What to look for in an instant camera

1. The film format, and what it costs per shot

This is the most important specification and the one least often mentioned. A camera takes exactly one format of film for its entire life, so choosing the camera is choosing every film purchase you will ever make for it.

The spread runs from about 85 cents to about $2.75 a photograph. At a hundred shots a year that is the difference between $85 and $275 — more than the price gap between almost any two cameras in this category. Check this first, and check it before you fall in love with a body.

2. Print size — in inches, not marketing words

"Credit-card size" and "the classic Polaroid" are not measurements. An instax mini print is genuinely small — fine for one or two faces, inadequate for a group. If prints are going in a guest book or on a wall, go up a format.

3. Flash range — the indoor specification

On a camera with no manual exposure control, flash reach is the entire indoor story. Beyond it, the photograph is dark and nothing can be done.

• •instax mini 12, 13, 41: effective 0.3 to 2.2 m.
• •instax SQUARE SQ40: 0.3 to 2.2 m.
• •instax mini 99: 0.3 to 2.7 m, with fill-in and slow synchro.
• •instax WIDE 400: 0.9 to 3 m — the best in the instax range.

Two point two meters is about the width of a dinner table. If the camera is for evening events, three meters rather than 2.2 is a specification worth paying for.

4. Minimum focusing distance

The single biggest cause of disappointing first photographs. Every simple instant camera has a minimum distance, and going closer produces a soft picture at full price.

• •instax mini 12, 13, 41 and SQUARE SQ40: 0.3 m, with a close-up mode for 0.3 to 0.5 m.
• •instax mini 99: three-point manual switching from 0.3 m, plus a macro setting.
• •instax WIDE 400: 0.9 m — further than arm's length, so unaided selfies do not work. A close-up lens is included.
• •Polaroid Now Generation 3: autofocus from 0.40 m.

If the camera is for selfies and arm's-length photographs, a 0.3 m minimum with a close-up mode is what you want, and the WIDE 400 is the wrong choice.

5. Self-timer — rarer than you would expect

Most instant cameras do not have one, including several expensive ones. Among current models: the instax mini 13 has a 2- or 10-second timer, the instax WIDE 400 has a self-timer lever, and the Polaroid Go and Now both have self-timer modes. The instax mini 12, mini 41, mini 99 and SQUARE SQ40 have none.

This matters more than it sounds for a camera that will be used in groups: without it, the owner is never in the photograph.

6. Battery type — a hidden running cost either way

• •AA alkaline (instax mini 12, 13, 41; WIDE 400 takes four) — about 100 exposures per set. Replaceable anywhere in the world, which is the right answer for a camera that travels.
• •CR2 lithium (instax SQUARE SQ40) — about 30 film packs, so very long life, but the cells cost more and are not stocked in ordinary shops.
• •Built-in rechargeable (instax mini 99 and mini Evo, Polaroid Go, Now and Flip) — convenient and cheaper over time, but the cell is a wear item, and when it stops holding charge that is usually the end of the camera.

Things worth checking that are not specifications

• •Is it still sold? Several widely cited roundups still recommend the discontinued instax mini 11. Check the manufacturer's current range before buying anything recommended by a page that does not state when it was last checked.
• •Is film easy to buy where the recipient lives? instax mini is in supermarkets. instax WIDE and every Polaroid film usually mean a camera shop or an order.
• •Does the bundle include real film? A ten-shot taster is not a start. Twenty is.
• •Will the prints have somewhere to live? An album is about $15 and is the single best add-on in this category.

1. Scores best on the six that matter

Fujifilm instax mini 13

Cheapest film, simplest operation, and the self-timer most simple cameras lack.

Buy it for

Anyone applying the checklist below without a specific requirement.

Skip it if

Someone who needs a big print or manual exposure control.

• •85-cent film, the cheapest of the six formats.
• •A 2- or 10-second self-timer — the only simple instax with one.
• •Focuses to 0.3 m with Close-Up Mode, and AA batteries you can buy anywhere.

Running cost: instax mini works out at $0.85 a shot. See every format’s cost.

How it scores8.8/10 overall

• Cost per shot9
• Self-timer10
• Close focus9
• Battery convenience9

Our editorial scoring, built from published specifications and reviews by outlets that test hardware — see how we pick. We have not handled these products, so these are not test results.

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2. Scores best on flash and print size

Fujifilm instax WIDE 400

The only instax flash that reaches 3 m, and the only print with room for a group.

Buy it for

Anyone whose photographs are indoors or have several people in them.

Skip it if

Anyone who needs to focus closer than 0.9 m unaided, or carry it in a pocket.

• •Flash effective to **3 m** rather than 2.2 m.
• •A 3.9 x 2.4 inch print, about 2.2 times the area of an instax mini.
• •A self-timer lever and close-up lens included in the box.

Running cost: instax WIDE works out at $1.10 a shot. See every format’s cost.

How it scores8.2/10 overall

• Flash range10
• Print size10
• Close focus4
• Portability3

Our editorial scoring, built from published specifications and reviews by outlets that test hardware — see how we pick. We have not handled these products, so these are not test results.

Engadget, which publishes hands-on reviews, calls it “simple operation”.

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