lighting and environmental conditions. This is especially important with cameras that use a photochemical exposure process, since results can vary greatly even in only subtly different situations. 

I also take any "clever" features into consideration, especially as this relates to ease of use. After all, instant cameras are supposed to take pictures instantly with minimal fuss! Battery life is a key point as well, given that there's a physical mechanism and usually a flash being fired. Image quality is quite subjective –  photochemical prints inherently possess a different set of characteristics, though Zink images can be more fairly evaluated in terms of print quality – but ultimately I won't recommend a camera that takes a bad photo!

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The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera Magazine ,  PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine ,  N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine ,  Digital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show . He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.

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The Best Instant Cameras You Can Buy

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Best Overall Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay Read more

Best Photo Quality Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 Read more

Best on a Budget Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 Read more

A Middle-Ground Instax Fujifilm Instax Mini 40 Read more

smartphone cameras have only gotten better with time, but there’s an impermanence to digital photos that simply can’t compete with instant, physical photos, like the Polaroid pictures of old. There’s a wealth of printing cameras on the market from manufacturers like Fujifilm, Polaroid Originals, Lomography, and even Leica. We’ve also checked out a few printers that can make instant photos of your smartphone pictures.

If you can’t get enough of unique camera gear, be sure to check out our guides to the Best Compact Cameras , the Best Action Cameras , and the Best Mirrorless Cameras .

Updated February 2024: We’ve removed some of our older picks that are no longer available, and updated prices and info throughout.

Best Overall

Fujifilm's latest Instax offering, the Mini LiPlay ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends ), works as a camera and a printer. The pocketable form factor makes it easy to tote it around and enjoy the immediate gratification of an instant camera. As a bonus, if you want to print a photo from your phone, you can do that with the mobile app. The LiPlay has a nice glass lens, a mirror for selfies, and the ability to review images before committing them to paper. We found the embedded QR codes for audio gimmicky, but many users enjoy them.

Best Photo Quality

If you're aiming for the best photo quality, this Fujifilm camera is the best instant camera the company makes. Compared to some of the other Instax Mini cameras, the Mini 90 Neo Classic is compact, comes with a long-lasting rechargeable battery, and gives you more creative control with a push-button close-up lens and a double exposure mode. We like its dual shutter buttons, which make it super easy to take a selfie from just about any angle. It often sells for around $120, so check prices often.

Best on a Budget

Like its predecessor, the Instax Mini 11 is popular for good reason. It's available in a wide array of bright hues, plus a few neutral options. The plastic housing is easy to grip, and the built-in selfie mirror assists with setting up good shots. The camera will automatically adjust its exposure to suit your lighting. It includes shutter button accessories, which are cute, but you'll need your own adhesive since the built-in sticky backing isn't durable. The film is relatively cheap, which is good because you'll be using a lot of it! If your budget is extra tight, the Instax Mini 9 —our previous recommendation—is still a good cam, though it might not be that much cheaper.

A Middle-Ground Instax

The Instax Mini 40 falls somewhere between the Mini 90 and Mini 11. It's a bit bigger than the Mini 90 and otherwise has the same features as the Mini 11, with the exception of its surprisingly good selfie mode. Pull out the lens to swap into a focus designed especially for close-ups of your mug (or a macro-y non-selfie.) The pebbled feel and retro black-and-silver look may make this camera more appealing than the bright and bubbly Mini 11. It's a good option for those who don't need all the bells and whistles of the Mini 90.

Reece Rogers

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Brenda Stolyar

For Extra Abilities

If you have artistic flair, try Lomo’s latest camera on for size. This Instax Mini-compatible cam is great on its own, taking sharp shots (especially if you opt for the glass-lensed, wide-angle Magellan edition) and including features many Fuji-made cameras omit. Long exposures, multiple exposures, and some exposure compensation abilities let you further express yourself. If you spring for this Automat’s bundles , you’ll get macro, fish-eye, and wide attachments, along with the fantastic lens-covering Splitzer, which divides the frame up into sections that you can expose individually for a collage effect.

For Square Prints

Fuji’s first square film camera was kind of a dud, but this one is not. Its reasonable price and easy-to-use design make it a great choice if you just gotta have the classic, 1:1 aspect ratio, Polaroid-style shots you remember from days gone by (and from Instagram). The Instax SQ6 has plenty of modes, from basic to double exposure. Even if you don’t plan on experimenting, it’s dead easy to use. It’s not our favorite Instax Square camera, but it’s incredibly simple.

For Luxe Square Prints

If the idea of Instax Square has you intrigued but you find the above SQ6 a little ... square, then this is what you should buy. Lomo has applied its excellent Automat tech to the Lomo'Instant Square ( 8/10, WIRED Recommends ), making it the funky, fun, creative pick for Square shooters. From its unique folding design to its excellent, optional attachments and built-in infrared remote, it works to justify its higher price. And if you need to save a buck on film, an adapter lets you shoot cheaper and smaller Instax Minis instead of Instax Square.

Polaroid, but With an App

The Polaroid Now+ has the typical features you'd expect from a Polaroid: vintage aesthetics, roll-out film, and a nice chunky body with easy-to-find buttons. 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. The Now+ also lets you take intentional double exposures. It's pricey, but it does offer a good blend of modern methods and vintage execution.

For Extra Wide Prints

If you want to shoot with Fujifilm’s wider film, you have to buy a larger camera. The Instax Wide 300 is the only first-party camera to shoot Instax Wide film, but it’s not our favorite. 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.

For Parties

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 Portability

For those of us who value portability, Fujifilm offers the Instax Mini 70. This tiny camera can go anywhere with you, and it doesn’t skimp on things like the valuable selfie mirror. There are two wrinkles that make the Mini 70 less desirable than either the Instax Mini 9 or Instax Mini 90: It’s more expensive than the Mini 9, and it requires the less common CR2 batteries . But if you’re lucky, you can sometimes find it at a significant discount.

Best Instant Printer

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 you want to edit photos first, skip Fujifilm's app and use a dedicated photo editing app to save the results, then print. We prefer the square format of the SP-3, but if you want the rectangular prints, the Instax Share SP-2 printer ($180) is another option. The price fluctuates a little on this, but try to get it for around $100.

Medea Giordano

Julian Chokkattu

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Strictly analogue: Polaroid's past, present and future – a photo essay

Guardian photographer Christian Sinibaldi tours the world’s last Polaroid film factory, in the Netherlands, the only remaining factory still making film for the much-loved instant cameras

T he Polaroid Corporation was launched in 1937 becoming a touchstone for American innovation and engineering prowess. It was the brainchild of scientist and inventor Edwin Land and his Harvard tutor George Wheelwright and at first made the plastic for polarising sunglasses. In time, it was to create and popularise instant photography, launching a seriesof pioneering cameras and film formats. These inspired generations of artists, including Andy Warhol , Helmut Newton, Robert Mapplethorpe , Maripol , Keith Haring and Guy Bourdin . They helped to raise Polaroid to the status of cultural icon.

This month, Polaroid Originals , launched the OneStep+ instant analogue camera which brings analogue instant photography up to date, as it can be connected to a smartphone app, enabling a range of effects.

Back to the future

In 1943, Land’s three-year-old daughter asked her father why she couldn’t immediately see the photograph he had just taken of her. His first instant camera went on sale for $89.95 in 1948, and became the the template for Polaroid cameras for the next 15 years.

Throughout the 50s, the Polaroid empire grew, with products distributed to more than 45 countries. The Polaroid SX-70 camera – the first camera to produce self-developing, colour instant photos – was launched in 1972. Edwin Land also appeared on the cover of Life magazine with his “magic camera”. But, with the swift rise of digital technology eclipsing instant photography by the 2000s, in 2008 Polaroid announced that it was stopping making instant film.

The Enschede Polaroid production plant.

Impossible Project

After the company’s announcement, a group of enthusiasts stepped in, calling themselves the Impossible Project , to buy the world’s last remaining Polaroid film factory, at Enschede in the Netherlands.

Polaroid’s production chain had been abandoned before the Impossible team bought the factory later in 2008. There were no negatives, no dyes and no suppliers to hand. They had to start from scratch, and reinvent the lost recipes for Polaroid film. The company rebranded itself last year as Polaroid Originals after acquiring Polaroid’s brand and intellectual property, and is the only company in the world making film for Polaroid cameras.

In its heyday, when Polaroid was producing 5,000 cameras a day, the Enschede factory produced more than 50m film packs per year and employed many people in the city of Enschede. Several employees who started at the plant in the 1970s still work there.

Andrew Billen, head of global manufacturing at Polaroid Originals, explains some of the key processes in producing Polaroid film.

First, the foil that will carry the developing fluid is prepared. A red dye is applied, which is a kind of semi-permanent adhesive. This allows the paste to remain protected from the air, but will ensure that the pod ruptures correctly when the film is ejecting from the camera, thereby setting off the development process. Then the foil is slit into the exact width needed to make sachet of chemical developing paste called a “pod”.

The developing paste

Depending on the type of negative, a recipe of chemicals is weighed out and placed in a large mixing vessel. It is then heated and blended . The paste is then pumped out into smaller drums ready for the next stage.

The foil is run through a machine where a very small, exact quantity of the developing paste is added then heat sealed into the pod. Pods are loaded into metal trays, which are then transported to the film assembly machines to eventually be laminated to each individual photo frame.

Negative slitters

Rolls of negative are fed through machines with very sharp circular knives, cut to size and then wound on to cardboard cores ready to be loaded into the film assembly machines.

In the dark

Negative materials are light sensitive, so they need to be cut in complete darkness. A special machine is required and its operators wear night-vision googles . Non-light-sensitive materials are cut on a similar machine in the light

To make the film cassettes, black plastic granules are fed into an injection moulding machine, heated until they melt , then injected into a mould cavity. The plastic is then quickly cooled and the cassette is ejected on to a conveyor. Cassettes are then transported to the film assembly machines.

Film assembly

In the final stage, the border mask and sheet are fed into the assembly machine. Here, in darkness, they are joined to the light-sensitive negative.

After going through a series of cutting, folding and laminating processes, a developer pod is fixed to each frame. A stack of eight finished frames is then inserted into a plastic cassette together with a metal spring and (sometimes) a battery. A card known as a “dark slide” is then added to the top of the packs to prevent light corrupting the negative, then the finished plastic cassette is welded shut. The finished pack is inserted into a foil pouch which goes into a cardboard box.

Some of the technicians and operators have worked at the factory for decades

The machines – installed in the 1970s – are completely analogue. Operating and maintaining them requires a great deal of skill and take years to learn. Operators will occasionally need to enter the machine and work for short periods of time in complete darkness . They do this without night-vision googles, completely by feel.

Vintage Polaroid

The factory also purchases vintage Polaroid cameras from all over the world. These are cleaned, repaired and tested. Many date from the 1970s, and spare parts have to come from donor cameras as new spares are not available.

Polaroid cameras refurbished over 50 years including the SX-70 camera. Photograph: Mee-Lai Stone

In the 80s, built-in flash and point-and-shoot capability quickly became one of the most iconic and recognisable Polaroid features . These developments were followed by the introduction of wide-format film for use in professional settings such as medical examinations and police investigations. The 80s also brought a surge of influential users into the world of Polaroid, with artists and photographers such as Mary Ellen Mark , David Hockney, Jean-Michel Basquiat , Keith Haring and Sarah Moon. More recently, artists including Ryan McGinley and Nobuyoshi Araki have continued to be inspired by the Polaroid creative tradition.

The 80th anniversary of Edwin Land’s original Polaroid company was on 13 September 2017. The date also marked the renaming of the Impossible Project as Polaroid Originals.

