Customer Reviews

Fujifilm INSTAX 210 Instant Photo Camera

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love my Fuji Instax. The integral film is less expensive than Polaroid was, and the camera, though a bit large and lighweight, is easy to use, sharp outdoors, and functions rather well.

The flash always fires, which is a bit of an annoyance sometimes, but mostly it doesn't matter. The colors from the Instax film are superb - beautiful blues, pinks and a nice gray scale too, with decent sharpness, all at a fairly low price. One can only wish that Fuji or some other manufacturers would produce a film back to take this excellent film over to other cameras same as Lomo did with the mini-Instax. Perhaps they will. In the meantime, this is such an easy camera to use, produces excellent outdoor images, OK inside shots at parties and the like, and everybody just loves to see that picture come up, like magic!

Fuji has taken film to a new level. Let's hope it continues, as analog film aficionados in the US are just now discovering this resource, which apparently has been around for a while in Japan and elsewhere, but not in the US.

Pros: Good colors, sharpness, fast film speed (800) and decent image size. Lower film price, and instant results!
Cons: Indoors you always have to use the flash, the camera is a bit big and lightweight, but so what, the cool factor when you show up with this thing is well worth it. This camera is much better outdoors than indoors.

This is one of my favorite new instant cameras. I love the frame size and the quality of prints, but the actual camera body is very fragile. It is plastic, and I have had it break for myself and three of my friends. If you even slightly knock or bump it, it could shut off and stop functioning. I have had to replace two already. I love it so much, so i keep coming back. But, just know, you will have to be way more careful with this camera than any other camera I have ever tried using.

The 210 seems to be the same as the instax 200 but is a different color (black) and the 210 comes with a close up lens (which I have not been able to get anything in focus to come out of). I just received it and have put one pack of film through it. I have experience with all sorts of Polaroid cameras. The photo quality is similar to the 600 film with a little better color saturation. The main problem is you can't turn off the flash. I am trying to decide if I should return it or not. It seems capable of taking pretty good photos but the flash is washing things out. I'm experimenting with covering the flash with three fingers of my right hand while pressing the shutter button with my little finger... If it was $19.95 I would be happy with it but I am not sure the annoyance is worth almost $100. Hopefully the Impossible Project people will get that Polaroid film factory running again and Instax will become unnecessary.

When this came in the mail I was so so excited! It takes Polaroid like photos, and is so fun to use. It has several settings on the side that the original Polaroids didn't have, such as the darker/normal/lighter options, and the wide and close options. I usually just keep it on the "normal" settings and go from there. The photos are slightly smaller then a Polaroid, but seeing as they don't make the Polaroid film anymore, this is a fantastic option. The film is fairly cheap, even compared to what Polaroid film was years and years ago. Buy in bulk and it's much cheaper. I'm more then a little bit in love actually.

There are a few small drawbacks though. One is that for the closer option, there is an attachable viewfinder. It has a tiny slim part that comes off the side and is extremely fragile. Since it's detachable there isn't a great way to take it with you without the serious fear of breaking it. The other is it's size. It's HUGE! Not a one hand camera by any means. It's actually pretty streamlined considering its size, and it's just too fun to pass up. I would definitely recommend this to anyone missing their Polaroids!

(This review is excerpted from my blog where it is laced with photographic examples).The 210 is a ridiculously oversized modern classic. It is only slightly smaller than my Land Camera 320, but fashioned like the 'black jelly bean' point-and-shoot 35mm cameras from the 1990's that your grandma still uses. I absolutely love it.

Every shot turned out. It's light, but not too light, and feels great in your hand. The shutter feels plasticky (it is) and there's somewhat of a delay. It's kind of a soft push and is reminiscent of the Hipstamatic iphone application in that 'letting go' is the shutter actuation. But not exactly. The lens appears to be plastic, but the images are much better than my Polaroid 320. This is noteworthy, because that camera shoots with modern Fuji film (FP-100c), so I think this demonstrates the difference is the camera. The film has a great aspect ratio and no-peel 'wait for it' developing. Over half of my peel film shots failed mechanically in the 320.

One *must* use the few buttons on the Instax 210. On power down, it defaults to 0.9-3m focus. I shoot mostly past this range and forgot to reset focus twice. The viewfinder is off a good deal. So far, I've only confirmed the bottom margin; I cut about 10% off the a shot that I was using that lower 10% for the story. I got a different picture.

