Social Media

Fun with the Instax Mini 70 camera

Fujifilm shipped me a brand new, bright yellow Instax Mini 70 camera to try out a few weeks ago. Work has been so busy that I haven’t had much opportunity to take it out of my bag. But when I do take the Mini 70 out of my bag, the fun starts. In fact, I soon realized that the print these cameras produce is the true social media.

Aimed squarely at the selfie-taking crowd, I’m not necessarily the target audience for the Mini 70. However, I soon found out that I can make anybody else the target audience when they see the camera in use. Better yet if you hand them the camera to make a selfie. I started to use the Mini 70 by taking it with me when I walk around town and asking people if they would mind taking a selfie or letting me take a quick snap of them. First they smile, the shutter button is pressed and then they smile even more as the small print emerges from the camera body.

The Mini 70 is an upgrade to the more bulbous Mini 8. Aside from brighter colours and a squared-off appearance, there has been a upgrade to the exposure controls and flash. But, the most striking change is the introduction of a selfie mode, which optimizes focus from an arm’s length away, and the placement of a small mirror next to the lens. You use that mirror to frame yourself when you are shooting that self portrait. All of the design and functional changes aside, the Instax cameras are an instant (sorry about that) hit with anybody who sees them. Even more so when you hand them the camera and invite them to take their own picture.

I have been shooting with Instax cameras for a couple of years now. While I have tried to use them for a number of different types of photography, such as long exposure, landscape and close up, to name a few, these cameras are were never intended for those types of photography. The size of the prints produced and the friendly design of the cameras make them ideal for one type of photography. That is taking photos of people, preferably close up.

The focus of the Instax cameras on this type of photography makes them one of the most social cameras available. In fact, shooting with the Instax cameras at a party or a wedding will always make the occasion more fun. At the few weddings that I have photographed, I have asked my wife to shoot with my Instax camera during the reception and give the guest their photos. It is always a big hit. I can image having a number of Instax Mini 70s scatter around a party or reception where guests are invited to make selfies. And, if they use the self-timer function, they can make two selfies at a time. One for each person.

The new selfie function of the Mini 70 only heightens the social aspect of the Instax camera line. Watching people grab a friend to make a selfie with them really reinforces that the Instax prints produced by this camera is one of the best social medias available today.