There will come a sad day in the future when Fujifilm classics such as Velvia and Provia follow Astia into becoming nothing more than a colour profile in the latest X or G mount camera. Until then, we greet with increasing trepidation the rising popularity of Instax.
What exactly makes Instax so popular compared to FP-3000B, which was cruelly cut only recently? Is it the colourful cameras? The extra gloss? The false sense of nostalgia they inspire?
I won't pretend to know, and I often feel like Fujifilm doesn't either – they just know that Instax films sell like hot cakes. Hence earlier this month they released black and white Instax wide film, and now they are planning to make a new set of square Instax film.
Having a new film type means new camera designs of course, which means more profit for Fujifilm. We aren't complaining though, because its projects like Instax that fund the GFX 50S, right?
Well, cynicism aside, we saw some prototypes of the square Instax films and they look comfortable, and feel immediately familiar. Even though they are smaller than old Polaroids, and have a relatively small film area, the colour rendition is so vastly superior to packs from The Impossible Project. Once again, that's not to disparage the great work that the people at The Impossible Project are doing, but Fuji always nail the colours on their emulsions.
Not much is known about the camera, but the first model will come out in 2017, and the film will be 62mm x 62mm for a proper 1:1 aspect ratio.
It's funny that on one side, Fujifilm are breaking ground with digital mirrorless medium format, while on the other they are somehow still making film profitable in this megapixel era.
. digitalrev.com
2016-10-7 03:00