I just read about Ansel Adams' "The Black Sun" image, and was pleased that the Instax shares an 'overexposed to black' thing when shooting at the sun. It was unexpected. I've seen this happen with flash reflections, too. It is called a solarization, and in "Examples", Mr. Adams indicates that thick emulsion-films capable of it were a dying breed. (p.126). In response, I've been holding a filter on the lens, by way of a step up filter adapter. I will likely glue the adapter ring to the lens. I imagine turning the exposure to "lighter" and using a stronger polarizing filter will help. There is certainly much near-forgotten knowledge about shooting on instant film to be found. Instax prints are puffy. I experimented with slicing down to uniform edges. The emulsion layers do not seem to peel apart to lift the image out. The trimming did reduce the puffiness some.

There is no doubt that instant film is expensive. There is little doubt how much fun it is, too. People shoot shoot shoot (me too) with digital cameras and I wonder what do they have? A mess of disorganized computer files? The Instax 210 is great for having pictures about. The film comes in twin packs containing 20 shots total, a nice move on Fuji's part. The per shot cost is about 82¢ if you include shipping. I had to stop myself today, because I blew through 19 shots in 45 minutes. $15, ka-ching! This camera will raise some eyebrows and start conversations. I look forward to those! This is unsponsored, spontaneous review of a camera I was a dubious about. I've heard this thing is kind of fragile, so I'll try to be careful. And order more film!

Too big? what do you expect, a picture comes out of it.works great. close up lense is fun, especially when turned backwards. If mine breaks, Ill buy another, love it!

I'm a part time Photojournalist and also do photography part time, I use this camera as part of my business, where it really pays off for me indirectly is when I talk to clients or vendors I wish to work with is taking a photo of them and then write the event,date and my phone number and email on the photo and give it to them, good for repeat business.

As for the product itself, it works, the flash sometimes washes out the shot but this is a simple to use point and shoot device. I don't expect it to perform at the level of my Nikon DSLRs.

The controls, film loading is all very easy, the instructions are simple and easy, I did watch a video on youtube by the Fuji guys and it covers everything you need to know about the camera [...]

I find it easy to use and carry around, but then I'm used to wearing a backpack of photo gear and carrying two camera bodies on me, yes it is big but it is not heavy.

I do get a few questions about it and people are amazed they make a instant camera like this.
I do laugh when older people wave the print around while it is developing(not necessary) and young people who missed out on the fun of Polaroids think it is "cool" when I brought it to a kids party once and they took home a nice mommento.

I find the close up lens- self portrait mirror device more of gimmick, it sits in my bag and the mirror fell out, but it just snaps back into place.

In these days when every has a camera and video recorder in their pocket or purse people are used to instant photos and videos it is nice to see that there is still a place for hands on photographs.

If you're looking for an old-school instant camera for the novelty of it, then look no further. It's well built, feels great in hand, and stylish.

If you're looking for an everyday shooter, then reconsider because the film is quite expensive.

I bought this camera for my girlfriend as a christmas present. The photos are great, they definitely have that old look. I definitely would recommend the larger format this camera shoots as opposed to the instax mini -- the pictures would just be too small.

The film comes in "magazines" and it very easy to load. The exposure controls are straightforward and easy to use.

Some people think this camera is large, and it is, but it seems appropriately large for what it is -- after all it holds a pack of instant film inside the body which is a much larger format than 35mm or the tiny sensors in point and shoots.

And kudos to Amazon -- this same camera at Urban Outfitters is over 200 dollars. I got mine on Amazon for $65. I would recommend buying the film online, too.

I own a ice cream shoppe, and give free ice cream for bithdays. I always take the birthday persons picture to display on our bulletin board. When I couldn't find the film for my polaroid camera I was upset. But I like the Fugi camera and the pictures it takes. They are a little smaller, but I like the size. The camera is a little bulky but it serves it's purpose and seems to be built stong and will last. I only with the film were more readily available. I order it on-line and get it fairly quickly, I just need to stay ahead of the game so I don't run short. I really like this item and the delivery was fast and efficeint.

This camera is much bigger than you'd think, but it is going to work perfectly for what I need. I took a picture with it and it does pretty much exactly what you think it will; makes a noise and prints a picture. The picture takes a few minutes to develop but the kids I was babysitting got a huge kick out of it : )