Since the breakthrough of digital photography, and then the smartphone, we mainly take photos to store them on our devices or in the cloud.
Due to the ever-louder call from the consumer to immediately have authentic, tangible pictures in hand, an older phenomenon is unexpectedly brought to the attention again: the instant camera.
These are the five most important camera at the moment
1. Polaroid Originals OneStep +
This instant camera is a classic polaroid camera in every way. It is made by Polaroid Originals, the Dutch company that currently owns the rights to the Polaroid brand.
First, they only made new film cassettes for old Polaroid cameras, and then they also launched a new polaroid camera with the OneStep +. It is also not a disguised digital camera in a retro jacket: the photos are indeed made analog, via the time-honored emulsion process.
At the function level, the OneStep + is contemporary: via Bluetooth, you can use your smartphone as a remote control for the camera, set a timer, or adjust the light of the lens. You charge the battery via USB. Photos dimensions: 10.7 x 8.8 cm.
2. Fujifilm Instax Mini 9
Many young people will think you speak Chinese when you talk about polaroids, but they certainly know the Instax from Fujifilm. There is a reason for this: the dirt-cheap mini edition has been available for years in retail chains such as Hema and MediaMarkt, and is very popular with teenagers and young people in their twenties.
The photos you take with it are a bit smaller than polaroid photos but are perfect for collages of friends and trips on a bulletin board. Dimensions photos (including white border): 5.4 x 8.6 cm.
3. Leica Sofort
The German Leica is a household name in photography. The Sofort camera (Sofort is German for ‘in a moment’) is immediately noticeable by the mirror on top of the lens, the design – ‘kudos’ for the Leica design team – and the use of natural light in automatic mode, so you ‘would get more authentic’ photos.
In addition, there are also unique modes, including Sport, Macro, and People. The dimensions of the photos: 6.2 x 4.6 cm.
4. Kodak Printomatic
A few years ago, the light went out almost completely at Kodak, another renowned photography brand. But the American brand is still standing, thanks in part to multiple companies taking over multiple activities from the original company licensed under the brand name.
This Printomatic instant camera is even a quite revolutionary device; it prints photos on ink-free zinc paper, which also has an adhesive backing. Handy to immediately paste the photos you took. The Printomatic is a digital device, with a 10-megapixel image sensor and a wide-angle lens, with which you can also put the images on a microSD memory card. The battery can be charged via a USB cable. Dimensions: 5 x 7.6 cm.
5. Lomo’Instant Automat
The Lomo camera was a Russian competitor to the American Polaroid in the late 1980s. In the early 90s, the device even became a hype among European students; the look & feel of the photos fitted seamlessly with the lo-fi/grunge culture of the time.
The retro version (sold under the name Lomo Kompakt) gave striking effects to photos, such as light leaks. You can still find them with this digital new version. Another feature is the ability to expose your images at 30 seconds, which gives nice motion effects.
Physical color filters are also provided. In terms of emulsion material, you can just use Fujifilm Instax Mini cartridges, so the dimensions of the photos are also the same.
