Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 - Review 2022

Fujifilm didn't make many changes when information technology rolled out the Instax Mini 9 ($69.95), the replacement for its former entry-level instant camera, the Mini 8. The merely difference on the trunk is the welcome addition of a selfie mirror. You also get a clip-on macro adapter for close-up shots, and the camera is available in a dissimilar array of color options. This update is enough to brand the Mini 9 our Editors' Choice for low-cost instant cameras.

Design

The Mini 9 measures 4.seven by 4.6 by 2.vii inches (HWD) and weighs 10.8 ounces. Its edges are rounded, with no sharp angles, giving information technology a very friendly look. We received a Lime Dark-green photographic camera for review, but you can also get it in Cobalt Blue, Flamingo Pinkish, Ice Blue, and Smokey White. It has a congenital-in flash, which e'er fires when you take a photo, and is powered past 2 AA batteries.

The 60mm lens has a narrow f/12.seven maximum aperture, and so you'll appreciate the automatic flash when taking photos indoors—it'due south downright necessary. Its field of view is a moderate wide-bending, nearly the same as a 35mm lens on a full-frame photographic camera. To put it in perspective, that'southward a little tighter than most modernistic smartphones, which typically boast a wider 25 or 28mm prime equally the primary lens.

Fujifilm includes a prune-on macro adapter. It attaches directly to the lens and keeps subjects from well-nigh 13 to 19.vii inches in focus. Anything closer or further away volition be blurry. It's a solid addition, as without it the focus is express to about ii feet (0.6-meter) to infinity. The minor add-on lens looks like it might be like shooting fish in a barrel to lose, simply if you're able to hold on to it you can use it to shoot close-upwards images.

New to the Mini ix is a selfie mirror. It'due south a simple, tiny mirror next to the lens. Betoken the photographic camera at yourself and hold it at arm'south length and you'll be able to frame up a selfie with ease. The tighter, 35mm field of view makes it tough to shoot and image with two people in frame, unless you become actually close together, and I've yet to see a selfie stick for this camera. But information technology'southward a nice addition for anyone who likes to snap their own photo. Have care to hold the camera as far as you can and tilt your caput back, or hold the photographic camera closer and employ the macro attachment for selfies, in lodge to become a well-baked shot.

Operation

Turning the camera on is simple—simply push the button next to the lens and the lens will pop up and the wink will power up. A light at one of the positions at the ring effectually the lens indicates you're ready to snap a photo. You'll desire to line upwardly the exposure control ring that surrounds the lens with the light. It indicates what the Mini ix'southward ambient light sensor thinks the surrounding low-cal is like, including indoor, cloudy, sunny, and very sunny weather. In that location'due south also a Hullo-Key mode that captures an image that is intentionally overexposed for a brighter expect.

If you think the calorie-free meter is incorrect—say you're shooting a subject in the shadows but continuing in a bright area—you'll need to use your best judgement and option a more appropriate setting. The Mini 9's meter takes an ambience reading—that means information technology evaluates the light striking the torso of the camera, rather than taking a reading through the lens like y'all get with a digital camera or an advanced film SLR. Meters of this type are par for the course with mod instant cameras—even the pricey Mint InstantFlex TL70 ii.0 uses an ambience meter.

Like the Mini viii, I found the Mini 9 to be almost comfy to hold in portrait orientation. The viewfinder is at the side of the body, directly in a higher place the front shutter release. In testing, putting the camera to my eye and keeping my finger on the shutter while property information technology in mural orientation was uncomfortable. I wish Fujifilm had moved the shutter release with this update.

Motion picture

Moving picture loads in the rear. Instax Mini film is about the size of a credit carte, simply has a border, so the paradigm area is most 1.8 past 2.4 inches in size. Costs vary based on how much movie you purchase at a fourth dimension, only the bones ii-pack of colour cartridges nets 20 shots and sells for effectually $12.50—about $0.63 per shot. You'll pay more for black-and-white, about $1 per image. There's an analog counter on the rear, next to motion picture the door, that lets you know how many shots you lot take left in the loaded cartridge.

Instax Mini isn't the only instant motion-picture show format out at that place. I'm a big fan of Instax Wide, which is almost twice the size and doesn't cost that much more than to shoot. But it requires a much larger camera—Fujiflim's depression-price Instax Wide 300 is a big beast.

Fujifilm also makes Instax Square that, you guessed information technology, is square—just like you become with an old Polaroid. It's a new format and information technology'south pricey, about $1.fifty per prototype, and at that place'due south only i camera out correct now that supports information technology, the Instax Foursquare SQ10. The SQ10 is unique in that information technology captures images digitally and then lets yous impress on demand, so it'south a bit different than a purely analog shooter like the Mini nine.

If yous have an old Polaroid camera yous tin however purchase film for it from Impossible Project, but it'southward very expensive to shoot. Impossible'southward latest blackness-and-white picture is very good, but its color film isn't on par with Instax when it comes to color fidelity or contrast. You end upwardly paying a serious premium for Impossible film—roughly nigh $3 per image. Impossible has ane modern photographic camera, the I-ane, simply the first-generation hardware has some room for improvement. If you're on a budget, classic Polaroid format is not for y'all.

Conclusions

Instant picture show is a lot of fun. You tin can snap a motion picture, watch it develop before your eyes, and immediately paw it off to a friend (or stranger), stick it on a fridge, or tack it up on a message board. The Mini 9 isn't the best photographic camera out in that location for demanding, artistic photographers—I recommend the Lomography Lomo'Instant Wide and its larger format to shooters with a serious creative bent, or the Lomo'Instant Automat if you fit that neb and want a smaller camera; they employ Instax Broad and Mini, respectively. Only if you want an instant photographic camera for family unit snaps, travel photos, or to capture candid campus moments, the Mini 9 is a solid option. And it's i that falls into the impulse purchase price category, making it our Editors' Choice for affordable instant cameras.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/consumer-electronics-reviews-ratings-comparisons/16609/fujifilm-instax-mini-9

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