Best Instant Cameras | 2023

The best instant cameras are the ideal way to give your picture-taking some knockabout magic. Recapturing the magic of Polaroids at parties in decades gone by, a great instant camera lets you forget about pixel-peeping and focus on fun. Also, having a physical print of an image is a wonderful way to take yourself out of the digital space for a while. Want to make a photobook or wall-hanging of photographic memories? An instant camera is the perfect way to do it.

When we talk about instant cameras, we’re referring to two specific categories, both of which are represented in this guide. These are as follows:

Instant film cameras – The classic format, and probably what you’re picturing when you read the phrase instant camera. You hit the shutter button, there’s a flash, and then the camera spits out a sheet of film. It develops for a few minutes, and then voila, you have your instant film photo. Polaroid cameras, new and old, are instant film cameras, as are Fujifilm’s Instax models.

Instant print cameras – Also known as digital instant print cameras, these models are essentially a digital camera combined with an instant printer. Hit the shutter and the photo you capture is instantly transferred to fast-printing photo paper, producing a physical copy of your image moments later. While the quality isn’t up to the standards of instant film, and you don’t quite get that lo-fi look, instant print cameras are much more cost-effective to run. Canon has an interesting line in instant-print cameras, which use its proprietary ZINK (zero-ink) photo paper.

Modern instant cameras also benefit from a few features that old Polaroid cameras from the 1970s notably did not have, like wireless connectivity that allows you to trigger them using your smartphone, or save digital copies of your images. You also can make use of specialist shooting modes like double-exposure or self-timer, or load up with different film types for creative effects. 

We’ve pulled together all the best instant cameras you can buy from Polaroid, Fujifilm and Canon, with options available for all budgets.

Quick Navigation

Best Instant Film Camera

We can all admit it – instant film is just cool. Snapping shots and a few minutes later having a glorious analogue Polaroid or Instax print in your hand is infectious fun, and all the megapixels in the world can’t capture the same magic. In this first section of the guide, we’ve picked out quite simply our favourite instant film cameras you can buy right now. 

We’ve picked out a camera from Polaroid – following the brand’s rejuvenation by The Impossible Project in 2017, it has gone from strength to strength, and now produces fantastic instant film shooters that pair analogue style with digital convenience. And we’ve also chosen our favourite Fujifilm Instax camera right now, which uses a smaller format of film that’s cheaper to buy and quicker to develop. 

Whichever brand you choose, you’ve got a highly capable instant film camera that can create fantastic physical prints in moments, while still being simple enough that practically anyone can use it.

Pro: 

• Great analogue/digital fusion
• Integrated rechargeable battery
• Built-in tripod mount

Con: 

• Limited on-camera settings
• Can over-expose easily
  
  

The Polaroid Now+ proves how good it can feel when nostalgia gets an update. Embodying the classic polaroid body design and the signature grainy charm of a classic polaroid print, the Now+ is the blast from the past that every photography buff will love. Choose from i-Type B+W or colour film to get snapping – the Polaroid film image area measures 79 mm x 79 mm.

Available in white, black or blue-grey, the Now+ sets itself apart from other instant cameras on the market by emphasising its roots in the world of manual photography. Included with the Now+ is a set of snap-on lens filters for a classic, experimental touch. There are also on-camera buttons that allow you to set a custom shortcut or switch between intentional double exposures and a self-timer mode.

Connecting the Now+ to the Polaroid smartphone app allows you to access a number of exciting shooting modes, including portrait, double exposure, light painting, noise shutter trigger and manual exposure.  All in all, the Now+ is great for getting classic, vintage snaps with a few modern-tech perks.

Pros: 

• Simple point and shoot operation
• Choice of stylish colours

Cons: 

• No advanced control modes
• CR2 batteries can be harder to find
  
  

Producing prints on Fujifilm’s square-format instant film, the Instax Square SQ1 is a delightfully simple camera to use. It’s one of the best places to start if you’re new to instant shooting – there aren’t too many terribly complicated exposure controls. You point, you shoot, and you get gorgeous square prints within seconds. Simple. The image area of an Instax Square film print measures 62 mm x 62 mm.

The Square SQ1 does have a few useful tricks up its sleeve. You can twist the barrel to extend the lens's focal length a little to activate selfie mode. Indeed, there’s even a selfie mirror for exactly this purpose. 

You can pick up Fujifilm Square film in colour or black and white, and there are also versions with black and rainbow-coloured borders. Experimentation is the name of the game! The Fujifilm Instax Square SQ1 is available in Terracotta Orange, Glacier Blue and Chalk White.

Best Instant With Cheap Film

While instant cameras themselves are inexpensive to buy, something you have to account for is the ongoing cost of film. Unlike digital cameras, which can effectively shoot indefinitely, or at least until the shutter unit wears out, an instant camera has to be reloaded every time you run through a pack of film. And if you’re someone who likes to be liberal with their shots, that can happen quite frequently. 

