Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Camera Review

Let’s discover how the Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Camera saw light. It’s a beautiful story that started with a genius idea, a concept that germinated in the mind of Edwin Herbert Land, an American engineer, a constant seeker and innovator. Some years after the end of the war, Edwin has invented a process that allows to instantly (or almost) develop analogue photos. 

Just imagine the culture shock that this invention is going to cause in the world of photography. Think about it. We can now do without the heavy and costly steps of film development and paper printing. Polaroid was born, and the success of the company was successful allowing Edwin to develop a fortune. 

First in black and white, then adapted to color fifteen years later, at the beginning of the sixties, Polaroid marked the glorious thirties. But it was written that the beautiful story of Mr. In 2008, the Polaroid Company announced the closing of its last factory producing instant print films. The world said that was the end of that beautiful adventure.

Strange destiny that of Polaroid. At the very time the company closed down its last factory, in 2008, we started feeling a new wave, the awakening of film photography, a trend that has been on the increase since then, year after year. The current young generation, who has known but the digital, would like as well, and we understand that, to experience this incomparable true emotion.

What would be better than seeing your photos develop instantly right in front of your eyes? A team of Polaroid’s former staff decided to buy a lot of machinery to resume the production. In 2010, instant film « Impossible Project » came out of the assembly line. But the results, though tangible, were not that promising. People said again the history was over forevermore.

At that time, Fujifilm continued to produce, under license, instant films. Thanks to the Japanese company, fans of instant photos were still able to enjoy their passion. FP-100 films are still marketed and available, as well as Instax formats gotten out of little cute square cameras. And the success goes on and on.

The range of Instax instant film cameras is composed of many models whose major objective is to enable their users to simply take and instantly produce a credit card-sized color photo (62mm x 46mm).  

Here we’re talking about photography, in other words, the quality of films produced and controlled by Fujifilm. This amounts to saying that color photos are of high quality, which is not always the case with the range of models of “Impossible Project”. I think it’s clear from the very name “Impossible Project”.

No, here, with Fujifilm, fans of instant photos enjoy a unique sensation, the thrill of immediately discovering the photos they’ve just realized. It’s like visualizing a photo on an LED screen of a digital camera, with the palpable aspect of the photo as well. Fujifilm Instax introduced the notion of sharing, proximity to the surroundings and a concept of togetherness.

Instax is available on a range of lightweight and compact cameras and as always with Fujifilm, the Japanese brand, offers a variation of models according to targeted audience. For instance, the range of Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Camera satisfied the needs of kids, teenagers as well as grownups. Blue for the male and pink for the female, but also available in yellow, white, black, raspberry and grape.

Instax mini 50s, in gloss black, offers more elaborate features, (Dual action camera shutter “Portrait/Landscape”, close-up lens, LCD screen …)

The famous Instax mini 90, with its smart vintage look and high-standard design, is the little jewel of Fujifilm. Instax mini 90 features some mode to make sure the fans produce and boast successful instant photos under any circumstance.

With Instax, Fujifilm makes snapshot go hand in hand with picture quality. Thanks to Fujifilm, we go right into magic that instantly expands your photographic horizons.

The purpose of Instax is this simple: take fewer pictures but take instant pictures that count more. Take pictures that exist, that you can share with people you care about. Make sure Edward Herbert Land’s dream never fades. 

Is there a difference between the Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Camera and Instax Wide?

Well, the difference between the two models lies in the format. Instant Mini’s photos are equivalent in size to a business card, whereas the Wide’s is closer to that of a Polaroid, but somewhat elongated. The other difference is about the size of the camera. The Fujifilm Wide presents a very imposing appearance and is cumbersome and not practical to carry around contrary to the Instax Mini that is much lighter and more manageable than you'd anticipate.

For my own part, I have the two and my heart hesitates between the two … I love the Instax Wide because it’s format is closer to the polaroid’s, but compare to the Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Camera the picture quality is far better with the Mini. I often get blurry photos with the Wide. Moreover, the Instax Mini boasts more and better accessories. When I compare the size of the pictures I find the Mini’s a bit smaller, which again brings me to the state of indecisiveness.

Are there any Polaroid digital cameras?

Oh, yes!!! Not long after Polaroid launched a new digital camera with a built-in printer that allows you to take digital photos and then choose before you print any.

The camera is lighter, easy to handle and operate and even features a tiltable display. My husband has just bought me one for Christmas and of course I’m still testing it, but I already find it fascinating!

The first tick in the box is the price of paper which is more than reasonable. The second good mark is the abundance of really cool filters that the camera offers: fish eyes, lomo, vintage, birthday, candles and so on and so forth. 

The third good mark: the impression of photos is fast. We can choose the default impression or with a polaroid frame.  The format of pictures is very very close to the basic format.