Polaroid cameras (which ironically don’t shoot Polaroid film anymore) are super fun for all types of people. When a photo is taken and a person hears the rollers of the camera and sees the print come out, a bit of magic appears on the person’s face. It’s like being transported back into the past, and that photo is a one of a kind that can’t be duplicated. This is part of the fun of Instant film photography.
If you know someone that’s really interested in instant prints, here are four instant film cameras that everyone is bound to enjoy.
Fujifilm Instax Mini 90
As one of the most versatile cameras on this list, the Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 offers some options that higher end users will appreciate. No, not full manual control–but exposure compensation in both directions of the exposure scale and specific focusing ranges are possible with the Mini 90.
The Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 takes Fujifilm Instax Mini film. On the hands of a skilled user this camera can create pretty awesome photos once said user has studied up a bit on the instruction booklet.
Amazon: $136.79
Lomography Lomo’Instant Wide
As the other camera on this list being aimed specifically at the more advanced user, the Lomo’Instant Wide has a lot of options higher end photographers will really like. It has a very solid build quality to it, manual focusing on the lens (zone focusing), exposure compensation, flash selection, bulb mode, the ability to specifically shoot at 1/30th of a second, and a lens cap that also acts as a built in remove control for the camera. There is a PC Sync port that lets you use it with studio strobes.
Plus it shoots Instax wide film, which means much more real estate for you to shoot on than the Instax Mini prints. It’s arguably the most advanced modern instant film camera currently available.
Lomography: prices vary
Fujifilm Instax Mini 70
The Fujifilm Instax Mini 70 is a small, cute camera aimed at the hobbyist and the person that loves to take selfies. In fact, it even has a dedicated selfie mode. Other features include a high key lighting mode and a self timer. All the info is easily displayed on the back of the camera near the printer rolls.
This camera takes Instax Mini film.
Amazon: $124.75
Pro Tip: the Instax Mini 70 is the smallest of the bunch here and fits easily into a jacket pocket.
Lomography Diana F+ with Instant back
One of the coolest ways to shoot Instant film is with a Diana F+ camera. Using the Instant film back, the camera can shoot and print out the images onto Instax film. Now, I wouldn’t say that this camera is totally manual, but it has the most manual exposures of any camera on this list. While it always shoots at the same shutter speed except in bulb mode, the camera has variable apertures. You can even shoot pinhole images!
Amazon: $129.95
