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I used to be the proud owner of an Instax Mini, Fujifilm’s party-starting answer to Polaroid’s demise (though that icon has been partially resurrected). To be clear, I still am the owner of this instant camera, it’s the “proud” part that’s gone away.
The problem with it, and many of the other newfangled instant cameras, is the film is too dang small. If I’m going to pay around 75 cents for each photo, when I could, y’know, just use my iPhone, I’d appreciate a print that I don’t have to hold under a microscope.
Enter: The Instax Square SQ6, Fujifilm’s newest instant square film camera. It was released last summer, but is currently the lowest price it’s ever been on Amazon, with both the aqua blue and ruby red colorways discounted to just $100.
In Wired ‘s review of the camera they wrote, “With the advent of Fujifilm’s Instax Square film, you get something resembling a shrunken Polaroid without the unrefined Polaroid Originals formulation.” In other words, this camera will satisfy your nostalgia and produce a better quality photo. And as for the “shrunken” aspect, the classic square Polaroid print is roughly 3.5 by 4.25 inches whereas the Instax Square is roughly 2.8 by 3.4 inches (that’s with the border).
So what good is a lil’ novelty camera, you ask? You no doubt used them at a wedding reception last summer, but they’ll up the mirth quotient of any party. And while it seems counterintuitive, your smartphone-addicted children will unglue themselves to use these (see: the Taylor Swift edition), though they will take pictures of the pictures and post them. And while we recently asked women what they want for Valentine’s Day, this ain’t a bad gift, either.
But if the square film isn’t a deal breaker, Fujifilm’s Instax Mini 9 is discounted 28% to just $50. If you’d like even bigger film, the Instax Wide 300 is discounted 27% to $95. And if you’d like to fiddle around with a hybrid digital-instant camera, the Instax Square SQ10 is discounted a whole 57% to $120.
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