Gadget review: Fuji’s instant camera spells old-school charm

If you like all things retro, by all means, get Fuji’s instant camera. But it has flaws, and burns a big hole in your pocket

Fujifilm Instax Wide 300

Quick specs
What: Fujifilm Instax Wide 300
At a glance: Image size: 2.4 x 3.9 inches; requires 4 AA batteries
USP: Instant photos
Best price: ₹8,214 (on amazon.in)
Rating: **

We loved the earlier Fujifilm Instax Mini, although buying the film was an expensive proposition. While the Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 prints bigger photos, the cost of the film increases manifold. Hence, we sparingly used the camera for the first few days, not wanting to exhaust the films at once.

What's good:
There's no denying that the camera has a retro charm. Moreover, getting the photos in hand, in less than 10 seconds, is a big draw. We loved the size of the photograph too: 3.9 x 2.4 inches. Loading the film was fairly easy — we just had to remove the back cover, and insert the set of 10 exposures. The camera comes with a universal tripod socket, which was not available in the earlier versions.

What's not:
The camera body we received for review had a faulty indicator. So, it kept flashing '10 photos left' even after we had used up three exposures. Also, it is an understatement to say that the plastic body of the camera is bulky. There are no shooting modes. Even the framing is faulty. Basically, what you see through the viewfinder may not be the actual frame. So, you simply point and shoot, and hope the photograph develops well. Little surprise then that they are either overexposed or underexposed. Thus, the photo quality is far from ideal. Most importantly, the film is exorbitantly priced. Ten exposures for `1,315 is not something we would like to invest in too often.

Verdict:
The Fujifilm Instax Wide 300's only novelty is the instant print feature. But we would not recommend it for prolific shooters.

(The writer tweets as @TheBongBox )