ACCESSORIES
A long-time Instax Mini 8 user, Isabella Ruffatti finds out how the latest version compares
● £79.99 ● instax.co.uk
I’ve had my Instax Mini 8 for six years now, since my first year in university, and used it first to document my everyday life and recently for more ‘serious photography’. When Fujifilm released its latest Instax model, the Fujifilm Instax Mini 12, I was curious to see how it had upgraded the camera, especially as the Mini 12 only has two modes compared to the Mini 8’s five modes. The latest model boasts automatic exposure and flash control, and a handy selfie mirror.
The Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 is smaller and lighter than the Instax Mini 8, something that I did not notice until I put it into a camera bag I bought for the Mini 8, and it looked like me in ill-fitting jeans. The design is also boxier, and relatively slippery. As someone who’s always anxious about dropping my camera (which has only ever happened once or twice, but that’s anxiety for you), this took some getting used to.
Despite its upgrades, the shooting experience with the Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 felt largely the same (like a random, but fun, science experiment). I did find that the camera was easier to shoot with and did not feel the loss of the many modes of the Mini 8, which gives you the option to select a different mode depending on the lighting conditions around you. This is a good idea in theory, but in practice, I saw very little difference in my results, and I found myself manually using flash for almost every photo. The Mini 12’s results were still fairly random, but I expected this given the minimal settings available.
All the images I took using the Close-up mode came out blurry, though to be fair I may have been too close – it’s not easy to tell when you’re shooting. I still would not say that the camera lends itself to close-ups, as on one occasion I tried shooting my Sylvanian Families figurines and they came out looking as though they were in a negative (and the Psycho soundtrack rang in my ears). That said, this camera really shines in taking self
