Fujifilm Instax Share SP-1 Review
Fujifilm's Instax series of film cameras helped bring back
consumers' desire for instant photo prints. For some, however, the trouble was
mastering the camera's abilities with the limited number of film available. Fujlfilm
solves this with the introduction of the Instax Share SP-1.
What the SP-1 does is connect to your smart device through its
proprietary app and print whatever you throw at it on Fujifilm's ubiquitous
film paper. It's a nice system, since you get to preview what you shoot on your
device first, and you can even print old photos from your gallery or social
network.
Fujifilm's Instax
series of film cameras helped bring back consumers' desire for instant photo
prints
The SP-1 is quite large for what it offers. It's around the
same size as some Instax cameras, except it doesn't have the actual shooting
functionality. The physique is all plastic, but it manages to resist
fingerprints and smudges. There are LED light indicators on the front of the
unit to show how much battery juice is left and how much film is available for
printing. Powering the SP-1 are two replaceable CR2 batteries. There's also a
DC plug on the side, but oddly enough, no power cable Is included in the
product's package.
The only way to connect to the SP-1 is through Wi-Fi - no
Bluetooth here. This assures a secure and long-distance connection with the
portable printer, but you'll have to disconnect from any other network (and
hence, possibly your internet connection) to get things started.
Fujifilm Instax
Share SP-1 rear view
Once your smart device is hooked up to the printer, you can
have the two communicate using the Instax Share app. The software is
simplistic, and allows you to apply basic edits such as filters and cropping
before sending the data to the printer.
The printing process is pretty seamless, with the photos
coming out smoothly and without much delay after executing the command within
the app. Reloading film paper is just as simple, where you only have pop the
back open and slide in a new cartridge.
LED lights on the
front indicate how may prints you have left and the remaining battery power
The prints themselves are a hit or miss most of the time.
Image quality tends to favor darker photos, as the SP-1 is able to handle shadows
and pure black really well. The misses occur when trying to produce outputs
with strong highlights; overly bright areas easily get washed out and lose a
significant amount of detail.
Another issue is the limited amount of film per cartridge
(only 10 shots) and the cost per print This makes the Instax Share SP-1 a niche
product for a limited audience, especially when you consider its somewhat high
asking price.
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Details
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Photo Capacity: 10 prints
·
Printing resolution: 254dpi
·
Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g
·
Weight: 253g (w/o battery and film pack)
·
Price: $227
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