We journey into the past with Fujifilm's new instant film camera. Is the great grey beast enough camera to quash encroaching digital compacts? Find out why we loved this antiquated monster in our full Fujifilm Instax 200 review.
A Dying Breed?
The existence of the instant camera is currently dangling by a nylon thread, and if it's any indication that this highly specific market currently resides on the photographic endangered species list, all we have to do is glance back to February of 2008, when Polaroid abandoned film, sacked 450 workers and boarded up its factory like Willy Wonka, pre Golden Ticket sweepstakes. At the moment, Fujifilm is the only remaining supplier of instant film in the entire US, which is a frightening thing for those who still dust off the old SX-70 Model 2 now and then. Soon, it appears as though we will no longer be able to bask in the splendors of shaking a Polaroid picture and enjoying our tangible frames of life before our very eyes. A very specific brand of nostalgia will die along with the obliteration of the instant camera, but Fujifilm is making a stalwart attempt to keep this market alive with the Fujifilm Instax 200 instant camera.
This is not the first time Fujifilm has dabbled with the art of instant photography. During the early 80's through the mid 90's, Fujifilm catapulted the Fotorama series of instant cameras, which featured accordion boxes and flash mounts. The instant camera technology was at its peak during that particular period of time, but of course the funds and significant market interest were there to back it up. People would take instant cameras out with friends, on dates, use them for family portraits and any situation where a quick shot was warranted. Modeling and casting agencies still use instant cameras in order to match up auditioners with their resumes and keep track of wardrobes. Today, we take out our tiny digital compact, shoot a plethora of images, and toss them on facebook. There is no tangible evidence left, just bits, bytes and pixels amalgamating together to incite a highly impersonal photo album review session.
On the Town with the Fujifilm Instax 200
Shooting with the Fujifilm Instax 200 teleported us back to the late 80's, when we used Polaroids to document shenanigans at the arcades, Times Square with less digital advertising and Pearl Jam concerts. Every time the Instax 200 was unsheathed, the reactions from those around it were all fueled by copious dosages of excitement and curiosity. "Is it an underwater camera!?" "Is it a portable telescope!?" "What the hell is it!?" Only a select few were able to discern the Instax 200's instant camera genetics, but soon after we instructed our subjects to pose and snapped a picture, they transformed into children on Pixie Sticks while they watched the photograph emerge from the sleeve on the top of the camera. Nearly every subject attempted to grab the picture directly from our hands because they wanted to shake it. A majority of our subjects grew up with instant cameras, so the nostalgia was already ingrained and lying dormant, waiting for a catalyst like the Instax 200 to come along and rouse the joy.
Structurally, the Fujifilm Instax 200 was a veritable beast, requiring two hands to steady its giant hard plastic frame. The Instax 200's grey and blue color scheme was not particularly aesthetically pleasing, though there was something about the camera's lumbering architecture and ugly chassis that lured us in even more. No other camera on the market looks like this big awkward thing, and that's part of the Instax 200's allure. Despite its jumbo-sized frame, the Instax 200 was exceedingly comfortable to grip and the included neck strap enabled the camera to rest comfortably against our chest. The optical viewfinder was mounted in a considerably odd location, way off to the side of the grey beast, but it attributed to accurately framed pictures every time. The built-in flash was durable, and we could toss in a fresh quartet of AA batteries when the Instax 200 ran out of juice. Fortunately, we never ran out of battery life, and we're pretty sure the Instax 200 will go many miles before running on fumes.
Features and Image Quality
The only controls on the Fujifilm Instax 200 were migrated to the side of the camera, directly beneath the viewfinder. Here we had a blue panel containing a series of rubberized buttons—the kind we used to see on instant cameras of yesteryear—and a tiny circular digital screen that displayed the remaining number of pictures left, focal length and exposure level. Don't jump the gun yet—the Instax 200 had three settings for adjusting the brightness of a picture. We were given Lighten, Normal and Darken for exposure options and we could manually turn the flash on or off. The good thing about the Instax 200 is that it automatically assessed the shooting environment and threw in a fill flash when needed. The focal length was a trifle disappointing because we only had two options. We could snap pictures from 0.9 meters – 3.0 meters or 3.0 meters – Infinity, so close-up shots were out of the question. We attempted a few, but the subject in the foreground exhibited a soft focus at any distance closer than a meter.
We were impressed with the quality of the Fujifilm Instax 200's 95mm Fujinon lens, and the image quality was a welcomed blast from the past. The Instax 200 did not crank out professional-grade pictures, but it succeeded in producing images that were devoid of noise and resisted oversharpening. Colors were classic and some pictures looked like they were unearthed from a lost family album in the 1970's. It was a mega refreshment to see images like this because we, the collective, have lost sight of what an image truly is by being steeped within the digital landscape. Although the Fujifilm Instax 200's images did not exhibit the level of detail we have seen from many digital cameras in the past, there was something about their raw honesty that lured us in. Fujifilm shipped us ISO 800 6.2 cm x 9.9 cm (2.5 in. x 3.9 in.) film, so we weren't expecting 8 x 10 headshot quality images. Low light shooting was out of the question, and we could only capture close range subjects under generous available light. However, we were just as smitten with the Instax 200's pictures as we would be with the best 12-megapixel compact on the market.
We scanned our pictures using an Epson Perfection 3490 Photo Scanner, which interpolated them to a much larger size than they naturally were in our hands, so some softening will occur.
Avivit close-up
Darnit, wrong focal length!
Who authorized you to take my picture?
Peekaboo!
Docile Park Slope
Lauren at close range
Let the good times roll
Dinner with the cousins
Big Green – the best night shot we could manage
Value
Logistically, digital wins because the Fujifilm Instax 200 only offers 10 exposures per pack. Film is sold in boxes of two film packs for approximately $19-$20, so that averages out to a dollar a picture. The camera itself is $47, but the added film costs will snowball in the long run. Also, what if you're an experimental photographer who likes to test the surroundings before attaining the perfect shot? Ten dollars worth of bogus pictures is not an attractive item on today's financial menu. We recommend the Fujifilm Instax 200 if you have the money to burn or are exceedingly nostalgic about the instant camera phenomenon that stoked a photographic fire for several decades. We loved the Fujifilm Instax 200 and applaud the company for exalting film rather than abandoning it while so many manufacturers have jumped on the digital bandwagon. Sometimes it's nice to have a tangible representation of where it all evolved from, and for us, the Fujifilm Instax 200 was the harbinger of an emotional quest against the upstream of time.
 |
|
|
|
| |
|
| | |
| |
| NEW DIGITAL CAMERA RELEASES | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
_it00.jpg)
|
Archive