Fujifilm Instax 210 Wide

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In August 2009, Fujifilm released a new edition of the Instax 200, the Instax 210. A great instant camera.

The Fuji Instax 210 is a “Polaroid type” instant camera. You can see some of its technical details at this Lomography microsite.

The camera doesn’t differ from its predecessor, the Fuji Instax 200, in almost anything, except the color (this model is black and the former blue). Technically, they are the same.

For me it’s one of the most fun photographic “toys” I’ve gotten my hands on lately. It’s very simple to use, although its HUUUUGGEEEE size never goes unnoticed… it’s a camera that shocks by its dimensions, despite that its weight is quite reasonable and as such can be comfortable to carry around.

Let’s say its menu can be found on the left side of the camera, where a small round LED screen shows us the number of exposures left and lets us choose between LIGHTEN, NORMAL and DARKEN. So, if we want our photos to appear lighter, darker, or just normal, we select one thing or the other.

Moreover, in that same screen, we select the distance between two options: 0,9-2m or 3m-infinite, very easy!

On that same left side we find the Power button that lets us turn the camera on and off, next to the flash button, for me that is where one of the bigger flaws of this camera resides. The flash can be never turned off, let’s say, if the camera decides there is not enough light you can’t do anything other than covering it up to keep it from going off. You can force it to make it go off, but never the opposite.

Its film cartridges come in packs of 10 photos and are quite easy to find, and much cheaper than Polaroid in many places, I’ve even bought them at half the price. The back cover opens, we match the yellow line on the camera with the one on the film, we close it and.. ready to shoot!!! The shutter button is on the front of the camera, on the right side.

It also has an optional mode with a close up lens. It’s some sort of round piece that you put over the lens and lets you take photographs from a much shorter distance, about 40-45 cm.

A really fun camera to instantly immortalize moments, to have fun with friends, and that guarantees some great results!!!

(I have to apologize for the scans, I don’t understand why the same happens every time with Polaroid formats…)

written by mauky on 2011-09-30 #gear #sea #film #review #instant #instant-camera #instant-photography #fuji-instax #lomography #fuji #fujifilm #film-camera #large #user-review #instax-210

6 Comments

  1. slumbrnghok
    slumbrnghok ·

    Great article! I just bought four packs off ebay for £14! Good review. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

  2. lislisdotnet
    lislisdotnet ·

    re: the scans, depending on your scanner it may be selevtively cropping it. Used to happen to me when I first started scanning polaroids because it didn't recognize the difference between the white frame and the white background. I'd suggest choosing to scan the whole panel or using it in professional or expert mode during the preview screen to let you play with how you want to select/frame the scan. hope that makes sense.

  3. lislisdotnet
    lislisdotnet ·

    2nd note: I totally want one of these cameras.

  4. emperornorton
    emperornorton ·

    The trouble with the scans is that you are letting the scanner choose the crop rather than directing that maneuver by yourself. My scanner allows me to first scan the whole bed then selectively zoom on and adjust the scan for the area that I want. To deal with the close crop on the right problem, I use a clean popsicle stick to push the photo out a little toward the center, then crop out the little piece of wood that shows. This not only lets my viewers see the whole photo but also helps to keep it straight.

  5. emperornorton
    emperornorton ·

    In other news, I love the Fuji. People who see you lugging it around are almost always impressed and surprised that someone is still making an instant camera. I used it to help record my recent trip to Yellowstone and other Western national parks.

  6. emperornorton
    emperornorton ·

    Last ramble: the one problem that I have found with the Instax is that the film normally prescribed for it tends to dull down and shift bright colors a bit.

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