Polaroid-style instant-film cameras are making a comeback. According to Joanna Stern in The Wall Street Journal, sales of Fujifilm’s Instax cameras have been growing at a 30% annual rate and should reach 6.5 million units this year.
It’s not nostalgia that’s driving the cameras’ popularity. Stern writes, “Younger buyers are the age group most enamored with instant print products, Fujifilm North America and Polaroid executives told me. Many of the under-30 set don’t even remember the original Polaroids.”
Stern says the cameras are fun, especially at parties, adding, “Smartphones have taken away some of the magic of photography.” We rarely print out photos, and ones on Snapchat disappear forever.
Other makers of instant camera technology include the Impossible Project, a startup that began manufacturing instant film when Polaroid exited the business, and Lomography. If you’re in the market for one, read Stern’s reviews here.
Keep in mind you can’t email the photos you take with such cameras, unless you photograph the printed pictures with your cellphone. An alternative for instant prints, Stern writes, is to take the pictures with your phone and then immediately print them out on a portable printer such as the Polaroid Zip or Fujifilm Instax Share SP-1.