The solution is to pick up an instant camera that uses a cheaper film. We reckon your best bet is a camera that uses Fujifilm’s smallest format – Instax Mini. It’s still film, meaning you still get the analogue look that you don’t get with digital prints, but with a smaller image area compared to Polaroid or Instax Square, measuring 46 mm x 62 mm. Instax Mini cameras tend to be extremely straightforward to use, too, meaning they’re great for kids as well as adults.

Pros:

• New twist-action lens mechanism
• Affordable camera, affordable film
• 5 striking colour options

Cons:

• Flash can’t be disabled
• Bias towards overexposure in daylight
  
  

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 is the newest camera off the production line in Fujifilm’s Instax range. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel from the previous Instax Mini 11 (which you’ll meet further on in this guide) but it keeps what instant photographers have long loved about these cameras – that simplicity of use and charm. There’s no settings control – you can’t change the exposure or even turn off the flash – but you just point, and shoot, and seconds later you have a fully realised physical print. It also benefits from a new twisting lens mechanism, which is used to turn on the camera and activate the close-up mode.

The Fujifilm Instax Mini film this camera takes is some of the cheapest on the market, and you can pick it up for even less by experimenting with different types like Mini Black Frame or Mini Macaron Deco, which has a patterned border. There are also discounts on the film if you buy it bundled with the camera, so if this is the instant camera for you, stock up on purchase to make some savings. The Instax Mini 12 is available in multiple colour options, so pick your favourite!

Best Instant Print Camera

With an instant print camera, you can produce physical prints of your images at a much lower cost than you would with instant film. Currently, the market leader in this regard is Canon, who produces its own line of ZINK (zero-ink) photo paper onto which images can be quickly transferred to create a smudge-proof print in minutes. The way it works is that the ink is actually contained in the paper itself, and is mixed around using pressure to create the digital image.

This means there’s no need to fill up on ink cartridges and the like – the paper itself is all you need. While the quality isn’t the same as instant film or as conventional printing, the images are produced quite quickly, and once they’re ready, they’re very durable, resistant to smudges and splashes. Plus, digital print cameras will also save digital copies of the images you take either to a microSD card or their own internal storage, so you get both the physicality of analogue prints and the convenience of digital files.

Pros: 

• Integrated digital storage
• App is excellent for editing options

Cons:

• No LCD display
• 8MP only
  
  

The Canon Zoemini S2 is a next-generation 2-in-1 instant camera and printer that benefits from a mirror, ring-light, remote shutter and live view, making it the perfect technology for capturing mini moments on the go. When used with Canon’s Zink Photo Paper, the Zoemini S2 is capable of printing bright and vivid snaps measuring 50 x 76.2mm in size. 

The Zoemini S2’s fun and creative style is reflected in its design and is available in Rose Gold, Pearl White and Teal. The real selling point of this instant camera printer is the inclusion of a slot for an additional Micro SD card on top of 512MB of internal memory and image transfer using the Canon Mini Print app, so you can store far more photos compared to other models on the market. 

Marketed as the perfect tech for selfie aficionados, it’s a shame that the Zoemini S2 lacks an LCD display for viewing snaps. But, with so many customisation and sharing options using the app, the Zoemini S2 is ideal for social media content creators wanting more than a smartphone snap.

Best Mini Instant Camera

We’ve already seen one of Fujifilm’s Instax Mini cameras – these compact instant film cameras are great for travel, parties and general day-to-day instant-film shooting. However, Fujifilm’s hugely successful Instax range contains several other cameras that shoot its popular Instax Mini film – so we thought we’d round them up in this section to give you a few alternatives.

At heart, Instax cameras work in very similar ways. They’re pretty much all point-and-shoot affairs, with little to no manual control of exposure settings, focus and the like. A lot of the differences lie in the look of the cameras – they come in a huge array of different styles and colours, meaning you can feel free to browse around and pick your favourite. 

As we’ve seen, Instax Mini film is a fantastic, low-cost choice for getting stuck into some instant shooting. So, all that remains is to find the right mini instant camera for you!

Pros:

• Hugely affordable
• Bright colour options
• Very simple to operate

Cons:

• Flash can’t be disabled
• No settings control
  
  

This is the cheapest instant film camera on the market, and for those who just want something simple to start making instant prints with, it can’t be beat. The Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 lacks the stylish faux-leather casing of the Instax Mini 40, and the twist-lens close-up mode of the Instax Mini 12, but it’s cheaper than both, and still does fundamentally the same job of shooting quick and simple instant prints.

Like all Instax cameras, the Instax Mini 11 can also benefit from the Instax Up smartphone app, which allows you to quickly and easily scan your Instax photos for a digital copy. Elsewhere, it’s much the same deal as its Mini stablemates, with a two-element 60mm equivalent lens and an automatic shutter. It is powered by common, easily available AA batteries, and is available in a variety of colours, including purple, grey and sky blue. 

