Learning about Polaroid Cameras & Instant Film Cameras

Instant photography is back! Made popular by Polaroid cameras in the 1970s, instant film was all the rage towards the end of the 20^th century. After nearly dying out in the 2000s and 2010s, the industry is enjoying a massive rise in popularity again as people want a fun alternative to digital photography. Sure, smartphone cameras are wonderful. But there is nothing like watching a freshly-snapped photo develop right in front of your eyes.

What's an Instant Film Camera?

Instant film cameras use a self-developing film technology to create a print immediately after taking a picture. Prints are great for giving away at parties or to keep in you wallet. 

Instant cameras offer various shooting modes, such as landscape, portrait, night scene, black-and-white, sepia, and more. 

Instant Camera Features

A good instant film camera should have several advanced features. Choose a camera with a full-color TFT LCD display to help you compose images, adjust menu settings, and play recorded videos. Also, consider a camera with a white balance adjustment feature to help you adjust the image color based on the lighting conditions. The best film cameras should come with at least five white balance adjustments: fluorescent, incandescent, cloudy, daylight, and manual. Fujifilm Instax cameras have these standard features.

If you take photos in poorly lit conditions, consider a camera with a dynamic lighting feature. This feature brightens the underexposed areas of an image and tones down the overexposed areas. The level of sensitivity of your camera to light (better known as ISO) is also important. Choose a camera that allows you to adjust the ISO depending on the light condition. The ISO range for most Polaroid instant cameras is between ISO 100 to ISO 400. It should also come with a sharpness and saturation feature to set the sharpness of an image as required. Image sharpness for all instant camera models include hard, standard, and low.

Instant Camera Accessories

For special effects, consider getting lens filters for your camera. To protect your camera, purchase a case. Instant cameras such as the Fujifilm Instax have custom color cases to match the camera color. There are also several bags available for carrying instant cameras. Choose one with additional compartments to hold lenses and other small items. You may also want to shop for a photo album book to store your prints.