The Polaroid Originals OneStep+ camera, launched this month by Polaroid Originals, connects smartphones via bluetooth to an app to access creative tools such as double exposure, light-painting features, plus remote trigger and manual modes. The app also permits use of a secondary portrait lens for close-ups. The new device also has a flash and long-lasting rechargeable battery. You just have to load some film …

• The Guardian picture essay
• Photography (Art and design)
• Netherlands
• Photography (Technology)

Most viewed

All About Instant Cameras

Instant cameras offer all of the vintage feel and nostalgia of an old Polaroid from the seventies or eighties, but with all the bells and whistles of 21st-century camera technology. Once rare on the camera market, these cameras are now enjoying a revival as more people get interested in older photography techniques.

Instant cameras come in many shapes and sizes, use many different sized film, and can produce unique physical photos between 90 sec – 15 minutes. Instant cameras from companies like Polaroid, Fujifilm, Kodak, Lomo, and Leica use special film that develops in front of the photographers eyes or is printed out. Some cameras are a hybrid of digital and analogue that allow you to save and choose images to print while connecting to your smartphone while other cameras print the image straight from the camera, which helps to lower waste.

Below you’ll find a guide on some of the best instant cameras on the market. No matter whether you’re trying to take interesting photos or you want a fun camera for vacation, there’s likely to be a perfect instant camera on this list for you. Keep reading to learn more about these cameras, find out which have the features you want to take high-quality photos, what film is compatible with your camera, information about all the different instant film available, and best instant film by category.

Hybrid Digital Instant Cameras

Hybrid instant cameras offer some of the greatest versatility out of any of the instant cameras available with features like digital storage, wireless connection that analog instant cameras don’t have to have the ability to choose what you print, a smartphone app, and ability to print images from your smartphone. Here are some of the best hybrid digital instant cameras you can find. 

Fujifim Mini EVO

Here are some of the best features of the Fujifilm Instax Mini EVO Instax Camera: 

• Self-Timer : The camera has a built-in self timer with 2 modes – either approx. 2 seconds / approx. 10 seconds
• Dual Shutter Buttons:  The camera has two shutter buttons located for landscape and portrait locations.
• Rear LCD screen:  The camera has a rear 3.0-inch TFT color LCD screen that gives rich colors, detailed images, and bright images.
• Built-In Battery : The camera fully charges an internal battery in 2 – 3 hours by a micro-B USB cable which lasts for around 100 prints.
• On-Camera Flash : The on-camera flash can be set to automatic flash, forced flash, or suppressed and the range of the flash is 19 inches to 5 ft (50 cm to 1.5 m).
• Selfie Mirror:  Built-in selfie mirror so you’re perfectly framed for a selfie
• Print lever:  The retro look of the camera includes a print lever that will print images on instant film when pulled.
• Film and Lens Dials to Access Effects:  By rotating the Film Dial you can access 10 film effects / filters like Normal, Vivid, Monochrome, Retro, Pale, Canvas, etc. Also, by rotating Lens Dial you can access 10 lens effects / filters like Normal, Double Exposure, Half Frames, Fisheye, Vignette, Soft Focus, Light Leak, etc. All in all, there are 100 effects / filters available by rotating the two dials. You can also save the effects for quick access to your favorite combinations.
• Instax Rich Mode:  This mode prints images with more vibrant colors than the Normal mode. Making the images appear subtly more rich without overdoing it.
• Built-in Tripod mount : The camera includes a universal tripod mount to make group shot easier.
• Automatic exposure:  The automatic exposure settings on the Instax Mini EVO make it easier to control than instant cameras which feature a zoom dial since the exposure is controlled by the camera sensors rather than manually controlled. This allows novice photographers to just “point and shoot” rather than fiddling with different exposures.
• Film Cost:  This camera uses  Fujifilm Instax Mini instant film . When purchased in bulk, the price of the instax color film is $64 for 100 images (5 boxes of 2 packs with 10 images each). This makes the cost $0.64 per exposure, which is one of the less expensive options on the list.
• Digital Camera and Printer in One:  This camera can save 45 images on it’s built-in memory or on a microSD card (which can also be transferred to your smartphone with a white border) so you can choose your images before you print them to save film. The camera also acts like printer so you can print images directly from your smartphone using bluetooth. The camera takes about 16 seconds or 23 seconds to print using the rich setting. The camera can produce images with a resolution of 1600 x 600 dpi using the camera and 800 x 600 dpi using the camera phone app.

The smaller size of the camera compared to other instant cameras, the fact that is a hybrid instant camera that is a digital camera where you can save your images before you print them and a printer that connects to your smartphone, the affordable price of the Instax Mini film it uses, the 100 filters / effects, self mirror, Rich Mode, retro looks, on-camera flash, self-timer, and dual shutter buttons will make it a great choice for anyone interesting in getting into instant analog photography.

Polaroid Snap Touch 2.0 Instant Digital Camera

• A rounded frame with easy to operate buttons on the top of the camera. 
• 13 Megapixel CMOS Image Sensor
• 3.5″ Touch Screen LCD Display
• Up to 128 microSD Cards and micro-USB port
• Pop-Up Flash
• Built-in Tripod mount
• Prints Zink 2×3″ images in 35 seconds
• The rechargeable battery lasts for between 15-20 prints and is protected by the automatic off switch that engages if the camera is not in use. There is also a battery flash indicator to let you know when the flash is charged.
• 3.4mm f/2.0 lens
• HD 1080p Video Capability
• Bluetooth Connectivity with your smartphone
• Ability to save photos to the camera and choose which one to print

An additional benefit of the Snap Touch 2.0 is that since the camera uses Bluetooth technology to connect to mobile devices, the camera has an app that you can download that allows you to see images before printing, edit pictures, and even create custom collages. You can also share photos from the app directly to your social media channels.

Kodak Mini Shot 3 Retro

Kodak has been one of the biggest names in photography for decades, and their Kodak Mini Shot 3 Retro instant camera holds up to other more known brands. It has a 10 second self-timer function and prints 3 x 3 inch images (similar in size to Polaroid or Instax Square film) or you can choose a digital image to print from the camera or your phone. While these are technically an instant film camera and just a combination digital camera and printer, the image does magicially come to life as you watch it print and become a physical object – similar to instant cameras.

Here are some of the other best features of the  Kodak Mini Shot 3 Retro : 

• Compact design:  The pocket-sized design of this portable instant camera makes it a good choice for teenagers since it can be easily packed away in a backpack or purse. It’s also a good option for travel since it won’t take up much space in carry-on bags or luggage. 
• Print gallery connectivity:  This instant camera isn’t just capable of printing analog photographs on the fly. It can also be connected to your phone via mobile apps so that you can print any of your stored digital pictures on the camera. There is also a Kodak App that allows for even more customizing and editing of your digital images.
• 4Pass high-definition technology:  The Kodak Mini Shot features 4Pass technology that allows the camera to print sharp, precise high-definition photographs in about 50 seconds. It can also print both images with the typical Polaroid-like border (edges with more space at the bottom) or without borders on all sides for true 3-inch x 3-inch images. The images are also waterproof, smudge proof, and fingerprint-proof.
• Film Cost:  This camera uses the  Kodak 4Pass Cartridge All-In-One Paper and Color Ribbon . When purchased in bulk, the price of the paper and color ribbon cartridge is $34.99 for 60 images (3 cartridges). This makes the cost $0.58 per exposure and puts the film as one of the less expensive options you can buy.

Even though the photo quality of the Kodak Mini Shot may be slightly lower quality than some of the other instant cameras in this line-up (the best images come from printing images from your phone) and the prints tend to jam, tt makes up for this disadvantage by being one of the best wireless photo printers. This function will also save you money in the long run because you can choose which images to edit and print. However, keep in mind there is no built-in tripod mount.

Fujifilm Instax Mini Liplay Hybrid Instant Camera

The  Instax Mini LiPlay  was Introduced in 2019 and takes Instax Mini film. It is a hybrid camera that shoots digital images with a rear digital display to use as a viewfinder when shooting images, when editing images, and when choosing which images to print – saving you money on film. Until the Instax Mini Evo was introduced in 2021, it was the only Instax Mini camera to have a screen and save images to a memory card. It also functions as a printer by allowing you to print images from your phone via the App when connected through bluetooth. The Instax Mini LilPlay has built-in memory and slot for a micro SD / micro SDHC memory card to save images to or transfer images to your computer or phone. The internal memory will hold around 45 files and you can save around 850 files per 1gb (without sound). The rear display features a 2.7-inch color LCD monitor with around 230K pixels.

The cameras specs:

• The camera has a single-focus autofocusing system with a light to help the camera focus in dark environments
• It has a self mirror, focus range of 3.9 inches (10 cm) to infinity
• It has a shutter speed range of 1/4 sec. to 1/8000
• light sensitivity of ISO 100 to 1600 (auto), 256 segmented TTL metering / Multi-Metering
• It has auto white balance and a 2 – 10 second self timer
• It has built-in flash with 3 flash modes (Auto, Forced, Suppressed) with a effective flash range of around 1.6 – 5 feet (50 cm to 1.5 m)
• It has an internal rechargeable battery that charges by Micro-B cable that lasts for around 100 prints and takes 2 – 3 hours to charge
• The camera has a F/2 aperture, a 28mm focal length (35mm full frame equivalent)
• It weighs 7.9 oz / 225 g without batteries and film and is 3.24 x 4.8 x 1.4 inches (82.5 mm x 122.9 mm x 36.7 mm)
• Printing takes about about 12 seconds to eject from the printer and around 90 seconds to fully develop. 
• The camera’s printing resolution is 318 dpi with the images being 800 x 600 dots.
• The Instax LiPlay also has a reprint function where it holds up to the last 50 images printed in it’s memory.
• The camera also comes with over built in filters and templates for your images and has a remote image capture feature that uses your smartphone to take an image.
• No built-in tripod mount

Analog Instant Cameras (Without Digital Screen)

Unlike hybrid instant cameras, these analog instant cameras don’t have the digital features that allow for photographs to be stored or posted online. Instead, these old-school instant cameras are a call-back to the original instant cameras and only print photos on the spot.

However, this makes them popular with photographers who prefer an analog camera experience without the bells and whistles associated with digital photography. Below you’ll find some of the best analog instant cameras available without a digital screen. 

Fujifilm Instax Square SQ1 Instant Camera

The Instax SQ1 camera comes in three colors: Glacier Blue, Chalk White, and Terracotta Orange and costs $119 for the just camera by itself or $139.99 for the camera and of 20 sheets of film .

The camera specs:

• The cameras has a f/12.6 aperture and has a programmed electronic shutter 1/2 to 1/400 sec with a slow synchro for low light
• It has a self mirror.
• A focal length of 65mm.
• It can focus from 11.8 inches (0.3m) to infinity and has a selfie mode which allows it to focus from 11.8 – 19.6 inches (0.3m to 0.5m
• The camera has built-in flash that has an effective flash range of about 1 – 7.2 feet (0.3 to 2.2m) and can charge quickly
• The camera takes 2 CR2 batteries and has an auto off function after 5 mins of not using it to save power
• It is 5.3 x 4.6 x 2;2 inches (130.7 mm × 118.6 mm × 57.5 mm) and weighs 13.7 oz (390g) without the batteries and film pack.

The cameras is fun and creates great images with consistent results. However, it does lack a timer and a tripod mount.

