Fujifilm unveiled its latest hybrid instant camera, the Instax Wide Evo, on 21 January, and I got to spend an hour with it at the launch event. Now I’ve spent some more time with the camera, putting it through its paces in full testing, and I’ve finally come to a conclusion to the all-important question: is it one of the best instant cameras around?
The Instax Wide Evo is a hybrid instant camera, which means you can use it to click photos but also print directly from your smartphone. It’s the biggest sibling of the Instax mini Evo, and it has the widest lens on any Fujifilm instant camera yet: 16mm in its integrated Wide Angle Mode. This allows you to capture more of the scene, and you get access to 10 filters and 10 lens effects (a total of 100 combinations) to play with. Fuji has also added six film styles and redesigned the print crank and shutter release. But it’s not all unicorns and rainbows. The camera costs an eye-watering $349 while having some noteworthy shortcomings — like its battery life, limited internal storage, awkward shutter release, and more.
