Insta(x)nt

    Being without a computer to download, edit, and print my photos has made me more sinister about today’s digital mess of a world. I can see myself in a few years making a change back to film. Not roll film which would require me to build a dark room and pray to God that they don’t discontinue more of the film, paper and chemicals that I loved so much, or Kodachrome which most likely will never return. I’m talking about instant photography in which there are two choices, Polaroid and Fuji Instax. Polaroid or the “new” Polaroid film is NOT the same that some of us grew up on. Because the original Polaroid won’t sell the formula they had to come up with their own. The outcome is an unstable film that’s very temperature sensitive with loooong development times and is extremely expensive per 8 shot pack. But there’s that classic square format and some good looking cameras.

    The alternative is the Fuji Instax system that’s already been around for over 20 years now. The film is sharp with good color but it’s on the cool side. The black and white is high contrast and while some complain about that I actually prefer it. A good thing is the price which is about half the price of the Polaroid film and you get 10 shots per pack instead of the 8 with Polaroid. Now there’s a couple of differences that bothers some people and to tell you the truth kind of bothers me too. The first is the Instax film sizes. There is the “mini” which is the size of a credit card but Fuji sells a TON of this film. Then there’s the “square” but it’s noticeably smaller than the Polaroid and can be very hard to find. Actually, Polaroid just erased an even tinier square film. Finally the “wide” which I have used in the past. The wide is good for landscapes and group photos but not for portraits. Fuji is unable to make film the same size as Polaroid due to patents. My only other complaint about the Fuji system are their large butt ugly cameras. Come on Fuji at least make an effort to manufacture a more refined camera. My dream would be if Fuji were permitted to make film for Polaroid cameras.