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Features

Three Retro Modern Instant Film Cameras For the More Serious Photographer

Chris Gampat
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07/31/2017
3 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Mint Camera InstantFlex TL70 product images (5 of 16)ISO 4001-100 sec at f - 4.5

Instant film cameras, otherwise called Polaroid cameras, are incredibly fun and have been incredibly popular with lots of people. Typically, the cameras and film are most in use with young adults though in recent years, there have been more efforts to expand the category to make it appeal to those who want something a bit more serious. Whether it’s the case of adding manual controls or even giving off a nice retro aesthetic, some cameras have just been more popular with the folks who reach for higher fruit.

So if you’re looking to go for some of those more serious instant film camera offerings, then look no further than right here.

Mint Camera SLR670S with Time Machine

The Mint Camera SLR670S shoots Impossible Project 600 film. When using the Time Machine you can control the shutter speed manually. This makes this camera one of the best options for many photographers.

In our review, we state:

“As far as image quality goes, this is honestly the best you’re going to get from the Impossible Project film. The lenses in the SLR670 are very sharp, detailed, have nice bokeh, and are capable of some really beautiful images. It truly shows off what the film is capable of delivering.”

Buy Now: MINT Camera

Fujifilm Instax Mini 90

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 has exposure compensation and a double exposure mode. It’s really fun and uses the Instax Mini 90 format.

In our review, we state:

“If you’re looking to do loads of pixel peeping, this isn’t the camera for you and you should probably smack yourself really hard before even considering something like this. The Instax Mini 90 is a creative camera with an emphasis on giving people that love the fun-filled party cameras a bit more creativity and versatility. With that said though, this is a camera that will be targeted at and sold to people that value creativity and looks first. It can be the fun little camera that they snap instant moments with and then take with them to a weekend getaway. For those folks, it will probably be the only camera they will ever own and need.”

Buy Now: Amazon

Pro Tip: Have a lot of fun with Fujifilm Instax Mini Monochrome. It’s a medium contrast film with beautiful image quality and smooth tones.

Mint Camera TL70 2.0

The Mint InstantFlex TL70 2.0 includes a brighter finder system and uses an aperture priority metering system. It’s a TLR and the camera is just the thing that many photographers need.

In our review, we state:

“It’s not exactly easy to gauge the metering with this camera at all since it’s an aperture priority camera. However what I can tell you is that if you’re going to backlight your subject, make sure that the light isn’t in the frame or else it will greatly underexpose the scene.

Also, always keep in mind that Instax film is at ISO 800 and that the minimum aperture is f5.6. For that reason, it’s best to always keep in mind the Sunny 16 methods and remember to change your aperture settings.

In really low light, just give up and switch to bulb mode with a tripod.”

Buy Now: Amazon

camera control film impossible project instant film instax mini 90 mint review slr670 TL70
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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