Given the resurgence of instant cameras in recent years, it's a little surprising that it's taken this long for the perennial analogue enthusiasts at Lomography to get in on the action. Nevertheless, the Austrian-born camera company has today unveiled its Lomo'Instant Camera, combining the quick-fire processing of instant film with a little room for creativity.
The Lomo'Instant works with the credit-card sized Fujifilm Instax Mini film also used by the Fujifilm Mini 90 Neo Classic, instantly capturing snaps at a shutter speed of 1/125 to slap on your wall or inside your wallet. The camera comes with a 27 mm equivalent built-in wide angle lens, with a two-step focus capable of zeroing in on objects as close as 0.4 m (15 in) in either automatic or manual mode.
Among the neater features of the Lomo'Instant is the ability to take unlimited multiple exposures, meaning you can capture countless shots and mesh them into the one print for unique composite photographs. The camera also comes with a set of color gels that can be placed over the flash to add different colors and tones to your snaps.
The aperture settings range from f/32 up to f/8, which should make producing instant snaps in low light a little more forgiving. When shooting in manual, you can choose to either have the flash on or off and also select bulb mode for long exposure experimentation.
Lomo'Instant runs on four AAA batteries and also sports cable release and tripod mounts. In addition to the built-in wide angle lens, a 170-degree fisheye and 35 mm equivalent portrait lens can be attached for more flexibility. There are also different color schemes available, with black, white, the brown and cream Sanremo Edition and also a green and orange design available to those who back it early on Kickstarter.
Lomography has taken to the crowdfunding site to raise funds and take its instant camera to market. As of this writing, pledges of US$79 will put you in line for a black or white edition with built-in wide angle lens, while another $99 will land you the Lomo'Instant with fisheye and portrait lens attachments. The company plans to begin shipping in November 2014 if all goes to plan.
The company's pitch video can be viewed below.
Source: Lomography
I believe Polaroid has an instant camera where it has a built in Z-Ink (zero ink) printer.
There is also a Z-Ink printer that one can print photos from ones camera or smart phone, IIRC.
I think it is neat to have choices.