• Instax Mini 90 Neo Classic

• The camera has a LCD back with exposure counter (number of unexposed films)
• It has a motor-driven 3-range focus switching of 11.8 – 1.9 feet (0.3m – 0.6m) for macro mode / 1.9 – 9.8 feet (0.6m – 3.0m) for normal mode / 9.8 feet (3.0m) – infinity for landscape mode
• A brightness control
• A 10 second self timer
• It has a flash ON/OFF
• It takes a rechargeable battery that last for 100 images
• The camera has a 60mm focal length (roughly equivalent to 35mm on a full frame camera)
• It has a programmed electronic shutter release with 1.8 – 1/400 and 10 second shutter time open for long exposures
• The cameras weighs 10.4 lbs. / 294g without batteries and film and is 4.46 x 3.62 x 2.25 inches (113.4 x 91.9 x 57.2 mm).
• Built-in tripod mount
• Kids Mode: Ideal for fast-moving subjects, with a 1/400 shutter speed
• Party Mode: Lightens up the background using the flash and keeping the shutter open for longer
• Landscape Mode: Excellent for distant objects and full-body pictures
• Double Exposure Mode: Allows the camera to take two images in one frame, fantastic for indoors or night photography or with friends
• Bulb Exposure Mode: Perfect for night photography and low-moving subjects – for instance, a moving car will appear blurry thanks to the long exposure; this is great to enhance your creativity.

Fujifilm Instax Square SQ6

Here are some of the best features of the  Fujifilm Instax SQUARE SQ6 : 

• The Square SQ6 is built with thick, sturdy plastic that is more likely to take an accidental drop or two without sustaining permanent damage to the camera’s mechanisms. This can make it a better choice than some of the more fragile instant cameras on the market. 
• The Square SQ6 photographs in landscape, selfie, and normal modes. The camera has auto-exposure control with a high output flash also allows for adjustments in light exposure, macro photography, and double exposure. 
• The Square S6 comes in three different colors (bronze, gray, and white), which makes it easier to choose a camera designed to match the preferences of a discerning teenager as well as any accompanying camera accessories.  
• This camera uses  Fujifilm Instax Square instant film . When purchased in bulk, the price of the Instax square color film is $95.98 for 100 images (10 boxes of 10 images in each), which makes the cost $0.95 per exposure.

While there are some appealing features of the Square SQ6 that make it one of the best instant cameras available, it does come with a few downsides. The Square SQ6 doesn’t come with a memory card option, so it’s only capable of printing in-the-moment analog photographs.

Fujifilm Instax Mini 70 

• The camera features a selfie mode for perfectly lit and focused selfies
• It has a selfie mirror
• It has automatic exposure control with exposure compensation
• A creative Hi-Key mode that brightens the overall exposure for cleaner-looking skin tones
• The camera has a tripod mount
• It has a flash with a effective flash range of 1 – 8.9 ft 0.3 – 2.7 m)
• It focuses as close as 11.8 inches
• It has a 10-second self timer that can take one or two shots
• It is powered by 2 CR2 batteries
• It has has a 60mm focal length (roughly equivalent to 35mm on a full frame camera)
• The camera has a shutter speed of 1/60th
• It weighs 15.2 oz / 430g (without batteries and film) and its dimensions are 6.1 x 5.1 x 2.7 inches.

Fujifilm Instax Mini 9

• The camera weighs 10.8 ounces (without film and batteries)
• It has built-in flash with a flash range of about 2 – 8.5ft (0.6m – 2.7m).
• It has shutter speed of 1/60th
• It has selfie mirror next to the lens to make selfies easier and a close-up lens attachment to shoot up to 13.5 inches (35cm) away from your subject
• You can set the exposure using the brightness dial yourself or let the camera automatically adjust the exposure level for you using different aperture settings.
• Powered by 2 AA batteries and you will get about 100 shots out of those. 

Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 Instant Camera

• The camera weighs 10.3 ounces (without film and batteries)
• The camera is slightly slimmer than the Instax Mini 9
• It has has a focal length of 60mm (roughly equivalent to 35mm on a full frame camera)
• It has shutter speeds of 1/2 to 1/250 sec and slow synchronization for low light controlled by the camera
• It has a built-in flash with a flash range of about 1 – 8.5ft (0.3 to 2.7m)
• The camera has a selfie mirror next to the lens to make selfies easier
• The camera has built in selfie-mode that allows you to focus between 11 inches – 19.5 inches (0.3m to 0.5m) from the camera
• The camera automatically calculates the exposure level for you along with the flash for brighter backgrounds than other Instax Mini cameras.
• The camera is powered by 2 AA batteries and you get about 100 shots out of those

On Amazon, the  Instax Mini 11 in Charcoal Gray sells for $109.95  and comes with 4 AA batteries and 60 sheets of film. See the  Instax Mini 11 manual  for more information about the camera.

 Fujifilm Instax Wide 300

Here are some of the other best features of the Fujifilm Instax Wide 300: 

• The zoom dial on the Instax Wide 300 makes it easier to take macro photography as close as 40 centimeters (15 inches) from the subject. This ability to zoom in and focus also makes it easier to take selfies and other close-up portraits.
• The light/dark exposure controls on the camera allow for the photographer to add both high and low-key effects with a powerful flash. This is a good setting to play around with for more experienced photographers to calibrate the exposure of the instant camera for a perfect shot.
• The camera takes 4 AA batteries which allow the photographer to take up to 100 photographs over an 8-hour day period without having to change them out. 

Consumers reported a few drawbacks to the Instax Wide model such as a relatively cheap construction design and some light leaks around the photo exit slot that may negatively impact images.

Vintage Polaroid 600 Series Cameras

The compatible Polaroid 600 film for these cameras can be expensive compared to other analog instant cameras and the photo quality might not be as good as newer, more modern Polaroid models, but the Vintage Polaroid 600 series cameras are definitely one of the most unique analog instant cameras on the market. 

Here are some of the general features you’ll find in these vintage cameras:

• Classic Polaroid photos, with no need for battery power because the battery is in the film pack
• Unique brightly-colored designs
• Simple point-and-shoot functionality
• Strong flash with override mode
• 110mm lens with a f10 aperture
• Focus from 2 – 4 ft and 4ft – infinity (varies by camera)
• Built-in flash, with manual override
• Electronic shutter with automatic shutter speeds of 1/3 to 1/200th second (varies by camera)
• Automatic exposure with manual +/- 1EV lighten/darken slider (varies by camera)

Polaroid SX-70

The camera’s features includes:

• 116mm lense with an aperture of f/8
• Manual focus from 10.4″ – Infinity
• Automatic exposure with a manual +/- 1EV lighten/darken wheel
• Electronic shutter with automatic shutter speeds of 1/175 to 14 seconds
• External flashbar socket (flashbar sold seperately)
• No tripod socket
• No self timer

Polaroid Originals OneStep 2

The Polaroid Originals OneStep 2 came out in 2017 and is a modern redesign of the famous OneStep Polaroid cameras from the 1970s. This camera is for photographers who are wanting the old-school experience combined with new technology and ease of use.

The camera comes with:

• Built-in rechargeable battery recharged by USB that lasts for 120 – 160 exposures (15 – 20 film packs) or 60-day battery life
• Exposure control
• Focus from 3ft – infinity
• 10 sec self-timer
• A viewfinder extension on the backside that makes it easier to frame photographs correctly. 
• Built-in flash with flash on/off
• Made for Polaroid i-Type film but also compatible with Polaroid 600 film
• High-quality polycarbonate and acrylic lenses
• Tripod socket for stationary photographs
• Film develop within 15 minutes

Polaroid Originals OneStep+ 

The Polaroid Originals OneStep+ came out in 2018 and is similar to the Polaroid OneStep 2 but has several upgrades that make it more versatile as a camera than its predecessor.

Polaroid OneStep 2 comes with:

The additional features you can find on the Polaroid OneStep+ in addition to the Polaroid One Step 2 features:

• Added close-up portrait lens that allows you to focus up from 1 – 3ft.

Polaroid Now I-Type Instant Camera

Here are some of the best features of the  Polaroid Now I-Type Instant Camera : 

• Bright vivid photographs:  The images produce sharp and vivid colors with autofocus and auto-exposure coupled with an on-camera flash. You can also use the double exposure function to create two images in one. Also, includes a 10 second self-timer function.
• Rechargeable battery:  Unlike other instant cameras which may require replaceable batteries, the Polaroid Now I-Type features a rechargeable power system that is charged up through a micro USB port. 
• Easy to use:  Older instant cameras can be somewhat difficult for photographers to learn how to adjust the settings and exposure and result in dozens of “dud” photographs. The Polaroid Now I-Type features automatic focus and exposure controls that let even the newest photographers just point and shoot. 
• No built-in Tripod mount

Polaroid Now+ Instant Camera

The Polarolid Now+ i-Type camera was released in 2021 and is probably familiar to anyone who has seen the Polaroid Now instant camera but with added features. This multi-featured camera comes in 3 colors (white, black, and blue-gray) and provides all of the instantaneous qualities of the original Polaroid instant camera with the added benefit of included lens filters, built-in flash, built-in rechargeable battery, ability to connect to the Polaroid app which unlocks features of your camera, and a new autofocusing system. The camera is essential a cross between the Polaroid OneStep+ and the Polaroid Now camera (both of which are on this list).

Here are some of the best features of the  Polaroid Now+ i- Type Instant Camera : 

• Bright vivid photographs:  The images produce sharp and vivid colors with autofocus and auto-exposure coupled with an on-camera flash. You can also use the double exposure function to create two images in one. Also, includes a self-timer function.
• Size: The camera weighs just 1 lbs and is 3.94 x 4.96 x 6.14 inches
• Upgraded Autofocusing system: Unlike the Polaroid Now, the Now+ has an upgraded focusing system that switches automatically between portrait mode and standard mode to focus where you need
• Rechargeable battery:  Unlike other instant cameras which may require replaceable batteries, the Polaroid Now+ features a built-in rechargeable battery that is charged through a micro USB port. 
• Easy to use:  Older instant cameras can be somewhat difficult for photographers to learn how to adjust the settings and exposure and result in dozens of “dud” photographs. The Polaroid Now+ I-Type features automatic focus and exposure controls that let even the newest photographers just point and shoot. 
• Creative App: Bluetooth connectivity and companion app which gives you access to full manual control, double exposure, light painting, and a noise trigger (App available for iOS and Android)

The Polaroid Now+ I-Type is a bit bulkier than some of the other instant cameras in this list (especially compared to the small Polaroid Go and Fujifilm EVO Mini), but it is lighter than traditional analog Polaroid cameras, has connectivity to your smartphone for added features, and it’s capable of taking larger photographs than many of the other instant cameras on the market. The camera also includes an upgraded flash system and upgraded autofocus and exposure system over the Polaroid Now. However, keep in mind that  Polaroid instant film is one of the most expensive instant film available.

Polaroid Go Instant Camera & Film Started Set

This white Polaroid Go instant camera was released on April 27, 2021 from Polaroid is one of smallest camera on the list at 4.1 x 3.3 x 2.4 inches at 0.71 lbs (with film). Which, at the time, makes it the world’s smallest instant camera. It uses the iconic Polaroid film but in a much smaller size at 2.6 x 2.1 inches (vs normal polaroid square film which is 3.5 x 3.1 inches and the Instax Mini film which is 2×3 inches).

• This camera is only compatible with the Polaroid Go color film . The film is $19.99 for a pack of 16 sheets of film. This makes the cost $1.24 per exposure for Polaroid Go film, which is one of the more expensive options on the list. However, you can find the film in bulk options on Amazon.com for 80 sheets for $95.33, which brings the price down even more to $1.19 per sheet.

Leica Sofort

• built-in rechargeable battery that lasts about 100 images on one charge
• 34mm (35mm Equivalent) lens
• Mechanical shutter with speeds of 1/8 to 1/400 second
• Shooting modes including Automatic, Self-Portrait, People & Part, Action & Sport, Bulb, Macro, Self-Timer, and Double Exposure
• 2 to 10 sec Self timer
• Integrated tripod mount and strap lugs

Lomo Instant Camera

This camera comes in several colors however many are difficult to find except the white and black editions. The camera has many features that can compete with the best instant cameras from Polaroid and Fujifilm.

