How I embraced mobile photography through instant photos
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I’ve never been much of a photographer. When my friends and I got our first smartphones in high school, we weren’t the kind to pose for photos. I don’t think any of us had Instagram accounts, so any pictures we captured stayed on whatever device was in our pockets at the time.
Ten years after my high school graduation, the only thing that’s changed is the photo quality. I’m still terrible at remembering to pull out my phone and snap a pic. When on vacation and surrounded by scenic views or traveling the country with my partner, I don’t think about the need to take photos until days after the trip ends.
This summer, I’ve been trying to change my habits, one photo at a time. It’s not enough to make an effort to remember that, at any moment, I probably have two phones with two incredible cameras on me that I should be using. Instead, I’ve tried to find a way to make mobile photography fun. Fun enough, at least, that I would constantly feel tempted to have a camera out and ready to go.
My cat is the exception to my poor photo-taking skills. I couldn’t tell you how many images and videos I have of her.
The solution was obvious. My photos needed to be something I could hold in my hands, but not something that needed the necessary steps usually required for heading to my local Walgreens or waiting days for prints from Google Photos.
Initially, this feeling shied away from smartphones. I looked toward old-school film cameras or modern instant cameras to fill this need. But the more I tried to imagine myself carrying another gadget on me when touring a new city or wandering around in the woods, the more I realized this was a non-starter. If I wanted to bring physicality to my photography, I’d need something that worked with smartphones.
Enter Fujifilm’s Instax Link Wide printer. One of the newest gadgets to join Fujifilm’s Instax series, this little printer might be my new best friend. Or, at the very least, it might be enough for me to start taking photography a little more seriously. At its core, the Instax Link Wide is like any other mobile photo printer, capable of producing shots taken on any smartphone over Bluetooth in a matter of seconds. Still, there are a few reasons why I chose this one over similar, more affordable models, and I think it’s made all the difference.
The first reason is the size. Although the Instax Link Wide isn’t cheap, it comes with a huge benefit: wide film. Fujifilm’s most popular cameras rely on its mini instant film, but this printer uses fully-fledged wide shots, meaning images are much larger than normal. These shots can go on the fridge, in a scrapbook,or as a collage on a wall. No matter what, they look great. If you’re looking to squeeze a shot into your wallet, it might not be the printer for you. Otherwise, it’s the one to get.
The second reason is portability. This printer is smaller than Instax cameras, and with a built-in battery that seems to last quite a while, considering I’ve only charged it once since it arrived a month ago. It’s even more portable. Unlike an instant camera, the Instax Link Wide is something you can throw into a suitcase and leave back at the hotel. You can take all your shots on the phone in your pocket and wait to print them away from a busy street or a populated tourist trap. In my case, my Pixel 6 was all I needed, andthankfully, it captures incredible images. You don’t need to bring the printer with you. You can leave it on your desk at home and print everything when the vacation’s over.
Overall, the biggest reason I chose to invest in a printer is its immediacy. Printing with Instax isn’t cheap.A pack of 20 exposures runs you about $20, though it’s often on sale for a little less. That’s more expensive than ordering prints through Google Photos, even accounting for shipping. But instead ofspending time selecting, editing, and cropping photosin a web browser, followed by keeping a watchful eye on your local mail truck day after day, you have the shot in your hand in seconds. It’s quick, it’s sharable, and it adds a lot to the fun factor of it all.
And, at least so far, it’s brought some fun back into my recent vacations. With the printer sitting at home (or in my luggage),there’s a reason to pull my phone out, something beyond “I’ll get to printing these one day.” I’m making sure to take group photos, find great places for selfies, and capture the sights around me. It’s been a surprise how much a single gadget has changed my photography habits in just a month, and I hope it’s not limited to a phase.
If you’d rather see your printed photos right away, check out theFujifilm Instax Mini Evo. This retro-style camera is also an instant photo printer. It’s not the best camera on the market and not the most economical, but it has great photo effects, and you can use it to print the photos stored on your phone.
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