Fujifilm has built up quite a business for itself in instant cameras. The company has managed to make its own a sector that was once synonymous with Polaroid, and carved a seemingly viable business out of a product that was very nearly killed off by digital.
But the Instax cameras have found a way to combine both – at least for some of the models. The Instax Wide Evo is one of these hybrid instant cameras, combining all the best bits of an instant camera and a digital camera.
That means pictures you can develop in around a minute, but a camera that also allows you to choose and edit the images that you want to print, so you aren’t wasting your money on bad photos. And you can do it all on the camera, without ever having to use an app to alter your images.
It isn’t just the ability to choose your images that makes the Wide Evo a good camera, though. You can apply different filters to your images before you print them, or add different frames. You are limited to the effects loaded on to the camera, but there are plenty to choose from, and there are further ways to make the image your own (more on that later).
The camera offers the widest lens for an Instax camera, with a 16mm option. Switching between wide angle and the standard lens is simple: a flick of a switch.
Out of the box, the camera is unmistakably an Evo model. Unlike other Instax cameras that opt for pastel colours and soft lines, the Evo is modelled more on a traditional camera, with a grey-and-black case that lets you know it’s a serious device.
The camera itself is easy to use, although there are more dials and buttons than I ever remember having to get to grips with before.
On the back, you have a 3.5in LCD display that acts as the viewfinder – no analogue viewfinder here – and controls for reviewing or otherwise interacting with images.
Dials are located on either side of the camera case – one for controlling the 10 lens effects, another for applying different colour treatments to images, and a winder to print your selected image.
You can add an old-style film effect to the picture before you take it to give it the perfect fake old-world look
Film styles can be applied with yet another physical control, a button located on the top of the case. There are six to choose from, including a classic film strip, a cinematic treatment with black bars across the top and bottom of the image, a date/time stamp format, a contact sheet look, and a vintage collodion process effect.
On the front, there is a switch to control the wide angle, lens, the shutter button and a mirror, so you can go almost old-style on selfies.
The Wide Evo also uses Instax’s wide-format instant film, so you can combine that with the wide-angle lens to get more space in the image to squash in friends, family and pets, along with landscape shots.
It’s not just about slapping an effect on a photo, though. There is a degree control function too that controls the strength of the effect on each image you take.
The options for customisation on this front are incredible. You can take a vignette image in different degrees of sepia, and add an old-style film effect to the picture before you take it to give it the perfect fake old-world look. This may be something that camera makers worked on removing from images for years, but now with a turn of a dial, you can add it back.
Then you simply wind the print dial and watch the photo move up the digital screen – a nice touch – before becoming a physical print in your hands.
The built-in lithium ion battery can print up to 100 images, although it depends on how much messing about you do with filters and effects, with the LCD screen activated.
There is space to store about 45 images on the camera’s internal memory, but you can expand that with a micro SD card should you need it.
You could also offload your favourite images to your smartphone.
You might not need an app to print or edit images, but this is Instax, and it’s a hybrid camera, so inevitably there is one. The Wide Evo app has a few functions: you can directly print photos from your smartphone, save images from the camera to your device or use your smartphone as a remote viewer.
There is also a “discover” feed, where other Instax Evo users have saved their favourite lens and effect combinations, so you can copy them.
Good
The Instax Wide Evo comes with plenty of customisation options to make your images stand out, from lens effects to colour treatment, and the ability to step them up in degrees. The print winder, while not necessary, was a nice touch too. That went down particularly well with the younger members of the test crew.
Bad
If you are a one-button kind of photographer, the options on this camera might be a little overwhelming. The cost of the film and the associated waste might be a dealbreaker for some.
Everything else
As well as printing images in the moment, the Wide Evo can also be used to print your smartphone photos. But it is refreshing that although the app is there, it is not essential to use the camera.
Verdict
A hybrid camera that hits the right notes.
