Review: Fujifilm Instax Mini 7

Let me introduce you to the Fujifilm Instax Mini 7 Instant Camera. I received this battery powered  camera for my birthday a few years ago after wanting one for a really long time. I have really enjoyed using it and it has allowed me to document some of the best events in my life over the last few years. Today I thought it would be fun to share my thoughts on it with you, so without further ado…

Over the last ten years Polaroid style instant cameras have made a real comeback. In this age it is so easy to take as many photographs as you want and edit them to look ‘perfect’. The reason I think instant cameras are making such a resurgence is the novelty of having something that captures a moment in time without the opportunity to edit or have a thousand and one goes at taking the perfect picture.

This camera, with its built-in flash, is super easy to use, you just pick it up and off you go. Unfortunately, because it is so easy to just pick it up and start snapping I often forget to adjust the  light settings. This is a great feature and I should really stop getting so overexcited about the using the camera and pay more attention to setting it up properly. Despite my incompetence I have been  pleased with almost all the pictures that I have taken with it and am loving documenting special events in such a permanent way.

I love the retro, chunky feel of the camera and it is a great size to just chuck into your bag. So transportable! If I could, however, change anything about this camera it would all centre around the film. For me, as much as the credit card size is super cute, I would love the film to be a bit bigger. I find as soon as you begin to take pictures of more than two people you start to loose detail and I know  if I ever buy another instant camera I will be buying one that takes larger film. I have learnt my lesson.

Alongside this the film is quite expensive and this definitely limits my use of the camera. Although, this is as much a good thing as a bad thing as it means I don’t just take photos of everyone and their mum, and instead save the film for capturing special moments.