instax mini 11 instant film camera, auto exposure and Built-in selfie lens, Lilac Purple

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It's an issue we've seen in other instant cameras, though, so it's more of a learning curve for the photographer than a failing of the camera. The Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 improves on the previous generation Instax Mini in meaningful ways, making instant photography more accessible than ever with a largely accurate auto exposure system and an adjustable lens that works for close-ups and selfies as well as portraits and landscapes. The print in question is ejected from the top of the camera almost as soon as the flash has fired – and here it always fires, even in strong sunlight, as there appears to be no way to disable it, as we occasionally can on higher end instant models. Science has found that the instant print doesn’t develop any faster if you ‘shake it like a Polaroid picture’, so we have to wait the typical 90 seconds for the finished result. Incidentally, the Instax Mini 11’s effective flash range is up to a very fair 2.7 metres, with a 6.5 second wait between flashes. To be honest, an instant camera isn’t one for rapid-fire use, so that sort of delay is scarcely going to be an issue.

Instax film tends to produce pastel-like colors and soft-focus details, giving your photos that unmistakable instant feel, though they tend to be more true-to-life than rivals including Polaroid or Lomography. Push the lens barrel release and it extrudes using a spring mechanism, with the built-in flash activating automatically. The front grip is narrower, and there's now a ridged thumb grip on the rear for easier one-handed use. Beyond the lens barrel release, which also acts as a power on switch for the built-in flash, the only other button is the shutter release. There's no way to manually disable the flash, which fires automatically with every shot – whether it's really needed or not. The in-built selfie-mode is also a huge improvement over the Mini 11’s predecessors. Instant cameras like these really lend themselves to taking group shots with friends and self-portraits. Having a close focus option right at hand – and a handy front-facing mirror makes selfies a breeze.Constant firing flash (automatic light adjustment), recycle time: 6.5 seconds or less (when using new batteries), effective flash range: 0.3 to 2.7 m As with the Instax Mini 9, you see subjects through a small optical viewfinder window with a magnification of 0.37x. For selfies, a small mirror is integrated right next to the lens. To activate the selfie mode, pull the lens out to the selfie-on mark. The focus range is therefore between 0.3 and 0.5 m, so you can also take close-ups with this setting. An additional close-up lens, such as the one supplied with the Instax Mini 9, is therefore no longer necessary. The Popular Instax Mini Size Naturally there’s a small mirror provided adjacent to the lens on this Fuji, thus allowing for users to perfect their ‘selfie’ game. But beyond that, the camera provides a selfie mode of sorts by advising users to pull out the front edge of the lens after powering the camera on.

There's no way to disable the flash, no self timer, and no tripod thread on the bottom. This is about as simple as instant cameras get. Nobody is going to claim their creative goal is natural looking results when using an instant camera. The minute and a half wait for ‘instant’ delivery is the selling point here – with photographic quality coming second. Indeed, the typically either under-or-over-exposed look of an instant print, the marginally out-of-focus results (0.3 metres is the closest you can get to a subject) and the fact that a lot of the time the photographer won’t have got things 100% perfectly framed is a large part of instant cameras’ naïve charm.

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Speaking of selfies, now giving the lens barrel an extra pull extends the lens ready for close-up shooting. It's a much simpler system than the Mini 9's easily forgotten clip-on attachment, though you have to grip the lens barrel awkwardly to close it up again, otherwise you end up turning the camera off completely.

Those can appear far more dream-like, while Instax appears more natural. Darker scenes and shadows appear much more dramatic than real life, though.

The Popular Instax Mini Size

With no need to manually adjust the exposure settings every time the lighting situation changes, the Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 has a much greater hit-rate when it comes to correctly judging a scene than the Mini 9, although the nature of Instax film means overblown highlights are still common. The off-center viewfinder can also make light flares an issue when shooting towards the sun. What might seem well-composed can actually have direct sunlight hitting the lens. It's because the auto exposure system can now vary the shutter speed between 1/2 and 1/250, so it should be able to capture the right amount of light in all shooting scenarios. This is a big step up from the Mini 9's fixed 1/60 shutter speed, and helps massively when shooting indoors. Results from instant cameras have typically been hit and miss over the years – and yes, not knowing if our image will be a hit or a dud, especially with no preview screen provided, is part of the appeal. Fuji claims to have minimized chances of wasted film courtesy of the Instax Mini 11’s on-board auto exposure mode, which reads the level of ambient light when the shutter release is pressed, optimizing shutter speed and/or flash output accordingly. The fixed focus lens manages to keep the majority of portrait and middle distance shots looking crisp, while landscapes can appear softer and more dreamlike.