Here are some of the best features of the Lomo’Instant Camera:

• The camera weighs 0.5 lbs (0.22 kg) and is 3″ x 2″ x 5″ (inches)
• 3 Shooting modes including: Flash-On Auto mode, Flash-On Manual Mode, Flash-Off Manual Mode
• Built-in Wide 27mm Angle lens (35mm equivalent) and the lens focusing distance is 15.6 – 35.4 inches (0.4m – 0.9m), 39 inches to infinity (1m – infinity)
• The camera is compatible with many lens attachments includes the fisheye (170 degree viewing angle, portrait lens (35mm equivalent), and a close-up macro lens that allows for 4 – 6 inches (10 – 15 cm) focusing distance and has a 40mm filter thread
• Built-in unlimited multiple exposures using the MX switch
• Color gels to color the built-in camera flash. Effective flash distance is 30 ft (9m)
• Manual control aperture of f/8, f/11, f/22, f/32 using exposure compensation (+2 and -2) with a default of f/16
• Automatic shutter with infinity to 1/125 normally with a built-in function for long exposures
• Selfie-mirror located to the left of the lens on the front of the camera
• Camera package includes: the camera, fisheye lens attachment, portrait lens attachment, close-up lens attachment, lens caps, colored gel filters, instruction cards for shooting techniques, and manual
• It uses 4 AAA batteries
• It has automatic film advance and automatic frame counter
• It has a internal light meter
• It also has a tripod mount

Although the camera does not have a self timer, it does have a cable release that accepts the standard cable and it has one of the largest apertures at f/8 which provides for brighter images without the flash than most instant cameras available. The camera also uses the easier to find batteries (4 AAA) as well as a wide variety of sharp lenses.

Lomo’Instant Automat Camera

Here are some of the best features of the Lomo’Instant Automat camera:

• The camera weighs around 1 lbs (.45 kg) and is 2.4″ x 4.53″ x 5.71″ (inches)
• 2 Shooting modes including: Auto mode or Bulb mode for up to 30 second exposures
• It has a 60mm (35mm equivalent) and the lens focusing distance is 1.9 ft (0.6m), 3.2 – 6.5 ft, infinity (1m – 2m, infinity)
• The camera is compatible with many lens attachments includes the fisheye (170 degree viewing angle, portrait lens (35mm equivalent), and a close-up macro lens that allows for 4 – 6 inches (10 – 15 cm) focusing distance and has with a 43mm filter thread
• Unlimited multiple exposures
• Automatic electronic flash that you can turn on or off with an effective flash distance is 30 ft (9m)
• Zone focusing with Automatic f/8 and f/22 apertures
• Full Automatic shutter
• Selfie-mirror on the front of the camera
• It has automatic film advance and automatic digital exposure counter
• A tripod mount
• It uses 2 CR2 batteries
• Compatible with a splitzer filter to combine half of one image with half of another
• Lens cap doubles as a wireless shutter release (takes the CR1632 battery)
• Camera package includes: the camera, fisheye lens attachment, portrait lens attachment, close-up lens attachment, remote control lens cap, Lomo’Instant Automat Splitzer, colored gel filters, photo stands and photo clips, and inspirational shooting tips

Although the camera does not have a self timer and it uses 2 of the more expensive and harder to find CR2 batteries, it does have cap with a built-in wireless shutter release which takes a CR1631 button battery. Like the Lomo’instant camera it also has one of the largest apertures at f/8 which provides for brighter images without the flash than most instant cameras available.

Can You Put Instax on a Tripod?

Yes, there are some Instax cameras that have a built-in tripod mount for this reason. These cameras include:

• Instax Mini EVO
• Instax Square SQ6
• Instax Mini 70
• Instax Wide 300

Can You Put a Polaroid on a Tripod?

Yes, some Polaroid cameras that have a built-in tripod mount to make this easier. These cameras include:

• Polaroid Snap
• Snap Touch 2.0
• Polaroid OneStep 2
• Now i-Type Plus

Other Polaroid cameras need an adapter to mount to a tripod. These cameras are:

What Instant Cameras Have A Tripod Mount?

See the chart below for what instant cameras in this article have a tripod mount and which do not:

What Kind of Film Does Each Instant Camera Use?

Unlike modern digital cameras, instant cameras depend on film that is either developed after the camera takes the image or printed by the camera. Each brand and model of instant camera is compatible with different film. Some film can be used in different cameras but many cameras may only accept film from the same brand. See what camera takes what film below separated by camera manufacturer.

What Kind of Film do the Different Polaroid Instant Cameras Use?

What film does a polaroid onestep use .

The Polaroid OneStep , OneStep 2 , and OneStep+ all use the Polaroid I-Type film. Polaroid I-Type is the newer version of traditional square-shaped Polaroid instant photographs and comes in packs of 8 prints. I-type of film does not have a battery in it so it is not compatible with Polaroid 600 cameras.

What Film Does a Polaroid OneStep+ Use? 

What film does a polaroid onestep 2 use , what film is compatible with the polaroid now.

The Polaroid Now camera was made to work with Polaroid I-Type film , however, the camera can also use the Polaroid 600 film .

What film goes in the Polaroid Now?

What film do 90s polaroids use.

Polaroid cameras from the 90’s with 600 (like the Polaroid Supercolor 635CL) in their name can use the modern Polaroid 600 film . This is because the film pack has a battery to power the camera. Keep in mind, while Polaroid i-Type film will fit in the camera, there isn’t a battery in the film pack which the camera needs to function.

Does the Polaroid Now work with 600 film?

Yes, the Polaroid Now camera can use the Polaroid 600 film . Although, Polaroid 600 film has a battery in the pack for older Polaroid cameras you can use it the newer Polaroid cameras like the Polaroid Now.

What film does the Polaroid Spectra use?

The Polaroid Spectra, Polaroid Spectra 2, and Polaroid Spectra AF cameras used a film called Polaroid Spectra (also called Type 1200 or Image film) but was discontinued in 2019. Unfortunately, none of the new Polaroid film or other Instant being produced currently will work in it since it is slightly wider than Polaroid 600 film. You may be able to find the film it needs online, however, the battery in the film pack may be dead and the camera needs a fresh one to work.

What film is compatible with the Polaroid Go?

The Polaroid Go camera is only compatible with Polaroid Go film . The instant camera is one of the smallest instant cameras ever made, so small it can go around your next, and the film is similar in size to the Instax Mini film. Polaroid go film is 2.6 x 2.1 inches versus the Instax Mini film at 2×3 inches. The film is $19.99 for a pack of 16 sheets of film. This makes the cost $1.24 per exposure for Polaroid Go film, which is one of the more expensive options on the list. However, you can find the film in bulk options on Amazon.com for 80 sheets for $95.33, which brings the price down even more to $1.19 per sheet.

What film is compatible with the Polaroid 300?

What film is compatible with the polaroid 600.

The only film that is can be used in the Polaroid 600 camera is Polaroid 600 film . Since the camera needs a battery to work in the film pack, it is incompatible with the new I-Type Polaroid film.

Can you use Fuji Instax film in a Polaroid 600?

No, Fujifilm Instax film is not compatible with any Polaroid 600 cameras. The good news is that Polaroid 600 film is still being made and easily found online.

What is the difference between Polaroid 600 film and i-type film?

The main difference between Polaroid 600 and Polaroid i-Type is that i-Type film does not have a battery in the film to power the camera so it will not work with older Polaroid film cameras like Polaroid 600 series or Polaroid sx-70 cameras. However, Polaroid 600 film will work with the Polaroid SX-70 and newer Polaroid cameras like the Polaroid OneStep , OneStep 2 , OneStep+ , and Impossible Project cameras like the I-1 .

Does i-Type film work with Instax?

What kind of film does a polaroid snap camera use, what kind of film do the different instax instant cameras use, does instax mini 7s and 9 use the same film, what film does instax mini 7+ use, what film does instax mini 8 use, what film does an instax mini 9 need , what film to use for instax mini 11, what film does instax sq1 use.

The film that is compatible with the Instax SQ10 is Instax Fujifilm Square film . These photos are sized at 2.44 x 1.8 inches (62mm x 62mm) and come in packs of 10 prints per box.

What film does Instax SQ6 use?

What film does instax sq10 use.

The film that is compatible with the Instax SQ10 is Instax Fujifilm Square film . These photos are sized at 2.44 x 1.8 inches (62mm x 62mm) and come in packs of ten prints per box.

What film does Instax SQ20 use?

The film that is compatible with the Instax SQ20 is Instax Fujifilm Square film . These photos are sized at 2.44 x 1.8 inches (62mm x 62mm) and come in packs of ten prints per box.

What film does Instax Mini Link use?

What film does instax wide use.

The Instax Link Wide 300 camera uses the Instax Wide film from Fujifilm. These photos are sized at 4.7 x 3.3 inches (10.6 x 8.4 cm) and usually come in packs of 20 prints per box.

What film is compatible with Instax Mini 40?

What film is compatible with the instax mini 70, what film does instax mini 90 use, what film does instax liplay use, what film does instax mini evo use, others instant cameras:, what film does leica sofort take, what film does lomo instant use, what film does lomo instant automat use, pros and cons of instant film types.

There are many different kinds of instant cameras on the market, and likewise there are several different kinds of film that go in them. Here are some of the major types of film you’ll find used in instant cameras and a little bit about the pros and cons of each type: 

Instax Wide: These larger prints are some of the largest instant prints commercially available and larger than many other modern instant camera prints. This film is only compatible with the I nstax Wide 300 cameras and Instax Wide Link printers . The film is 3.39 x 4.25 inches wide and effective picture size on this film is 3.9 x 2.44 inches wide. One thing to keep in mind with Instant film is it usually takes several minutes for the film to fully develop once it is ejected from the camera. Polaroid film is it takes about 15 minutes while Fujifilm Instax film takes about 5 – minutes (depending the temperature of the environment).

Best Instant Cameras by Photography Type

The instant cameras available on the market are a diverse lot, and not every instant camera will be right for everyone. Check out the list below to see our picks for the best instant camera models for different groups of photographers: 

• Best Instant Camera for Weddings: The best instant camera for weddings is the Polaroid Originals Now+ Instant Camera . It is easy to for anyone to use and it has a strong flash function for high-quality once-in-a-lifetime photographs. It also has has a long-lasting battery life so it won’t die halfway through the reception.
• Best Instant Camera for Outdoors: The best instant camera for outdoor photography shots is the Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 . This camera has automatic flash for low-light conditions and also features a fill-flash to help combat backlighting when taking portraits. The wide format film is also great for landscape photography. 
• Best Instant Camera for Tweens: The best instant camera for tweens is the Fujifilm Instax LiPlay . This hybrid instant camera looks cool and is capable of taking traditional analog photos, but it also gives teenagers the option to download all of their photos to social media too.  
• Best Instant Camera for Teens : The best camera for teens is the Fujifilm Mini Evo . This camera is a hybrid camera that is digital but can print Instax Mini prints. This also allows you to choose your images before printing them which will save you money in the long run. It also connects to your smartphone for sharing on social media or printing images from your phone. See more information about the camera in this guide.

Each instant camera on the market has its own advantages and disadvantages depending on what type of photography you’re trying to accomplish. To get the best match, be sure to check the available features and read user reviews to see how the camera performs in action. 

An Instant Camera for Everyone

Most people might have the same idea when they think of an instant camera, but the inclusion of modern-day technology in digital hybrids and new technological upgrades to the old-school models has made for some major improvements in the art of instant photography. 

No matter whether you’re a first-time photographer or a seasoned veteran, there’s an instant camera out there that’s right for you. 

