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What are the best instant cameras for beginners?

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The Best 1 of 3 OptionsWhy?

3 Options ConsideredPriceWeightDimensions
The Best
Fujifilm Instax Mini 70
281g (without battery, strap and film pack)99.2 x 113.7 x 53.2mm
Polaroid Z2300 10MP
0.58 pounds 1.38 x 2.99 x 4.65 inches
Lomo'Instant Automat
354g89 x 114 x 64mm
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The Best

Fujifilm Instax Mini 70

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Francisco
Top Pro

Beginner-friendly shooting and focus modes

•••
It offers 3 shooting modes – an auto mode (landscape and macro focusing modes), dedicated selfie mode and a hi-key mode for extreme brightness. These 3 modes offer everything a beginner might need. The focus modes can be changed to landscape, normal or macro modes with just the touch of a button.
Francisco
Top Pro

Easy to focus selfies

•••
The selfie mode automatically sets the lens to a close focusing distance.
Francisco
Top Pro

Camera status info via LCD screen

•••
A basic LCD screen provides information regarding shots remaining and the current mode.
Francisco
Top Pro

It's very unlikely that film will disappear from the market soon

•••
Since approximately 5 million Instax cameras were sold just in 2016, it's pretty much guaranteed that its film will be widely available for years to come.
Francisco
Top Pro

Stylish signature Fuji Instax design

•••
The camera boasts the signature Fuji Instax design – rectangular with very rounded corners and a big, bulky retractable lens in the middle. Its size is relatively small (4.5" x 2.25" x 4.25") and it's available in five different colors, ranging from bright and fun colors to more...
Francisco
Top Pro

No selfie film wasting

•••
The built-in selfie mirror makes taking self-portraits much easier, eliminating the risk of wasting film on wrongly framed guesses.
Francisco
Top Pro

Can be mounted on a tripod

•••
The camera is mountable on a tripod.
Francisco
Top Pro

Very affordable film

•••
This camera uses the Fuji Instax Mini, which is a notably affordable instant film. A pack of Instax Mini film costs around $8 for 10 photographs, or $0.80 per shot.
Francisco
Top Pro

Many styling accessories available

•••
As one of the most popular instant cameras on the market, it has plenty of low-cost, third party accessories available, beside the official ones offered by the manufacturer. However, most of the accessories are not directly related to photography, but are instead "styling" items such as b...
Francisco
Top Con

Small margin for exposure compensation

•••
Exposure compensation can only be done between -⅔ and +⅔ EV, which is a small margin.
Francisco
Top Con

Hard to use the shutter button when in landscape mode

•••
The shutter button is placed a bit awkwardly and can be hard to reach when shooting in landscape mode.
Francisco
Top Con

Limited manual control

•••
Manual control is quite limited. You just have the choice of changing between preset modes and some basic EV adjustments.
Francisco
Top Con

Hard to find battery

•••
The camera uses a CR2 battery standard which is less common than AA batteries and not as widely available.
Francisco
Top Con

Toyish design

•••
Due to it's design, this camera is frequently compared to a toy camera.
Francisco
Top Con

Flash can't be turned off

•••
There is no option to manually turn off the flash.
Francisco
Top Con

Small image size

•••
This camera's film actual photos are tiny: the actual image size is 1.8” × 2.4" on a 2.1” × 3.4" card.
See 10 more Pros & ConsSee 14 more Pros & Cons
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2 Other Options Considered

Polaroid Z2300 10MP

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Francisco
Top Pro

As easy to use as a point-and-shoot camera

•••
Despite having multiple settings options, this camera has modes that are as simple to use as a point-and-shoot camera.
Francisco
Top Pro

Save pictures rather than printing them straight away

•••
In case you don't want to print your picture straight away or have no more film, you can save it to the camera's removable SD card (supporting memory up to 32GB).
Francisco
Top Pro

Photos can be used as stickers

•••
The back of the photo paper can be peeled off, revealing an adhesive surface, so these photos can be used as stickers.
Francisco
Top Con

Feels flimsy and fragile

•••
This camera has poor build quality, feeling rather vulnerable to damage.
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Lomo'Instant Automat

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Francisco
Top Pro

Great automatic performance

•••
This camera's ambient light meter does a great job getting the proper exposure and shutter speed in most situations, particularly in indoor environments.
Francisco
Top Pro

Affordable film

•••
This camera uses the Fuji Instax film standard. While the images are small, measuring 2.4x1.8 inches, the film is the cheapest in the market costing around 60-80 US cents per picture. There is also a B&W film available, but is twice as expensive.
Francisco
Top Pro

IR remote control

•••
The lens cover doubles as an IR remote controller for the camera.
Francisco
Top Pro

Comes with cards featuring photography hints

•••
The Automat comes with "inspiration cards" with hints and tips to improve your shooting skills.
Francisco
Top Pro

Available in a great bundle deal

•••
Lomography offers a bundle deal for this camera. It adds several lens add-ons, coloured flash gels and a Splitzer for multiple exposures. It does not add a lot to the cost, so it makes sense to buy the bundle, unless you have the accessories already. Alternatively, the accessories (without the came...
Francisco
Top Pro

Unlimited exposures on the same film

•••
Multiple exposure mode allows you to take unlimited exposures on one film, which is rare for a camera in this price range.
Francisco
Top Pro

Full flash control

•••
The Automat offers full flash control, even when in automatic mode.
Francisco
Top Pro

Bulb mode for long exposures

•••
The Automat has a bulb mode for long exposures, up to 30 seconds, and you can use the flash while in bulb mode.
Francisco
Top Con

Batteries can be hard to find

•••
The camera is powered by CR2 type batteries that are long lasting and compact, but may be hard to find.
Francisco
Top Con

Automatic mode has issues with high dynamic range pictures

•••
This camera's automatic mode can struggle when dealing with contrasty outdoor scenes, such as dark buildings against bright skies. For what it's worth, you can correct the exposure manually to choose between capturing either the darker or the brighter areas of the scene.
See 8 more Pros & ConsSee 8 more Pros & Cons

20 Community Recommendations

Onze
Georgia
Francisco
BethLM
Peele
Kristaps
MomoIshida
Ryan
Aubrey
MicaCeci
Chipester
+4
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