Fujifilm instax mini 7S Point and Shoot Film Camera

I have owned almost every format of Polaroid instant camera made in the past 60 years, so I've been playing with instant cameras for a long time- since I was a kid. When Polaroid discontinued all of their film for the classic cameras that almost everyone has hanging on the back of a closet door someplace in their house, I found myself facing a loss- something that was iconic growing up as far as the candid snapshot, something synonymous with Polaroid for many years. With a new-found interest in analog instant photography, I started looking at options and found out all kinds of neat stuff. I found out about an organization called "The Impossible Project" who formed a small company and bought the remaining manufacturing equipment from Polaroid, as well as obtaining the building and essentially "re-inventing&quo​t; a new Polaroid film which, like anything that's essentially all new, has it's quirks and shortcomings, but is very nice stuff and produces some really cool pictures. However, at in excess of $3 per shot (and some decidedly unpredictable results), it doesn't really work out to be very practical as far as everyday use. Then I learned of Fujifilm's instant photography product line, which included two things that really fascinated me- their peel-apart packfilms for Polaroid 100-Series cameras that turns out to be far superior to anything Polaroid made to my memory, and the Instax line of cameras. I think I may have spent a whole 15 minutes or so reading up on this slightly different take on the Polaroid process before I searched out my first Instax 210 wide-format camera. I've had it for about 4 months and have put about 10 packs of film through it so far- I absolutely love it! The color balance and sharpness of this film is fantastic and the camera itself is as simple to use as you could ever want it to be. The only drawback to the 210 is that it's fairly large (we're all so spoiled by digital cameras at this point) and wasn't always easy to carry along. It didn't take much at that point to turn directly to the Instax Mini, and I am not disappointed in any way- it delivered exactly what I expected of it and then some. The controls on this camera couldn't be more straight-forward or easy to understand. Just load in your batteries and film and nearly anyone can just wing it and not have a single hitch taking pictures with this great new little toy. Let's not forget- for a camera to produce a large instant print, it has to be able to collect a large image. It has no way to internally "enlarge" a print, so the camera has to be at least as large in at least two dimensions as the finished print. This camera delivers a very respectable size print of excellent quality, based on clarity and color, and does so from a very modestly-sized package. I also like the fact that film for both Fujifilm Instax formats are very modestly priced compared historically with Polaroid and the new Impossible films. I would absolutely recommend this camera to anyone interested in analog instant photography for either the first-time photographer or nostalgic older Polaroid "veteran". Don't hesitate to press the button because you're afraid to spit money out the front of your camera and risk missing the shot. This series of cameras takes consistent great pictures without nailing you in the wallet every time you take a shot. From a guy with a ton of toys, this is one of the cooler ones I've gotten my paws on in years!

my mother bought me this camera for a birthday gift, it was something i have been wanting for a couple of birthdays but this year we were actually able to track out down. i want this camera specifically because i love instant photography and this seemed like a good alternative to the standard and not discontinued Polaroid cameras and film. i have had a couple different Fujifilm cameras in the passed and i have been happy with them so i trusted this brand and thought it would be a better choice than the Polaroid brand clone that came out a couple years ago.
so far i have used my camera in many different environments and in drastically varying light levels and it has preformed either as well as expected or better in all situations other than one that was clearly operator error. this error being that i had the camera on the wrong setting so the pictures ended up looking very washed out. i even used it outside at night once and the pictures ended up looking fine because of the flash. they were clear, it is easy to tell what you are looking at and i was very impressed.
overall the image quality is better than i expected, for photos that are so small it is important that they end up reasonably crisp and clear and instant film has a reputation of not always being as clear at other photography types but this has not been a problem with this camera.
the only thing that i have been slightly annoyed with is the fact that i have one backpack that is my favorite and my camera is a little too thick to fit in the kind of flat backpack. if my backpack was not an odd shape this would not be a problem but i have decided to leave my camera home on a few occasions just because it is kind of big to hold all night and i know it will not fit in my backpack. it is not massive or terribly heavy but it is not the tiny digital camera we are all so used to at this point, it is a bit larger.
other than a little added size this camera is user friendly and film is not too unreasonably priced. it is comparable to the old Polaroid film but it comes in cute styles and colors with cute character designs as well as pain white borers, this is something i think the Polaroid company would have benefited form trying.

Why did I buy this product?
For a while now I have been looking for a decent instant camera, and after realizing how cheap vintage Polaroid cameras were online I decided to buy one. The big problem was that the film was worth more than the actual camera! I soon found out that Fujifilm released a new model and after realizing how affordable the film was I decided to purchase one.

What do you like and dislike about the product?
I love its portability and its sleek design. It is very user-friendly so even people who have never used a camera before can easily pick this one up. There is not a thing I dislike about this camera, it is amazing!

How does this product compare to others?
I also purchased the Polaroid 300 camera (it has the same exact build and uses the same products) and both are equally amazing. The only difference between the two is the name!

This is a great product. It's small and light and easy to use. I bought this product because I was unable to get instant films for my old instant camera as they are not made anymore. The photos pop out the top and develop quickly.Great fun for all agaes and can go anywhere. Have only had it for a couple of days but love it. The films are a little expensive but if you can find a good deal it's pretty good. Much better than paying $40 for a 10 exposure film that's not in date.

Look, they didn't make fixed-focus instant point-and-shoot cameras about features. It doesn't NEED them. This is the most fun little snapshot camera I have ever had. I have had many cameras--from my first Polaroid 600 to Brownies, Canons (Film and Digital), Minoltas, Mamiyas, and they've got their uses. However, for just capturing the moment at a party or with friends, you cannot beat the Instax Mini 7s.
The film/print format is an oddball--2.5 x 3.25 or roughly credit card size. The lens is a bit wide, so get close! The viewfinder very accurately depicts composition--only slightly noticeable parallax shift.
Forget about the Hello Kitty looking chassis--you can get one in black if that suits you better.
Go ahead and invest in a photo album, because you will be snapping these little gems a lot.

Get one. Have fun!