New Toy: Fuji Instax SP-1 printer...

[inkista]

I blame Zack Arias.

But I got one of these little white polaroid printers a month or so ago, and am having a blast with it. As I understand it (and I could be wrong), it's using LEDs to expose the polaroid film from the digital file. The quality of the images isn't terrific (in fact, I'm finding that early prints from the beginning of the pack seem to be out of focus, vs. images that print from the end of the pack--probably due to variance in how far the film is held from the LED array), but for social use, it doesn't really matter that much. Just having a physical print at all, and the nostalgia of that polaroid rrrrrrrptuh of the little photo coming out is a blast and a half. This is actually a lot more fun than my little Polaroid i-Zone camera was.

It's clearly meant to mostly be used directly with smartphones and the Instax Share app (both iOS and Android versions exist, apparently. I'm using the iOS one with my 5S). But I can stuff an EyeFi card in my Powershot S90, and do a little wi-fi network and app dance on the phone (Eyefi app/wi-fi to pull the photos from the camera, then the Fuji SP-1 wi-fi and Instax app to print; or the Panasonic app/GX-7's wi-fi to pull the photos from the camera, then the SPI1 wi-fi and Instax app to print. The only cameras I have that are left out of the fun, hilariously, are my Canons (50D/5DMkII) which are too old to have built-in wi-fi and use CF cards, but if I had a 70D/6D, I could use the camera's wifi and a Canon app to pull the photos).

Drawbacks? The film ain't cheap (a 20-pack costs roughly $15), and the batteries are weird (CR2 lithium). And, of course, it meant I had to get an X100T [Yes, I know it's specious logic, but I'm sticking to it as my excuse], so I could print directly from the camera to the printer and not bother with the wi-fi/app dance on the phone. This way, unlike using an Instax camera, I get the best of both worlds: tiny little print to give away, great big digital file to work over and print out big at my leisure at home. This should go over a bomb for me during Comic-Con, where I tend to make friends in line I'll never see again.

Man, I'm now all Fuji hipster-retro geared up. It feels like I'm shooting in 1975--if we'd had rangefinders that could optionally make polaroids...

Toys.

[Shadowman]

Cool idea.

[IzzieK]

Certainly like a toy, but it will well worth it...again, congratulations on your new acquisition....

[inkista]

Certainly like a toy, but it will well worth it...again, congratulations on your new acquisition....

Thanks! I'm in toy heaven. I've also been a little surprised that everyone I've shown the printer to didn't know these things existed out in the wild. I must be spending too much time on gear sites.