Modern instant cameras have carved out a wee retro-niche for themselves in our digital age, and Fujifilm are looking to keep the good times (and those film sales) going with the Instax Mini 41.
The Mini 41 sets itself apart visually from the rest of the instant camera field by abandoning the sort of pastel colours and “lifestyle” feel to evoke the classic image of the 20th century’s serious cameras, all textured black plastic and gun metal grey and trying to look like it is ready for you to pick it up and take it out to do some photojournalism in a 1970s warzone somewhere. It’s a move clearly designed to appeal to, well, blokes, and on this bloke anyway it pretty much worked, the camera looking quite stylish and the grippy texture feeling good to use, and it’s (just) small enough to go in a pocket.
Operation is very simple; two AA batteries and a film (which turns out pics with an image size of 6.2cm x 4.6cm) are easily installed, it’s simply a matter of rotating the 60mm lens open, lining up your shot through the viewer and snapping away. One slightly annoying aspect is that the shutter button is on the front of the camera, rather than the top, which has to be given over to the film ejection system. It makes for quite an awkward hand position when taking pictures, but one gets used to it.
Rotate the lens a little further and you’ll enter close-up/selfie mode, designed for photos from 30-50cm from your subject. Selfies are aided by the ingenious positioning of a mini-mirror next to the lens, at which you can look to see what’s in shot.
This is, in essence, the whole thing. The flash operates automatically — even outdoors, in bright sunshine — there’s no on/off option there. The lens too has just the two fixed positions, so your only job is to point and shoot. With the caveat that no-one will expect the highest quality photos from an instant camera, my results have been a little mixed. Indoor photos at night or in low light seem susceptible to overexposure, with significant white bloom (which can’t help but be a little disappointing sometimes when you think about pictures costing about $1.50 each), but with natural light you do a lot better, and with the close-up mode in particular I’ve taken some really pleasing, crisp pictures. Outdoor daylight shots produce some nice vivid colours, although you’ll want to stay close to things.
Despite the look, the Mini 41 doesn’t exist to be a serious camera. However, as a producer of fun instant photos, it does a decent job. I may need more fridge magnets.
By Ben Allan