Best Instant For Travel

Instant cameras are a fantastic choice for travel photography. They allow you to make images with a difference, capturing your adventures in a unique way that screams retro-cool. Whether you’re off on a city-break with friends, hiking in the countryside or spending a long, relaxing weekend on the beach, an instant camera can be the ideal way to make mementoes of your time away.

But how to choose the right instant camera for the job? We’ve come up with a few quite different options for this section of the guide, as different travellers are naturally going to have different priorities. Maybe you want a super-portable instant camera that can slip into a jacket pocket, something that’s easy to take everywhere even if you’re travelling light. Maybe you want something that offers a little more depth of control than most instant cameras, a lot of which offer little more than point and shoot. Or maybe you want something that offers great quality while also being budget-friendly. We’ve included all types in this section of the guide to make sure all types of traveller are covered.

Instant Camera Tips

Once you’ve got your instant camera, the fun can begin! But it can all be a bit daunting if you’ve not had much experience shooting with instant film. Here are a few tips to help you get started:

Don’t try to capture too much. You’re working with a pretty small surface area with an instant photograph, and unlike with digital, there’s no cropping in. Don’t try to capture too many elements in a single photograph – keep it focused on a single subject for best results. 

Respect the minimum focus distance. Instant cameras will list the minimum focusing distance of their lens either in the manual or on the lens itself. It’ll probably be between 30 and 60cm. Get too close, and your image will be a blurry mess. 

Try to avoid harsh contrast. Many instant cameras, particularly Instax, have a somewhat narrow dynamic range. High-contrast scenes – meaning they have areas of intense brightness and intense darkness – will probably render quite poorly on instant film. A scene that’s lit in a balanced way will probably come out much better. Cloudy days are a boon for instant photographers!

Centre your subjects. When taking photographs on digital or 35mm film cameras, we often don’t want a subject dead centre. Composition techniques like the rule of thirds have us placing the subject of interest in an image away from the centre for a more visually pleasing look. With instant photography, however, you want to keep things simple and central. Remember, you’re working a very small visual area here, and a camera with either a highly simplistic autofocus system, or no autofocus system at all. Many instant cameras, particularly Instax, have a central viewfinder reticule for framing up your main subject – use it!

Watch out for fingers. With instant cameras, it’s very easy to accidentally ruin a shot by placing a finger over the lens, or even over the flash. Check your grip before hitting the shutter button, as there are no do-overs when it comes to instant film.

Remember to try out double exposures. Many modern instant cameras have the double exposure mode, so use it! Sometimes the results will be a bit of a mess, but sometimes you’ll come up with an inspired creation you never could have achieved otherwise. And that’s a big part of the fun when it comes to instant photography.

Get connected. Remember there’s a smartphone app for Polaroid, Instax and Kodak. Use them! They offer loads of exciting up-to-date features, in some cases including the ability to control your camera remotely, as well as saving digital copies of your images. 

Embrace imperfection. You’re not going for flawless technical perfection here. Instant photography, by its very nature, is fast and loose. Remember to have fun and enjoy the strange alchemy of shooting instant pictures, and you may surprise yourself with the results!

Glossary

Instant cameras have a lot of technical terminology, and it can be easy to get confused! Here’s a quick glossary of the key terms you’ll likely encounter when looking for a new instant camera. 

FAQs

What is an instant camera?

An instant camera is a type of camera that produces a physical print of the image immediately after taking the picture.

How does an instant camera work?

An instant camera works by exposing film to light when the picture is taken. The film contains chemicals that react to the light, producing a visible image on the film. The film then passes through rollers that distribute a developing agent across the film, creating a visible image that is ready to be viewed.

What kind of film do instant cameras use?

Instant cameras use instant film, which is a type of photographic film that produces a visible image immediately after exposure. The film contains chemicals that react to light to produce the image.

How long does it take for the image to develop on an instant camera?

The development time of an instant camera depends on the specific model and film used. Typically, it takes anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes for the image to fully develop.

Can I adjust the settings on an instant camera?

Some instant cameras have basic settings that can be adjusted, such as exposure and focus. However, many instant cameras have fixed settings that cannot be adjusted.

What are the advantages of using an instant camera?

One advantage of using an instant camera is that you can see the physical print immediately after taking the picture. This makes it easier to share the image with others and can be a fun way to capture memories. Additionally, many people enjoy the unique, vintage look of instant camera photos.

What are the disadvantages of using an instant camera?

One disadvantage of using an instant camera is that the film can be expensive, especially if you take a lot of pictures. Additionally, the image quality of instant camera photos may not be as high as digital photos or traditional film photography. Finally, instant cameras can be bulky and may not be as convenient to carry around as a smartphone or digital camera.