Instant Photography

Many of the original instant-film cameras tended to be basic plasticky things, aimed at getting simple snapshots. Quite a few of their present-day descendants share that quality, although the aluminum-bodied full-manual SL645 is a big exception.

Fujifilm has added another model to its Instax family of digital/film hybrid instant cameras. The Mini Evo Hybrid comes with 10 built-in lens effects and 10 film effects for a hundred combined creative possibilities.

Polaroid instant cameras of old were big, blocky snappers with one-press simplicity and the ability to throw out self-developing photos. The latest addition to the family follows the same design aesthetic, but the Go is a fraction of the size.

Although many photographers like experimenting with old instant film cameras, the things typically lack the manual controls that are integral to serious photography. That's where the InstantKon SF70 Instant Camera is designed to come in.

In an age where instant photography means whipping out a smartphone and sharing the image with friends online, a boxy camera that produces self-developing prints seems like a huge backward step. But that's exactly what the Polaroid Now offers.

Although instant-film cameras have been making a comeback, they still tend to be simple point-and-shoots, like the original Polaroids. The SL42 is different, in that it's an SLR that uses interchangeable lenses and offers full manual control.

Polaroid has announced an official version of the Impossible Instant Lab from 2012, which turns smartphone images into physical prints.

Fujifilm has added an audio element to its line of instax hybrid digital instant snappers, sort of. The mini LiPlay allows users to record a short audio clip that's converted into a QR code on the credit card-sized photo it prints out. Scanning the code in an app then plays the audio clip.

Smartphone cameras are great for a quick snap, butwe can't easily print them out and stick them to a fridge door. That's where Polaroid digital instants come in. Canon has now nudged its way into the instant party with the Ivy Cliq+ Instant and Ivy Cliq Instant cameras.

​While there may indeed be a retro appeal to analog instant cameras, digital cameras do certainly make some things easier. Polaroid has decided to combine the two – sort of – in the form of the smartphone-controlled OneStep+.

Germany's Rollei first released its Rolleiflex twin lens reflex cameras in 1927. Numerous models followed until the last one gave way to single lens reflex cameras in 1960. The brand has now relaunched the boxy camera, sacrificing roll film for Fuji Instax to become the Rolleiflex Instant Kamera.

In 2015 Prynt launched its first unit designed to turn your smartphone into something akin to a Polaroid instant camera. The first design was followed by the Prynt Pocket, which was half the size of the original. Initially only for the iPhone, the Prynt Pocket for Android has now been developed.