My name is Lee Jones, MFA and I'm the professor behind The Photography Professor. My goal is to answer your questions about film-based photography in a format that is easy to read and understand.

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How Instant Film Works

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In 1947, an inventor named Edwin Land introduced a remarkable innovation to the world -- a film that developed itself in a matter of minutes. This new instant camera technology was a huge success for Land's company, the Polaroid Corporation . In 1949, Polaroid made more than $5 million in camera sales alone! Over the proceeding 50 years, the company carved out its own special niche, selling millions of instant cameras and more than a billion rolls of instant film.

In this article, we'll find out what's actually happening inside instant film while you're waiting for the image to appear. While it may seem like magic, the process is really very simple.

Instant camera film is pretty much the same thing as regular camera film , with a few extra elements. Before we get to those crucial additions, let's briefly examine film photography in general.

The basic idea of film is to capture patterns of light using special chemicals. The camera briefly exposes the film to the light coming from a scene (typically for a small fraction of a second), and where the light hits the film, it starts off a chemical reaction.

Normal film consists of a plastic base that is coated with particles of a silver compound . When this compound is exposed to a large number of light photons , it forms silver atoms . Black-and-white film has one layer of silver compound, while color film has three layers. In color film, the top layer is sensitive to blue light, the next layer is sensitive to green and the bottom layer is sensitive to red. When you expose the film, the sensitive grains at each layer react to light of that color, creating a chemical record of the light and color pattern.

To turn this into a picture, you have to develop the film using more chemicals. One chemical developer turns the exposed particles into metallic silver. The film is then treated with three different dye developers containing dye couplers . The three dye colors are:

• Cyan (a combination of green and blue light)
• Magenta (a combination of red and blue light)
• Yellow (a combination of green and red light)

Each of these dye-coupler types react with one of the color layers in the film. In ordinary print film, the dye couplers attach to particles that have been exposed. In color slide film, the dye couplers attach to the non-exposed areas.

Developed color film has a negative image -- the colors appear opposite of the colors in the original scene. In slide film, the two dyes that attach to the unexposed area combine to form the color captured at the exposed layer. For example, if the green layer is exposed, yellow and cyan dye will attach on either side of the green layer, but the magenta dye will not attach at the green layer. The yellow and cyan combine to form green. (For more in-depth informa­tion on the entire process, see How Cameras Work and How Photographic Film Works .)

The instant-camera developing process combines colors in the same basic way as slide film, but the developing chemicals are already present in the film itself. In the next section, we'll see how the developers are combined with the color layers to form the picture.

Pictures in an Instant

In the last section, we saw that instant camera film has three layers that are sensitive to different colors of light. Underneath each color layer, there is a developer layer containing dye couplers . All of these layers sit on top of a black base layer, and underneath the image layer , the timing layer and the acid layer . This arrangement is a chemical chain reaction waiting to be set in motion.

The component that gets the reaction going is the reagent (as in re-agent). The reagent is a mix of opacifiers (light-blockers), alkali (acid neutralizers), white pigment and other elements. It sits just above the light-sensitive layers and just below the image layer.

Before you take the picture, the reagent material is all collected in a blob at the border of the plastic film sheet, away from the light-sensitive material. This keeps the film from developing before it has been exposed. After you snap the picture, the film sheet passes out of the camera, through a pair of rollers. (In another configuration, often used by professional photographers, the reagent and developer are coated on a separate sheet which is pressed up against the film sheet for a set amount of time.)

The rollers spread the reagent material out into the middle of the film sheet, just like a rolling pin spreading out dough. When the reagent is spread in between the image layer and the light-sensitive layers, it reacts with the other chemical layers in the film. The opacifier material stops light from filtering onto the layers below, so the film isn't fully exposed before it is developed.

The reagent chemicals move downward through the layers, changing the exposed particles in each layer into metallic silver. The chemicals then dissolve the developer dye so it begins to diffuse up toward the image layer. The metallic silver areas at each layer -- the grains that were exposed to light -- grab the dyes so they stop moving up.

Only the dyes from the unexposed layers will move up to the image layer. For example, if the green layer is exposed, no magenta dye will make it to the image layer, but cyan and yellow will. These colors combine to create a translucent green film on the image surface. Light reflecting off the white pigment in the reagent shines through these color layers, the same way light from a bulb shines through a slide.

At the same time that these reagent chemicals are working down through the light-sensitive layers, other reagent chemicals are working through the film layers above. The acid layer in the film reacts with the alkali and opacifiers in the reagent, making the opacifiers become clear. This is what finally makes the image visible. The timing layer slows the reagent down on its path to the acid layer, giving the film time to develop before it is exposed to light.

One of the coolest things about instant photography, watching the image slowly come together, is caused by this final chemical reaction. The image is already fully developed underneath, but the opacifiers clearing up creates the illusion that it is forming right before your eyes.

For more information about instant film and photography in general, check out the links on the next page.

When the image finally forms on an instant photo, the developer dye hasn't dried completely -- it's the same basic consistency as wet ink. You can make some really cool pictures by spreading the dye around with a pencil or Q-tip. Make a self-portrait that's half photo, half painting!

Another option is to press the photo onto a sheet of paper to make a print . Or you can press it against your skin to make a photo-realistic temporary tattoo. Check out this site for more information.

Frequently Answered Questions

How long does instant film last, lots more information, related howstuffworks articles.

• How Photographic Film Works
• How Autofocus Cameras Work
• How Digital Cameras Work
• How Light Works
• How Cameras Work
• How does a pinhole camera work?

More Great Links

• The Polaroid Corporation
• Scientific American: Instant Film
• Polaroid Image Transfers
• The Hacker's Guide to the SX-70
• The Land List
• Polaroid: Instant Ideas

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Instant Photography: the Timeless Appeal of Polaroid Cameras

This essay about the enduring charm of Polaroid cameras in the digital era explores their unique position in the market and the reasons behind their continued popularity. Highlighting the camera’s ability to produce instant, tangible memories, it touches on the appeal of having a physical photograph in a time dominated by digital images. The target demographic for Polaroid cameras is identified as young adults and photography enthusiasts who are drawn to the authenticity and nostalgic value these cameras offer. The essay also discusses how Polaroid cameras enhance social events by providing an interactive experience, creating keepsakes that carry a sense of immediacy and intimacy absent in digital formats. It concludes by reflecting on the desire for genuine, unaltered moments in today’s fast-paced digital landscape, emphasizing the Polaroid camera’s role in preserving the art of capturing memories in their purest form.

How it works

In an era dominated by digital imagery and social media, the Polaroid camera, with its instant photo output, occupies a unique niche, blending nostalgia with modern photographic technology. This essay examines the appeal of Polaroid cameras in today’s digital-centric world, focusing on their target market and the reasons behind their enduring popularity.

The Polaroid camera, once a household name for instant photography, has experienced a resurgence in recent years. This revival is not merely a case of vintage charm; it reflects a deeper desire for tangible memories in a fast-paced digital world.

Polaroid cameras offer something that digital cameras and smartphones cannot: the immediate gratification of holding a physical photograph moments after capturing it. This unique feature appeals to a broad audience, from photography enthusiasts to millennials and Gen Zers seeking a retro experience.

The target market for Polaroid cameras is diverse, yet it’s clear that the brand has strategically positioned itself to appeal to the youth demographic. Social media platforms are awash with images of Polaroid shots, signaling a trend among younger users who crave authenticity and a personal touch in their photographs. These consumers appreciate the imperfections and the rawness of instant photos, viewing them as a form of self-expression and a break from the curated perfection seen on digital platforms.

Moreover, Polaroid cameras have carved out a niche in events and gatherings, where they add a fun and interactive element. They allow guests to capture moments and immediately display them or take them home as keepsakes. This instant physical connection adds a layer of intimacy to the photography experience, making Polaroids especially popular at weddings, parties, and other social events.

Despite the convenience of digital photography, the Polaroid camera’s appeal lies in its ability to create unique, one-of-a-kind mementos. Each Polaroid photo is an unalterable snapshot of a moment, untouched by filters or digital enhancements. This authenticity is something that more people are beginning to value, especially in an age where digital content is ephemeral and easily manipulated.

In conclusion, the Polaroid camera continues to thrive in the target market of young adults and photography enthusiasts who value the tangible, nostalgic experience it offers. Its success in the digital age is a testament to the enduring appeal of physical photographs and the human desire for authentic, personal connections. As digital technology continues to evolve, the Polaroid camera reminds us of the power of capturing moments in their purest form, providing a counterbalance to the fleeting nature of digital imagery.

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The Historic Trump Court Cases That We Cannot See

By Neal Katyal

Over the past month, in two courtrooms some two hundred and fifty miles apart, the government was hearing arguments in two of the most consequential court cases in American history. In New York, at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, a judge was presiding over the first criminal trial of a former U.S. President. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., at the United States Supreme Court, the nine Justices were mulling over a grave question of constitutional law—whether a former President is immune from criminal prosecution.

The two courtrooms could hardly be more different, with the polished white marble of the U.S. Supreme Court contrasting with the more ramshackle wooden court furnishings in Manhattan. And yet both rooms are similarly opaque, with most Americans unable to see what’s happening inside of either one. Cameras are prohibited, and so the only way to observe the proceedings is to wait in line outside, in hopes of snagging one of the few seats reserved for members of the public. (The Supreme Court saves room for fifty public spectators; the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse has been able to accommodate around ten.) This is despite the fact that the American people pay for these courtrooms with their tax dollars, and the fact that prosecutions are brought in their name. The New York case is called the People v. Donald J. Trump.

Like grownups who abstain from tequila because of a bad experience with it in high school, the bans on cameras are the lingering effects of some early issues with courtroom photography. In 1935, Bruno Hauptmann was put on trial in New Jersey for kidnapping and murdering the nearly two-year-old son of the aviator Charles Lindbergh. At that trial, cameras were allowed under certain conditions: they could film during trial recesses but not while witnesses were testifying. And yet camera footage of the trial testimony leaked, and Hauptmann’s trial became a media circus. This defiance of court restrictions, paired with the bright flashes in the courtroom and the general mayhem caused by the cameramen, ultimately led the trial judge to ban photography for the rest of the proceedings. Many states followed suit.

Once television became ubiquitous, in the nineteen-fifties, the prohibitions on cameras began to seem antiquated. Some states rolled back their anti-camera legislation, and, today, most permit some form of audiovisual coverage in court, whether it be still photography during testimony, audio recordings, or live broadcasts on television. Federal appellate courts, too, permit live broadcasts, as does the International Criminal Court. But not so New York. In 1952, the state adopted a statute still in place today, banning all cameras in the courtroom—a law so broad that one court-reform organization, the Fund for Modern Courts, has called it “an extreme outlier among the states.” The U.S. Supreme Court, for its part, prohibits cameras but makes live audio of oral arguments available. That puts the Court in better audiovisual stead than New York, and yet there’s a lot that happens in court that cannot be captured by either audio or transcript.

As a member of the Supreme Court bar, I was able to sit at the front of the courtroom for the arguments in Trump v. United States, the Presidential-immunity case. I could see Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s face twist into an expression of utter incredulity as Trump’s lawyer D. John Sauer claimed that a President sending a Navy SEAL team to assassinate a political rival was not an indictable crime. I was able to watch Michael Dreeben, the lawyer for the special counsel Jack Smith, painstakingly describe the counts in one of the federal indictments against Trump, relating to his abuse of the Justice Department. Dreeben outlined how Trump tried to pressure top Justice Department officials into sending letters to state legislatures expressing doubt about the election counts, and how Trump threatened to fire those officials if they didn’t comply. After Dreeben relayed this information, almost two hours into the proceedings, I could see the Court dynamics shift. The Justices began to listen far more closely to him, sitting up in their chairs.

