Polaroid vs Instax vs Kodak

#	Product	Best for	Cost per shot	Price
1	Fujifilm instax mini 12The cheapest real instant film, on the simplest camera that takes it.	Best instant film value	$0.85	Check price
2	Kodak Mini Shot 2 RetroA camera and phone printer in one, at about 42 cents a print.	Cheapest per picture by far	$0.42	Check price
3	Polaroid Now Generation 3The iconic photograph, three times the area of an instax mini, at nearly three times the cost.	Biggest print	$2.37	Check price

All three brands, on cost per print

What each brand is actually for

Fujifilm instax — the default

Thirteen current models across three print formats, the cheapest instant film in production, and the only film you can reliably buy in a supermarket. If someone has no strong view, instax is the answer, and the mini 12 or mini 13 is the specific answer.

The weakness is print size: a 2.4 x 1.8 inch mini print is small. Fujifilm's answer is the SQUARE and WIDE formats, which cost $1.15 and $1.10 a shot respectively — still well under Polaroid.

Polaroid — the print, and the name

Polaroid sells the photograph everyone has in mind. At 4.2 x 3.5 inches the print is an object you can frame, the white border is the cultural reference, and the modern cameras are substantial, well-made things with real autofocus.

The weakness is the number: $18.99 for eight photographs. There is no way around it — not multipacks, not a different Polaroid film. If the print matters that much, it is a fair price for it, and the full breakdown is here.

Kodak — the value play

Kodak's 4PASS cartridges are the cheapest way to get a physical photograph out of a camera-shaped object: $24.99 for 60 prints, about 42 cents each. The Mini Shot cameras have a screen, so nothing is wasted, and they print from a phone as well.

The weakness is that it is not instant film. There is no chemistry, no developing, nothing to shake or wait for — the print emerges finished. For a lot of buyers that is strictly better. For anyone buying into instant photography as an experience, it misses the point entirely. Be clear which of those the recipient is before you buy.

Print durability, which nobody mentions

• •Kodak 4PASS prints get a laminate pass over the top, so they are dry, smudge-proof and not sticky. The most durable of the three.
• •instax prints are instant film and will fade in direct sunlight. Fine in an album or out of a south-facing window.
• •Polaroid prints are the most sensitive — they also need shielding from light while developing, which takes 10 to 15 minutes rather than 90 seconds.

The verdict

Buy instax if you want instant film and sensible costs. Buy Polaroid if you want that specific print and have seen the figure. Buy Kodak if what you want is a lot of physical photographs for as little money as possible, and the developing ritual is not the point.

And if the photographs are already on a phone, none of these is the right purchase — a dedicated photo printer does the job better and the Canon SELPHY route gets 4 x 6 prints down to about 39 cents each.