In my view Fujifilm has dominated the instant film camera market. It’s great to see Polaroid making their own push into the market to drive up competition and innovation. I have always been fond of the idea of instant film but until recently have not owned an instant camera of my own. There is something alluring about instant film. For a digital photographer like myself, taking photos then bringing it into a whole workflow process that involves post-processing software such as Lightroom and then sharing onto platforms like your own blog, instagram or facebook, can sometimes feel like a lot of work. Shooting on a camera that produces instant film and have relatively have few controls to slow you down, you get to focus on light and composition when taking photos.
Disclaimer: Many thanks to Instax Australia for providing me the LiPlay as part of a collaboration. However this review isn’t a sponsored post and all opinions are my own. There are plenty of comprehensive reviews of the LiPlay out in the world. This is simply my experience of using the instant film camera and my thoughts on how others can use it.
I feel Fujifilm have carved out yet another target market with the Instax LiPlay Camera. It’s certainly a camera that attracted my attention when I first heard about it last year. It’s a hybrid digital/analogue instant film camera which is appealing to a digital photographer like myself. Rather than getting an instant film printed each time you compose and press the shutter, you have the added option of taking the photograph and then previewing it on the digital screen before printing. It allows you to take several photos until you are happy with it before printing.
One of the things that have stopped me from buying an Instax has been the cost of the film but also what would I do with the instant film prints itself. Over the years the cost of film has dropped somewhat, especially if you buy in bulk. Fujifilm makes 3 types of instant film sizes. The LiPlay uses the most common film type, the Instax MINI. With it’s digital/analogue style of camera, it means I feel like I waste less film as I’m able to preview the photo before printing it!
I have not really used an instant camera before, and the LiPlay proved that instant cameras are suppose to be fun and easy to use such that anyone can use it.
Build & Design
The camera comes in several colours, the unit I have is the Elegant Black which I love. The design is modern, minimal and sleek. While it’s small in size, it feels like a well built camera with a little bit of heft to it. It doesn’t feel like a toy like other Instax cameras can appear like.
The buttons feel robust and well designed. Like any instant cameras, the selfie mirror comes in quite handy if selfies are a thing you like doing in your travels or every day life.
As it’s quite a small camera, the wrist strap does come in handy should you accidentally lose your grip on the camera.
The LCD panel at the back is what you use to compose your images (rather than a viewfinder). The benefit of this is that it’s a nice big screen where you can easily see what you’re photographing. However in bright sunlight it could be difficult to compose.
It’s more environmental that it has an internal rechargeable battery that is charged via USB rather than using disposal batteries. The cons to this is that when it runs out of battery you can’t swap out new batteries, instead you have to wait for it to recharge before using it again.
Features
Other than being a hybrid digital/analogue camera, the other cool feature it has is the ability to record sound bites & “attach it” to the film via a QR code. I feel like that adds another dimension to photo taking and sharing. For example if it was used at an event, party or wedding. Attendees can record short audio clips that complement the image. As a bride or groom, I can imagine really enjoying listening back to messages and wellwishers.
It also works as an Instant MINI printer too (rather than having to buy a separate MINI printer). You can connect your mobile phone to the LiPlay and print photos from your mobile! As it’s a digital camera, you can even pop in a MicroSD card into the LiPlay to expand the storage capacity of your camera. This is great for using it at events or parties. Not only do people get to get a physical print of the photos they took. You still have the digital versions to share after the fact or if there was a really great shot you wanted to have a copy of you still do! While the digital images won’t be of very high quality, it’s still nice to have a copy of it none the less.
Connecting to the LiPlay via your mobile phone is also very easy using the LiPlay app. Using the LiPlay app you can also do remote control shooting from a smart phone. For a camera that is suppose to be a fun little instant camera, it sure packs a punch with its features.
Being able to print frames or graphics straight onto the MINI film itself is a fun feature to spice up your prints.
Performance & Image quality
As I haven’t used any other instant cameras before I don’t have much to compare to. To my eyes the image quality appears quite good. While it doesn’t have the “perfect” colours, contract, sharpness etc. of digital cameras, that’s exactly part of the fun of instant film. The “imperfect” look that reminds me of the “vintage film look”. The printing of the film itself is quite quick, but you do have to wait for a good minute or so for the image to fully form. Again this is part of that anticipation and excitement of “what will you get” with instant film shooting.
Overall
Given the number of features that the LiPlay has, I think the RRP of $229 is pretty decent value for money. You have the best of both the digital and analogue world. I feel like it’s a great lifestyle camera that you can throw into your bag and easily share images/prints with others. You can bring it to events and parties for a no frills approach to taking some party snaps that can be given to each other instantly. You can bring it on your travels or daily local exploration of your own city to snap photos of your adventures. Or it can be complementary to your existing mobile or digital camera. My use case will be for both of those!
There will be a future post on how I have incorporated MINI prints into my travel journal as part of a collaboration (stay tuned for that)! I really enjoyed that process of writing about my travels and using MINI prints to highlight key parts of my trip.
I hope I have given you some insights on the LiPlay Camera. If you are thinking of getting an instant camera, this is a pretty good option. It’s got the balance of being a digital & analogue camera that also functions as a printer and uses the most economical film type (the MINI). I found it to be a great easing into the instant film camera market.
Let me know what you think about Instant cameras in the comments below, love it or hate it? Thanks for stopping by today.
Your friend, Janice
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