Sunday 23 March 2014

Fujifilm Instax Mini 8

So this isn't a beauty post, but its something i've wanted to blog about for ages but haven't got around to it. I've always had a thing for polaroid/instant cameras since I was browsing through Tumblr and saw a picture of a heart made out of mini polaroid pics - it was so pretty! I've previously had a polaroid that I picked up at a carboot sale for £2, but because it's from the 90's I found the film to be soooo expensive. So when Fujifilm brought out a new range of reasonably priced instant cameras, I knew I had to get my hands on one. (By the way, I am aware that this technically isn't a Polaroid camera, but its a habit to call it one!)

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 is a little polaroid-like camera that comes in five different colours. It's designed to be lightweight, compact and take great quality photos without all the nonsense. It's kind of chunky looking and child-like, but that's all part of the fun. It comes with a little strap for safety and lots of detailed instructions showing you how to make the most out of your camera. This particular cameras take portrait images, but there are other cameras in the range that allow you to take wider landscape photos or offer more advanced features .. but none of them look as cute as this one! 
 Sorry about the crap lighting, the sun decided to hide just as I took this photo! 


I am so in love with this camera. It's so much fun and gives your photos a great finish. It's also really simple to use! To turn the camera on you push the button to the right of the lens, and then turn the lens to correspond to the right setting (There's little pictures symbolising being inside a house, outside when its cloudy, outside in the sun etc.), look through the lens and push the round button underneath the window at the top. To close the camera you push the lens back into the camera.

The reason why my example photos are so crap is because I am still figuring out how to get the best photo. What i've found is that it doesn't do great close-ups (Your picture will be blurry unless you are at least half a metre away from what you're taking a picture of!) but what do you expect for such a little camera? My favourite element has to be when the wallet-sized polaroid pops out the top and you see the image develop. It's more of a fun, novelty thing than a camera that is amazing quality. If you're looking for something that gives your photos a professional finish, this camera isn't for you. But if you want something to take on days out or parties to document it in a fun way, you can pick one of these up from around £50 on Amazon (which is where I got mine from!), with the film starting at £9.45 for ten images. There are bundles that work out a bit cheaper, but overall I think that's quite reasonable. I've also recently discovered you can buy film with different borders and designs to have even more fun with your pictures. 

I definitely need to use this camera more so i'm going to start taking it out on day trips, although i'm sure people will look at me a bit funny when I pull out what looks like a children's toy :) Ahh well, i'm basically a big kid anyways. 

For more information on the Fujifilm Instax range, visit their website here

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