I’ve personally seen more than four hundred oral arguments at the Supreme Court. Why bother trudging all the way to One First Street when I could just listen to audio recordings or read a transcript? Because neither is any sort of substitute for watching the way in which these arguments are delivered, and for observing the dynamics on display in the courtroom. The Court itself isn’t satisfied with just reading a bunch of written words in briefs; it insists on seeing advocates deliver their arguments in person. More than fifty Americans should get that same basic opportunity.

The judiciary is the least democratic of the three branches of the government. Supreme Court Justices, who have lifetime tenure, are appointed, not elected. And so they are required to justify their decisions in ways that elected officials are not. President Joe Biden can sign an executive order without explaining his reasoning behind it. (It might cause a P.R. crisis, but it’s certainly within his power to do this.) By contrast, when the Justices overturn a longtime legal precedent, or when they create a new one, whether major or minor, they must issue written opinions explaining their decision-making process. This process might be as significant as the opinion itself. Oral arguments are, undoubtedly, a major part of that process, and yet most Americans are barely even aware that oral arguments are happening—let alone what arguments are being made—creating a situation in which the public receives a pile of controversial opinions, every June, with little context. One can imagine that if oral arguments were televised, Americans might spend the year doing what the Justices do: thinking through a bunch of complicated, nuanced questions before ultimately reaching their own conclusions.

The Court today is relying far too much on the idea that Americans are going to seek out audio feeds of oral arguments. This is unrealistic in an age of TV and Instagram. It’s not 1936, and Americans aren’t huddled around a radio in the family room. Without the visual component, it is unlikely that they are going to pay attention to the arguments in a Supreme Court case, even if the decision that’s eventually rendered may directly affect their lives. It would serve the Court well for Americans to be confronted with the same questions that are raised during oral arguments. It would also serve Americans well to see how the Court, which is increasingly seen as a politically motivated entity, is genuinely grappling with questions about governance, such as how to draw the line between an official Presidential act (like appointing a Cabinet member), and a private one (like taking a bribe from said Cabinet member).

The public is missing even more when it comes to Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, which, ironically, is all about whether Trump committed crimes in his efforts to keep information from the American people, in the run-up to the 2016 Presidential election. Last week, the adult-film actor Stormy Daniels went on the stand and told the full story of her relationship with Trump, from their initial sexual encounter, in 2006, to the hush-money agreement that she negotiated with Trump and his former lawyer Michael Cohen some ten years later. We were unable to watch her tell it, or to watch how she handled being cross-examined, in the same way that we were unable to watch Hope Hicks, a witness called by the government, tearfully testify about her old boss, or the former tabloid C.E.O. David Pecker speak to the dozens of stories that the National Enquirer has killed about Trump and other politicians over the years. We can read quotes published online, but it is much harder, from behind our computer screens, to read between the lines. Did Hope Hicks start crying because she felt bad about turning on Trump, or because she was overwhelmed by the trial, or because of something else? Different reporters have had different takes, but we’ve been denied the opportunity to watch her testimony and decide for ourselves. And, of course, we’ve been unable to observe the behavior of the defendant, Donald Trump: how he comports himself in the room, how he reacts to the testimony of witnesses, how he carries himself, and so much more. (Just imagine how different the O. J. Simpson “gloves don’t fit” testimony would have been, had it been reduced to a transcript—or even a highly descriptive newspaper article.) Journalists have done their best to describe what’s happening in the room, and yet even the most faithful retellings can be subjective, skewed by something as simple as where the writer was sitting in the courtroom, and what kind of view they may have had. Some reports, for example, say that Trump keeps falling asleep during the trial; others disagree.

On Monday, Cohen is on the stand—more important testimony that we will not see. There’s also a chance, albeit a small one, that Trump himself will eventually testify in the New York trial. If he does, the American people will not be able to witness some of the most significant trial testimony given in our lifetimes. And if he does not testify, cameras would be the only way for us to see Trump’s true reaction to the case being presented against him. Instead, the lack of cameras has catalyzed a lopsided spin cycle outside the courtroom. Trump leaves the courtroom each day, where the reporters waiting outside for him do have cameras, and he characterizes the proceedings in a gravely slanted way, which then gets broadcast on cable news. The lawyers for the prosecution cannot publicly grandstand like this; rules of prosecutorial ethics require them to make their arguments inside the courtroom, not outside of it. The result is a structural asymmetry, which isn’t just confined to the two sides of the court case. The characters appearing on the witness stand, from Daniels to Cohen, are all subject to innuendo and character attacks, with the public unable to fact-check how these individuals are portrayed by the media. The same goes for the Supreme Court. Don’t believe what I said about Justice Barrett’s facial expression during oral arguments? Tough luck, you can’t go back and check the video, because there isn’t one.

Even if one accepts these rules for a normal trial, you’d think that there’d be an exception for ones that are so clearly in the public interest. Trump is not just a former President but a candidate for President, and twenty-four per cent of Republicans say they would not vote for him if he were convicted of a felony by a jury. The immunity case, too, is of grave concern to the public, as the Justices are essentially deciding whether Trump’s other trials should move forward. The risk is of a double darkness—that a Supreme Court the American public cannot see will render a decision preventing Americans from even hearing the rest of evidence against Trump, by stopping his trials from taking place altogether.

What possible rationale can there be for having a courtroom placed out of view of the people who paid for it? To be sure, confidentiality is sometimes required, from the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to the modern-day jury room. But courtroom proceedings are, by their nature, meant to be transparent, centered on a fact-gathering and argumentation process. Expecting cameras in the courtroom is not unlike expecting body cameras to be worn by police officers, who, like judges, are sworn to uphold the rule of law.

Some fear that courtroom cameras will prompt witnesses to be intimidated and scared. I understand this concern; indeed, I once shared it. From 2020 to 2023, I was privileged to serve as special prosecutor in one of the most high-profile trials in modern history, the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd . Up until this case, Minnesota had never televised a criminal trial. As prosecutors in the case, and in accordance with Minnesota law and practice, we requested that cameras be forbidden. We feared, in particular, for the safety and comfort of a seventeen-year-old witness, who had taken the video of Floyd’s murder.

The judge, fortunately, overruled us. Americans were able to see, with their own eyes, what happened in that courtroom. They could see the evidence that both sides were able to muster, examine Chauvin’s demeanor in court, and assess the credibility of the on-the-scene witnesses and medical experts. The result was public confidence in the outcome of the trial. When Chauvin was ultimately convicted, there were no mass riots or protests, despite speculation beforehand that either outcome would result in unrest. The trial underscored the importance of courtroom cameras, just as the initial video of Floyd’s murder, recorded by that young witness, was critical in drawing public attention to the incident in the first place.

There have been concerns, too, that televised legal proceedings create perverse incentives for lawyers and judges, who may be tempted to play for the public, and distort the truth-seeking function of the court. That is a possibility, although the democratic benefits strongly outweigh that risk, just as they do for Congress (televised) and the President (extensively televised). And the reverse is more likely, as courtroom participants are incentivized to act with greater care when their actions will be viewable by millions. In 2017, I argued against President Trump’s Muslim ban in the federal appeals court in Seattle, and the oral argument was covered on live television. If anything, the cameras induced us attorneys to be even more conscious of keeping the proceedings solemn. Ultimately, cameras would allow Americans to see what I get to see when I am in court: a bunch of judges who are trying their hardest to resolve difficult cases in a straightforward and honest way. Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, is a perfect example. Those in the courtroom describe an even-keeled and balanced judge, but Trump goes out every day blasting him as a biased accomplice of President Biden. Televised proceedings would empower Americans to make these judgments for themselves.

The mechanism to fix all of this is not difficult to implement. Changing the rules in New York would likely require the state legislature to lift its ban on cameras, although it is conceivable that a court may try to do so on its own, as Minnesota did in the Chauvin case. Televising Supreme Court arguments would not even require legislation; it could be done by mere Court rule. And, should the Court not act, legislation has been introduced by Senators Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin to force them to do so. The bill, known as the Cameras in the Courtroom Act, would require the Supreme Court to permit television coverage of oral arguments and other open sessions. It’s accompanied by another bill, the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act, which extends to all open federal court proceedings. Both bills are pieces of bipartisan legislation; Grassley and Durbin don’t agree on much, but they agree on this. Even the Justices themselves have, in other contexts, recognized the importance of governmental transparency in a democracy. The person who famously said that sunlight is the best disinfectant was none other than Justice Louis Brandeis. ♦

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By Jeannie Suk Gersen

By Eric Lach

By Susan B. Glasser

Essay on Camera

Students are often asked to write an essay on Camera in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Camera

Introduction.

A camera is a device that captures images. These images can be still photographs or moving images such as videos.

Types of Cameras

There are many types of cameras including digital, film, professional, and phone cameras. Each type has its unique features.

Uses of Cameras

Cameras are used in various fields such as journalism, filmmaking, science, and more. They also help us capture life’s precious moments.

In conclusion, cameras are an important tool in our lives. They allow us to document and share our experiences.

Also check:

• 10 Lines on Camera
• Paragraph on Camera

250 Words Essay on Camera

The camera, a ubiquitous tool in today’s digital age, has revolutionized the way we perceive and capture the world around us. It has evolved from being a simple tool for documentation to a sophisticated device for artistic expression, communication, and data analysis.

The Evolution of the Camera

The camera’s journey began with the camera obscura, a simple optical device used in the Renaissance period. The invention of the daguerreotype in the 19th century marked the beginning of photography. The 20th century witnessed rapid advancements with the introduction of the Polaroid, enabling instant photography, and the digital camera, which eliminated the need for film.

The Camera in the Digital Age

Today, cameras are integrated into smartphones, drones, and even satellites, making photography accessible to all. They serve not just as tools for capturing memories, but also for communicating ideas and emotions. The rise of social media platforms has further amplified the role of the camera in our lives.

Cameras and Artificial Intelligence

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with cameras has opened up new avenues. AI-enabled cameras can recognize faces, detect objects, and even predict behavior, finding applications in fields like surveillance, healthcare, and autonomous vehicles.

The camera, from its humble beginnings to its current advanced state, has significantly impacted society. As technology continues to evolve, the camera’s role will continue to expand, making it a vital tool in our increasingly visual and interconnected world.

500 Words Essay on Camera

Introduction: the camera as a tool of expression and documentation.

The camera, a revolutionary invention in the world of technology, has drastically shaped the way we perceive, interpret, and document reality. It is a device that captures light in a physical medium, either on film or digitally, to produce an image. Invented in the early 19th century, the camera has evolved significantly over time, from large, cumbersome devices to compact, sophisticated gadgets that can fit into our pockets.

The camera’s journey began with the camera obscura, a device that projected an image onto a surface through a small hole. This concept was later refined and developed into the daguerreotype, the first publicly available photographic process. However, these early cameras were limited in their capabilities, requiring long exposure times and producing images that were not easily reproducible.

The introduction of the dry plate process in the 1870s, followed by the invention of roll film in the 1880s, marked a significant turning point in the camera’s evolution. These innovations made photography more accessible and portable, paving the way for the first mass-produced camera, the Kodak Brownie, in 1900.

Modern Cameras and Technological Advancements

The advent of the digital era in the late 20th century brought about another profound shift in camera technology. Digital cameras, which capture and store images electronically rather than on film, have become the standard in recent years. They offer numerous advantages over their analog predecessors, including instant image review, larger storage capacity, and the ability to manipulate images digitally.

Moreover, the integration of cameras into smartphones has democratized photography, allowing virtually anyone to capture and share images instantly. This ubiquity of cameras has had a profound impact on society, influencing everything from journalism and advertising to social media and personal communication.

The Impact of Cameras on Society

Cameras have not only revolutionized the way we capture and share images, but also how we interact with the world. They have become a tool of expression and a means of communication, enabling us to document our lives, explore our creativity, and share our perspectives with others.

