Instax SQUARE SQ1 Instant Camera, Glacier Blue

Product Information

The SQ6's bulky body probably means you won’t want to carry it around without its straps; it’s not really designed to be held in your hand when you’re not shooting. Aside from the metal used around the lens ring, the body is largely made of what appears to be polycarbonate, but its finish is pleasing and the build quality suggests that it won't smash should it suddenly slip out of your hand. Meanwhile those who never want a wasted print and like the idea of making instax photos from their larger cameras should get an instax Link printer, again available in any of the three print formats. So SQ40 is not a follow-up to the earlier SQ10 and SQ20 models which employed digital sensors and screens. Instead, 40 in the instax lineup now refers to an analogue camera with a vintage retro look and feel, which means maybe we’ll see a Wide 40 in the future. C’mon Fujifilm, it’s time for a new Wide camera, can I get an Amen in here? The 62 x 62mm square prints that the SQ40 churns out are perfect in size – equal in height as Instax Mini film but in a wider square format, with the film itself measuring 86mm x 72mm.

Ok, here’s some shots I took with the SQ40. The simple lens delivers mild wide-angle coverage that’s suitable for general-use from portraits and selfies to buildings and landscapes. Exposure is again automatic with the camera able to access shutter speeds from half to 400th of a second that, with the fixed aperture and film sensitivity, should cover you from fairly bright scenes to dim interiors. As before, selfies in medium light seem to work best of all, and I was pleased to find my pasty skin tones not becoming washed-out. The sample gallery (above) shows the sort of aesthetic quality you can expect from any Instax camera – that's a lovely desaturated vintage look, and the SQ40 is no exception. Very bright scenes are however still likely to over-expose with washed-out skies becoming a familiar sight on all the analogue instax cameras I’ve tested. But at least the SQ40 remains an improvement over the Mini 11 and 12 which have a fastest shutter speed of 1/250 and especially the Mini 9s and earlier models which stopped at 1/60 and over-exposed in even mild brightness. That said, I still think Fujifilm should boost the top shutter speed to 1/500 or maybe faster still on future models to better cope with very bright conditions – after all, surely many instax cameras are taken on Sunny holidays. To help compose your selfies, the SQ40 has a tiny mirror on the front of a lens as a visual guide, but given its size it’s only moderately helpful. Fujifilm Instax SQ40: Performance Enjoy the timeless aesthetic of analogue photography, with stunning square prints. Bold and beautiful, our square prints are designed to enhance the unique flair of your photography for tangible mementoes to treasure. But don’t worry, you can get the best of both worlds and share your INSTAX pics digitally, too. Power up the INSTAX UP! app and scan your physical prints. After fine-tuning, your snaps, tag, save, and share to your heart’s content. Both retro and modern — how about that?

One features that may please those used to more traditional capture is a tripod bush on the base, which is the standard 1/4-20 size that’s common to the majority of other cameras. Furthermore, a self timer delays exposures by ten seconds, which you may find useful if you want to get yourself into the frame. A large body with a great build Operating the camera is very straightforward, although you do have a little more control over shooting than that offered by the average model. The rear sports three buttons: one for disabling the flash (which is enabled as standard); one for activating the self timer; and a third for cycling through the remaining shooting options. These options each have a light above their respective icons to show which is currently selected, but this setup means that two options cannot be selected simultaneously. And don’t worry about finding the perfect lighting. The Fujifilm INSTAX SQUARE SQ40 features powerful automatic exposure so you can seize the moment, day or night. From brightness to shutter speed, it does it all for you. Instant photography doesn’t end with the cost of the camera of course, and there’s no such thing as cheap instant film. However, you won’t find better value than Instax.

Fujifilm claims that prints are developed in around 90 seconds, although it stresses that exact times vary with temperature. And this is what we found, with prints captured outdoors in cooler conditions typically taking a good few minutes to fully form. Again like the fully-analogue instax models before it, composition is with a small optical viewfinder when you’re behind the camera, or a tiny mirror to the right of the lens when you’re in front of it taking a selfie. That’s not to say the instax process can’t make great-looking prints of very bright or very dark scenes, but you’re unlikely to be using an instax analogue camera to take them. Digitizing your prints is as simple as taking them, courtesy of the 'Instax Up!’ app. All the pictures in the sample gallery were digitized using the app, which includes guides for all film types, including the SQ40’s square format, and handy features like Remove Reflections. Fujifilm Instax SQ40: Price and release dateNext to the light meter is a Flash Light sensor for the always-on flash. I’d like a button to deactivate the flash for the times when I don’t want the foreground subjects brightly illuminated, and without that feature I often opt to physically cover the flash as a workaround.

Having used both formats for quite some time now, I’ve grown to prefer the size of the Square format as it reminds me of the old Polaroids I used to take as a teenager. Sleek, sophisticated, and oh-so-easy to use, the INSTAX SQUARE SQ40 is all you need to capture and print memories — instantly. Simply twist the lens and get ready to embrace spontaneity, document special occasions, and never miss a moment. One more twist and you’ve got the ultimate selfie mode. Put yourself in the spotlight, whether you’re snapping a solo holiday selfie or celebrating with friends. The perfectly positioned selfie mirror means you can simply hop in the frame and let this clever instant print camera do the rest. When the camera does get it right, however, results can be perfectly pleasing. The size of the prints is great for scrapbooks, wallets and or pin-boards, arguably making a little more sense than the smaller Mini-format prints. Ultimately, the Instax SQ6 is easy and fun to use but not the cheapest nor most consistent camera of its kind - it still makes our list of best instant cameras, though. Auto exposure parameters are 1/2 sec with slow sync flash, which is ideal for flash portraits indoors, and up to 1/400 sec, which gives more headroom in bright sunlight than the Instax Mini, which tops out at 1/250 sec and washes out (overexposes) more often.

Fun, squared

Instax Mini is the most common format and is used by the vast majority of Fujifilm’s instant products including the Mini 7s, Mini 8, Mini 9, Mini 70 and Mini 90 Neo Classic cameras, and the SHARE SP-2 printer. There’s also a third option to consider which in theory gives you the best of both Worlds: going for one of Fujifilm’s digital instax cameras, which employ a sensor, built-in memory and screen, allowing you to not only take lots of photos and apply various effects to them, but crucially view them on the screen before deciding whether to print them or not. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Heather Broster/Mathieu Gasquet and Instant Camera Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.