Two weeks into the new year, the biggest launches of 2026 are so far are rather unusual. This week brought the debut of the Instax Mini Evo Cinema and the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome. The two cameras are wildly different from each other, except for one thing: both are arguably more about what they can’t do than what they can.
The 1/5-inch sensor on the Evo Cinema and the APS-C sensor on the GR IV Monochrome are opposites. Yet both cameras feel a bit like the antithesis of modern technology – they are simpler cameras, the former designed for the joy of capturing retro images and the latter for the experience of shooting exclusively in black and white.