In journalism, cameras have played a pivotal role in bringing distant events and issues to the forefront of public consciousness. They have also transformed advertising, with high-quality images becoming a key component of successful marketing campaigns.

On a personal level, cameras allow us to preserve memories and moments, documenting our lives in a way that was not possible before. They have also become a key tool in the rise of social media, enabling users to share their experiences and perspectives with a global audience.

Conclusion: The Camera’s Role in the Future

As technology continues to advance, cameras will undoubtedly continue to evolve, offering ever greater capabilities and possibilities. Virtual reality cameras, 360-degree cameras, and advanced drone cameras are just a few examples of the exciting developments on the horizon.

Despite these technological advancements, the essence of the camera remains the same: it is a tool that allows us to capture, interpret, and share our view of the world. As such, it will continue to play a crucial role in our society, influencing how we communicate, express ourselves, and understand the world around us.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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Lomography's latest cameras celebrate iconic artist Gustav Klimt

L omography is no stranger to creating cameras in wonderful and wacky colors – indeed, some of the best Lomography cameras really push the aesthetics. This time, however, it has opted for a more refined and classic approach, celebrating the art of renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. 

Perhaps Austria's most famous artist, Klimt was an icon of the Vienna secession movement – an artistic movement closely related to art nouveau, formed in 1897. Klimt's paintings were rebellious and pioneering at the time, and are now considered some of the most recognizable and important in art history. 

Four of his best-known works are the subject of the new Klimt Collection of Lomo’Instant Automat Cameras. Two special editions of the camera feature in the collection, each with a separate image on the front and rear. 

First is The Gold Leaf Edition, which was inspired by Klimt's use of gold leaf in his paintings, and features the artworks Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I on the front and The Kiss on the rear. The second in the collection is named the Water Serpents II / Maiden Edition, after the two artworks of the same names depicted on the camera. 

"The Lomo’Instant Automat Camera and Lenses Klimt Collection invites photographers around the world to infuse their instant captures with their own artistry," says Lomography. 

Creativity and artistry have always been at the forefront of the company's product design, and this is no different with the Lomo’Instant Automat. Where it differs from other instant cameras on the market is the ability to add different lenses, providing different focal lengths and creative lens options. 

Creativity is pushed further with the additional features of a multiple exposure mode, long exposure mode, and a built-in flash with colored gel filters. But on top of the experimental and creative elements, the Automat also offers a great traditional instant camera experience. 

It uses Fujifilm Instax Mini film, has a standard focal length of 60mm, features changeable apertures of auto, f/8, and f/22, and offers exposure compensation of up to one stop. 

The Lomo’Instant Automat Camera and Lenses Klimt Collection is available now for $199 / £179 / AU $219. And if the Klimt designs do not take your fancy, Lomography offers plenty of other colorways and designs. 

You may also be interested in our guides to the best instant cameras and best digital instant cameras . And make sure to check what type of instant film you need !

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• Homebuilt panoramic camera

Non-Russian

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Zenit series

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Zorki series

• Zorki-S | repair | repair (2)

Misc Russian

• Horizon-202 | samples
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Light meters

• Leningrad-7 | manual
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The Iskra-2

This page is no longer actively maintained. ( Pardon? )

In my opinion, the Iskra-2 is one of the most beautiful cameras KMZ ever made, and a camera that, despite its respectable age of more than 35 years, is still useful today. It was my most expensive Soviet-Russian camera and though not flawless, is one of the most special cameras in my collection.

Although there are no sources that explicitly indicate it, I think that the Iskras was made to follow up the Moskva series. That series was started in 1947 as a range of Zeiss Ikonta copies (medium-format collapsable bellows cameras, some with rangefinder and some without), but when the Moskva-5 , the last in the series, was discontinued in 1961, it was quite outdated. At that time, professional 35mm photographers used Leica M3's or Nikon F's, not clumsy and large medium format bellows cameras with small viewfinders and odd rangefinder coupling systems. So I reckon that KMZ thought it time to come up with something new, which they did in the form of the Iskra line.

The original Iskra, the name meaning 'Spark' and referring to Lenin's reactionary 1900's newspaper, was marketed in 1960, overlapping the Moskva-5 's sales period entirely. It had several main advantages over the Moskva-5 .

The most important one was no doubt its viewfinder system. The Iskras used the same bright, slightly blueish rangefinder/viewfinder system that the Zorki-4 had been fitted with four years earlier, with the obvious difference that the Iskra's viewfinder window was square. The viewfinder, a marvel of clarity, transparency and sharpness though with a bit of distortion, had in its center a square, slightly greenish rangefinder spot, that was coupled to the collapsable lens by an ingenious system involving a sensing rod that could hinge under 90°. Like the Zorki-4 's viewfinder it lacked framelines, but unlike the former, its viewfinder edge was better demarcated.

The second advantage over the Moskva-5 was its increased portability. The Iskras are slightly higher than the Moskva-5 , equally thick, but a lot less rectangular. Their weight is aproximately the same; for practical purposes, both are quite heavy since they are both made of plentifully applied aluminium.

The third advantage that the Iskras had over the Moskvas was the more advanced level of automization. The Iskras, for example, had an automatic image counter (renowned unprecise), whereas the Moskvas had the old-fashioned red window system, that left the initiative and responsibility for winding film correctly at the user. The Moskvas also didn't have a wind block that blocked the take-up spool after the next frame was reached, a commodity with which the Iskras were fitted. The Iskra-2 also had a light meter, which was no doubt an advantage over the lightmeterless Moskva series.

So all in all, the Iskra was a worthy successor to the out-dated Moskva-5 , introducing many new possibilities and lacking only the multi-frame support.

Two cameras appeared in the Iskra series: the 'original' Iskra and the Iskra-2. The latter differed from the former through its uncoupled light meter. According to the all-knowing Princelle , the 'original' Iskra was produced from 1960 to 1963, in the relatively small number of 38.722. Again according to him, the Iskra-2 was produced from 1961 to 1964, in the even more exclusive quantity of a mere 6.118 pieces. Princelle gives no clues as to why the Iskras were withdrawn from the market, but I guess that either the line was too expensive to produce and therefore it was cancelled (as was common in the Soviet Union), or that the interest in medium format photography rapidly vanished. The Iskra series was to be KMZ's last production medium format camera, not taking several prototypes (Horizon-205pc, Zenit-70, Reporter) into consideration.

Some quick notes on handling

We all know I should get back to this soon, but for now, as long as it lasts, here are some quick pointers on how to use the Iskra-2.

The Iskra-2 is an exposure value (EV) centric camera. What is an exposure value? It's a value (with a nice unit I'm sure) that is isomorphic to f/s (f is the aperture, s is the fraction of a second). If the EV grows, so does the f stop you can use, or conversely, the shutter speed becomes shorter.

The EV range is, briefly, a measure of light intensity. Because light meters measure light intensity, it's not so awkward that this camera's light meter returns readings in EV's, from 2 to 18. These are the red numbers. On the aperture ring, you see the same red numbers. What you do is line the red number that the light meter gave you up with the dot, and hey presto, you have an instant shutter speed and aperture combination. The best thing about it is that you can rotate the aperture and shutter speed dials in unison, thus moving through the range of possible combinations, while staying with the same EV.

The green shutter speeds are not meant to be set, but are an extrapolation of the actual shutter speed range (in white) into the whole seconds range. For "B" you can substitute 2s. Think of it as a virtual scale. Often when you set a certain EV value, part of the aperture range will "reach out" into the green numbers, indicating that you could, for example, take the picture at 15s and f/22, had the camera been able to provide that speed.

The green lever is for selecting the delay for flash sync; X is for electronic flashes (all current types), M is for bulb, I think, and the A position is probably short for 'Auto', because it cocks the self-timer.

How I got mine

The way I obtained my Iskra-2 is perhaps worth mentioning. In the spring of 2000, my dad, brother and I went to Prague on a two-day Frequent Flyer trip. My dad had saved points for the flight, so all we had to pay was the hotel. When we arrived on a Thursday, I had in the back of my mind that I could perhaps buy some interesting cameras for my collection in the Czech Republic, a former Warschaw Pact country that had historically a lot to do with the Soviet Union (the 'Prague Spring'; the Soviet invasion of 1968, for instance). We spent the whole of Thursday walking through town, where on one occasion I came along a camera store. It was half past six pm already, so the shop was just closing up. In the window of the shop, BS Foto near the Betlemské Namesti , however, I saw all sorts of wild and crazy Russian cameras. There was an Iskra-2, a Zenit-6 with Rubin zoom, several Fotosnaipers, three FT-2s, a 1968 Horizont, a Horizon-202 four-speeds, several Narcisses, tonloads of falsified Leicas, Zorkis, FEDs, Moskvas, Zenits: you name it, they had it. My eye fell on the Iskra-2 in particular: although I don't have the whole of Princelle in my head, I knew enough about the Iskra series to realise that an Iskra-2 being sold for $50 was a bargain. So I wrote the address down and went to the hotel, since the shop was closed and the blinds had gone down. On Friday, I didn't think of the Iskra, because I had in mind to buy that camera on Saturday, during the few hours we had left before we needed to get to the airport. On Friday, we walked all through town, from the deteriorated factories in the East to the Moldau island in the North, we returned to our hotel rooms at two o'clock in the afternoon where we did nothing till six pm.

On Saturday, we had gotten up early to pack for the return flight. We put all the luggage in the hotel storage area, and went to town in one of those exceedingly cool red-white trams. I had extracted the money from my bank account, and it was burning in my pocket at the time. As I made my way towards the shop I thought that I was really in luck to find a rare camera like the Iskra-2 (although I didn't know its production figures back then) for such a price in a foreign city. But when I got to the shop a sign indicated that the shop was closed on Saturdays. Argh! The frustration was unbelievable and ruined the whole day and the whole return trip. My brother was constantly teasing me about it and I was really cursing myself for not having bought the camera on that lazy Friday on which we had done nothing but sit in the hotel and walk around aimlessly. I was frustrated to the point of being aggressive and angry, and made plans to go to Prague on my own by bus in the Autumn holidays.

Luckily, as it turned out, we went on summer holiday to Austria that year, and came within one hundred and fifty miles of Prague. Because my dad, brother and myself all wanted to go back, we made a slight detour and stayed in Prague for a day. This time I had learnt from my previous mistakes, and went to the camera store at first occasion, the city map burnt in my mind's eye, to see if they still had the Iskra-2. Wondering if it was sold or not, I came to the shop again, after three months of absence, and saw to my utter horror that the Iskra-2 was gone! The window had the same Russian camera splendor it had had before, but the prize piece, the camera that had become a bit of an obsession to me, was not there! Quite uncontent, to put it nicely, I went to another large camera store in Prague city center, one where they didn't have an Iskra-2 earlier that year. I looked around, and sure enough: this time they had one. I felt as if my prayers had been heard and my dream had come true: there stood the camera which I had been after for so long. So without further ado, sighing with relief, I bought it for the to me quite substantial amount of around $100.

My conjecture is, by the way, that that Iskra-2 is the same one I saw in the Spring, only the large photo store bought it and sold it for profit themselves, feeling correctly that they could make a better deal than the $50 it was priced at first. Anyway, after I returned to The Netherlands I noticed that the whole camera was drenched in ink to hide the bladdering paint, and worse of all, that my Iskra-2 had been hacked by an independent repairman to take 6×4.5cm pictures. That might have explained the low price in the first store... So with a slightly bitter taste from all that I went through to obtain my Iskra-2 and from feeling a bit disappointed with what I have in my hands, I still regard it as perhaps one of the most beautiful cameras in my collection, competing for the title with the Voskhod and the Zorki-10 .

