Instant Wide, Lomography’s Modern Throwback

Taking a picture isn’t as meaningful as it used to be. With film cameras, you had to be conservative in the moments you captured and those you skipped, and digital screens pretty much laid instant cameras to rest … until now.

Fujifilm recently brought back their Instax film format and debuted a modern Instant camera with the Mini 90. While the Fujifilm camera is capable, lovers of all things vintage have been waiting for Lomography to come out with their version, as the company has become the premier name in film cameras of the 21^st century.

Ignoring the Mini 90, most modern instant cameras are toy-like and are meant more as novelty items than serious cameras. Lomography’s Lomo’Instant and Instant Wide are a happy medium between the two. What it lacks in image quality, it makes up for in sheer fun and usability. Users won’t be able to just point and shoot, but the controls are easy to learn and the company makes it clear its products are meant to be quirky and spontaneous.

The cameras range from $139 to $269 and come in a large variety of colors, many of them in retro-style combinations. Some packages include three lens attachments that are highly recommended and an easy way to expand the camera’s palette. The lenses include a fisheye, a macro and a portrait mode.