Instant camera film sizes –how big are all the Instax and Polaroid formats?

Instant prints.

If you're anything like me, all the different instant camera film sizes are very confusing. Are Instax Wide photos really the biggest? What are the dimensions of an actual Polaroid photo, not the whole frame?

Finding this info can be tricky and time consuming. And there are so many kinds of Instax and Polaroid film stocks that it's easy to get lost. So I've put together this guide to instant camera film sizes to keep all the useful info in the same place.

If you don't already own one, this might help you work out which is the best instant camera for you. And if you're already a film-shooting fiend, this could be useful for working out your next scrapbooking project or what kind of photo album you need.

Instant camera film sizes: a visual comparison

(Image credit: James Artaius)

The above image is probably the easiest way to illustrate the difference in size between the various film types.

It's pretty easy to figure out which are the biggest and smallest between the individual Instax (Mini, Square, Wide) and Polaroid (Polaroid, Go) formats, but even giving them the eyeball test doesn't necessarily reveal how the two brands compare.

When it comes to the square prints, it's obvious that full-size Polaroids are bigger than Instax Square. But comparing Polaroids to Instax Wide, and Polaroid Go to Instax Mini is a bit tickier.

This is where it's useful not just to see the dimensions of the whole frame or even the image, but also the image area of each format – which I've broken down in the table below:

If we look at image area of each format, it's clear that Polaroid Go produces smaller photos than Instax Mini (with an area of 2,162mm² compared to 2,852mm²).

And while regular Polaroids may not be as wide, they have a larger image area than Instax Wide shots (coming in at 6,241mm² versus 6,138mm²).

So there you have it – instant camera film sizes made easy. If only we could make instant camera film cheaper…

(Image credit: James Artaius)

If you're also asking what type of instant film do I need, make sure to check out our guide – and take a look at this Instax vs Polaroid comparison of the two formats.