(still under construction)

Last modified: Aug 12, 2006

KMZ plant (translated into english Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant) was established in 1942, and immediately began active work aimed at the needs of defense. In total, in the period 1942-1945, the plant produced more than 400 thousand various devices for the needs of the Soviet army.

After the end of World War II, the KMZ started manufacturing peaceful products: theatrical binoculars, video projectors, and cameras.

In 1946, the KMZ plant started production of the Moscow 1 medium format plate cameras, which were copies of Zeiss Ikonta. After that, in 1948, was started production of rangefinders called Zorki, that were developed on the basis of pre-war  FED cameras , which in turn were copies of the Leica II camera. In 1952, was started the production of Zenit cameras, which later became the most popular SLR cameras in the world.

KMZ was considered one of the most advanced photo factories in the USSR. But despite this, the cameras were still not perfect, and could hardly compete even with simple European or Japanese cameras.

But it was very common for everything that was produced in the USSR. The fact is that at the very start of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, many people worked in factories and research institutes who lived and studied in pre-revolutionary Russia. But every year these people became less and less, and they were replaced by rather incompetent people, completely brought up by the Soviet Union.

Plus, in the USSR there were very ossified dictatorial authorities, under which stagnation in science and technology was very characteristic.

Nevertheless, the first models of cameras produced at the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant were excellent examples of photo equipment. Both cameras and lenses are of fairly high quality and are excellent tools in the hands of the photographer.

To Talk With Putin or Iran, the West Turns to the World’s Nuclear Inspector

Rafael Grossi took over the International Atomic Energy Agency five years ago at what now seems like a far less fraught moment. With atomic fears everywhere, the inspector is edging toward mediator.

Credit... Hilary Swift for The New York Times

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By David E. Sanger

David E. Sanger is a White House and national security reporter and the author, with Mary K. Brooks, of “New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion and America’s Struggle to Defend the West,” from which parts of this article are adapted.

• May 15, 2024

Rafael Grossi slipped into Moscow a few weeks ago to meet quietly with the man most Westerners never engage with these days: President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

Mr. Grossi is the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, and his purpose was to warn Mr. Putin about the dangers of moving too fast to restart the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has been occupied by Russian troops since soon after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

But as the two men talked, the conversation veered off into Mr. Putin’s declarations that he was open to a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine — but only if President Volodymyr Zelensky was prepared to give up nearly 20 percent of his country.

A few weeks later, Mr. Grossi, an Argentine with a taste for Italian suits, was in Tehran, this time talking to the country’s foreign minister and the head of its civilian nuclear program. At a moment when senior Iranian officials are hinting that new confrontations with Israel may lead them to build a bomb, the Iranians signaled that they, too, were open to a negotiation — suspecting, just as Mr. Putin did, that Mr. Grossi would soon be reporting details of his conversation to the White House.

In an era of new nuclear fears, Mr. Grossi suddenly finds himself at the center of two of the world’s most critical geopolitical standoffs. In Ukraine, one of the six nuclear reactors in the line of fire on the Dnipro River could be hit by artillery and spew radiation. And Iran is on the threshold of becoming a nuclear-armed state.

“I am an inspector, not a mediator,” Mr. Grossi said in an interview this week. “But maybe, in some way, I can be useful around the edges.”

It is not the role he expected when, after a 40-year career in diplomacy that was focused on the nuts and bolts of nonproliferation, he was elected director-general of the agency by the barest majority after the sudden death of his predecessor, Yukiya Amano . That was “before anyone could imagine that Europe’s largest nuclear power plant would be on the front line of a war,” he said in one of a series of conversations at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, or that Israel and Iran would exchange direct missile attacks for the first time in the 45 years since the Iranian revolution.

Today he has emerged as perhaps the most activist of any of the I.A.E.A.’s leaders since the agency was created in 1957, an outgrowth of President Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” program to spread nuclear power generation around the globe. He has spent most of the past four and a half years hopping the globe, meeting presidents and foreign ministers, pressing for more access to nuclear sites and, often, more authority for an organization that traditionally has had little power to compel compliance.

But along the way, he has been both a receiver and sender of messages, to the point of negotiating what amounts to a no-fire zone immediately around Zaporizhzhia.

Mr. Grossi has his critics, including those who believe he acted beyond his authority when he stationed inspectors full-time in the embattled plant, at a moment when armed Russians with little knowledge of nuclear power were patrolling the control room. He was also betting that neither side would want to attack the plant if it meant risking the lives of United Nations inspectors.

It worked. Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, recalls being so concerned about a nuclear disaster early in the Ukraine conflict that he had the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration on the phone describing what would happen if a reactor was struck and a deadly radioactive cloud wafted across Europe. “It was a terrifying scenario,” he said later.

Two years later, “we are moving into a period of protracted status quo,” Mr. Grossi said. “But from the beginning I decided I could not just sit on the sidelines and wait for the war to end, and then write a report on ‘lessons learned.’ That would have been a shame on this organization.”

On the Battlefield, an Unusual Inspection

The I.A.E.A. was created to do two things: keep nuclear power plants safe and prevent their fuel and waste product from being spirited away to make nuclear weapons. Agency inspectors don’t search for or count the weapons themselves, though many in Congress — and around the world — believe that is its role.

Mr. Grossi was born in 1961, four years after the agency’s creation. He started his career in the Argentine foreign service, but his real ambition was to run the I.A.E.A., with its vast network of highly trained inspectors and responsibility for nuclear safety around the globe. It was a burning ambition.

“I feel like I prepared for this my whole life,” he said in 2020.

Many might wonder why. It is the kind of work that traditionally involves lengthy meetings in bland conference rooms, careful measurements inside nuclear plants and setting up tamper-resistant cameras in key facilities to assure that nuclear material is not diverted to bomb projects.

The work is tense, but usually not especially dangerous.

So it was unusual when Mr. Grossi, exchanging his suit for a bulletproof vest, stepped out of an armored car in southeastern Ukraine in late summer 2022, as shells exploded in the distance. He had rejected an offer from the Russians to escort him in from their territory. As a very visible United Nations official, he did not want to lend any credence to Moscow’s territorial claims.

Instead, he took the hard route, through Ukraine, to a wasteland littered with mines and destroyed vehicles. As he neared the plant a Ukrainian guard stopped him, saying he could not go further, and was unimpressed with the fact that Mr. Zelensky himself had blessed the mission.

But after hours of arguments, Mr. Grossi ignored the guard and proceeded anyway, inspecting the plant and leaving a team of inspectors behind to put all but one of its reactors into cold shutdown.

On a rotation, small teams of U.N. inspectors have remained there every day since.

It was the kind of intervention the agency had never made before. But Mr. Grossi said the situation required an aggressive approach. Europe’s largest nuclear complex “sits on the front line,” Mr. Grossi said.

“Not near, or in the vicinity,” he emphasized. “ On the front line.”

In St. Petersburg, a Meeting With Putin

A month after that first visit to the plant, Mr. Grossi traveled to St. Petersburg to meet directly with Mr. Putin, planning to make his case that if the continued shelling took out cooling systems or other key facilities, Zaporizhzhia would be remembered as the Putin-triggered Chernobyl. To drive home the point, he wanted to remind Mr. Putin that, given the prevailing winds, there was a good chance that the radioactive cloud would spread over parts of Russia.

They met at a palace near the city, where Mr. Putin had risen through the political ranks. Mr. Putin treated the chief nuclear inspector graciously, and clearly did not want to be seen as obsessed by the war — or even particularly bothered by it.

Once they dispensed with pleasantries, Mr. Grossi got right to the point. I don’t need a complete cease-fire in the region, he recalled telling the Russian leader. He just needed an agreement that Mr. Putin’s troops would not fire on the plant. “He didn’t disagree,” Grossi said a few days later. But he also made no promises.

Mr. Putin, he recalled, didn’t seem confused or angry about what had happened to his humiliated forces in Ukraine, or that his plan to take the whole country had collapsed. Instead, Mr. Grossi noted, the Russian leader was focused on the plant. He knew how many reactors there were and he knew where the backup power supplies were located. It was as if he had prepared for the meeting by memorizing a map of the facilities. “He knew every detail,” Mr. Grossi said. “ It was sort of remarkable.”

For Mr. Putin, Zaporizhzhia was not just a war trophy. It was a key part of his plan to exercise control over all of Ukraine, and help intimidate or blackmail much of Europe.

When Mr. Grossi met Mr. Putin again, in Moscow earlier this spring, he found the Russian leader in a good mood. He was full of plans to restart the plant — and thus assert Russian control over the region, which Russia claims it has now annexed. Mr. Grossi tried to talk him out of taking the action, given the “fragility of the situation.” But Mr. Putin said the Russians were “definitely going to restart.”

Then the conversation drifted into whether there could be a negotiated settlement to the war. Mr. Putin knew that whatever he said would be conveyed to Washington. “I think it is extremely regrettable,” Mr. Grossi said a few days later, “that I am the only one talking to both” Russia and the United States.

In Iran, an Old Challenge Revived

Dealing with Iran’s leadership has been even more delicate, and in many ways more vexing, than sparring with Mr. Putin. Two years ago, not long after the I.A.E.A. board passed a resolution condemning Tehran’s government for failing to answer the agency’s questions about suspected nuclear activity, the Iranians began dismantling cameras at key fuel-production facilities.

At the time, Mr. Grossi said that if the cameras were out of action for six months or so, he would not be able to offer assurances that fuel had not been diverted to other projects — including weapons projects. That was 18 months ago and since then, the Iranian parliament has passed a law banning some forms of cooperation with agency inspectors. Meanwhile, the country is steadily enriching uranium to 60 percent purity — perilously close to what is needed to produce a bomb.

Mr. Grossi has also been barred from visiting a vast new centrifuge plant that Iran is building in Natanz, more than 1,200 feet below the desert surface, some experts estimate. Tehran says it is trying to assure that the new facility cannot be bombed by Israel or the United States, and it insists that until it puts nuclear material into the plant, the I.A.E.A. has no right to inspect it.

Last week, Mr. Grossi was in Tehran to take up all these issues with the foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and with the head of Iran’s atomic energy agency. It was just weeks since Iran and Israel had exchanged direct missile attacks, but Mr. Grossi did not detect any immediate decisions to speed up the nuclear program in response.

Instead, Iranian officials seemed pleased that they were being taken seriously as a nuclear and a missile power in the region, increasingly on par with Israel — which already has a small nuclear arsenal of its own, though one it does not officially acknowledge.

There was some discussion of what it would take to revive the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran signed with the Obama administration, though Biden administration officials say the situation has now changed so dramatically that an entirely new deal would be required.

“I suspect,’’ Mr. Grossi said this week, “I will be back in Tehran frequently.”

David E. Sanger covers the Biden administration and national security. He has been a Times journalist for more than four decades and has written several books on challenges to American national security. More about David E. Sanger

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With his army making advances in Ukraine and his political grip tightened at home, President Vladimir Putin of Russia arrived in Beijing  in search of another win: more support from his “dear friend,” Xi Jinping .

World’s Nuclear Inspector: Rafael Grossi took over the International Atomic Energy Agency five years ago at what now seems like a far less fraught moment. With atomic fears everywhere, the inspector is edging toward mediator .

Frozen Russian Assets: As much as $300 billion in frozen Russian assets is piling up profits and interest income by the day. Now, Ukraine’s allies are considering how to use those gains to aid Kyiv .

Rebuilding Ukrainian Villages: The people of the Kherson region have slowly rebuilt their livelihoods since Ukraine’s military forced out Russian troops. Now they are bracing for another Russian attack .

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Our team of visual journalists analyzes satellite images, photographs , videos and radio transmissions  to independently confirm troop movements and other details.

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