Lomo'Instant Wide vs Lomo'Instant Automat

While this camera does not give you full manual control, it still leaves plenty of room for creativity, with its shooting modes and the ability to take double exposures (i.e. expose the same sheet of film twice or more to blend the images). The bulb mode is great for long exposures and night photography. The fixed shutter speed mode is especially useful when used together with external flashes.

There's the option of purchasing the Lomo'Instant Wide in a package deal that includes an ultra-wide angle lens (21mm equivalent) and a macro lens (up to 0.1m focus). These two lenses complement the default, general purpose, lens (35mm equivalent).

This camera comes with an extensive array of accessories: a wide-angle conversion lens, a macro lens, a splitzer, as well as additional viewfinders and color filters. Other manufacturer and third-party accessories are also available for reasonable prices. It's worth nothing there's the option of buying the camera without any accessories, and then buy the accessory kit individually later, but this is less cost effective.

This instant camera uses the Fuji Instax Wide film, which is twice as big as the Instax Mini format (the actual image size is 3.4” x 4.25" on a 2.1” × 3.4" card). A pack of Instax Wide film costs around $10 for 10 photographs, so one shot will cost $1. Considering that, when comparing to the Mini format, you get bigger photos for a very small price increase, this camera offers great value per shot.

Unlike some other cameras, that use uncommon battery types, the Instant Wide uses common AA batteries.

This camera is mountable on a tripod.

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

Design-wise, the Instant Wide has a classic feel, coming in five different color options.

This camera uses the bigger-that-usual Instax Wide film cartridges, which is one of the reasons why it’s bigger than the alternatives.

The shutter can be activated via an infrared emitter built into the lens cap.

This cameras focus is set manually, with markings between 0.5m-1m / 1m-2m / 2m-infinity.

The camera can be synced with an external flash via a PC sync socket.

The flash can be turned on or off manually.

The Instant Wide camera uses an ambient light meter for exposure measurements, which works great under bright lighting, but struggles in dark environments.

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

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

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.

The Automat offers full flash control, even when in automatic mode.

The lens cover doubles as an IR remote controller for the camera.

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 camera itself) can be bought as a set, separately.

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

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