Today I was thinking about cameras!
I've wanted to grab an instant film camera for a long time now, since they got popular again around 2015-ish? I find them so charming and simple (or at least the model that I'm interested in getting..)!
You just point and shoot, and you have a nice little keppsake you can put in an album, keep in your wallet, or stick in a phone case. You can share them with friends and family, or keep them for yourself. Either way, I think photo prints are awesome little mementos ^^
The model I'm interested in is an Instax Mini 12. It's unique from some of their older models in that the mechanism for turning it on and swapping to and from close-up mode is a bit different, With this one, you twist out a little barrel instead of pressing a button that snaps the whole thing out. It looks a lot smoother, and thinking about it, maybe that reduces the chances that the lens gets damages if you snap it out the wrong way..? (Can you tell I'm a novice in the instant film world, haha)
They also made some changes with how their close-up mode works in their viewfinder. In older models, the little crosshair for lining up the center of your photo didn't shift when you swapped to closeup mode, which led to a lot of people's photos being misaligned.. But that issue's been resolves, the crosshair now shifts as you swap modes, hooray!
Compared to some of instax's other models (even other ones that use the same type of mini film), the mini 12 is pretty simple. It's bubbly, plasticy, and doesn't have a lot of other features like adjusting explosure or zooming in, stuff that more seasoned photographers (not me) would look for. It's also a lot more affordable compared to other models, which is definitely a draw for me...
The mini 12 also has a lot of cute color options (which I know is such a superficial thing to note here, but shhh)! There's pink, white, lilac, blue, and green if i'm remembering correctly. I think I'd either get pink, blue, or purple if i had a say in it, but they all look nice and I'd honestly just be happy to have something I can use ':D