Six Reasons to Carry an Instant Camera on Your Next Trip

11.10.2015 - by wanderlustaddiction

As someone who began shooting digital, I’m not qualified in the least to discuss film. However, I just returned from a ten day trip to the American Southwest, where I carried my new Fujifilm Instax Neo 90 Classic for the first time. I came back with over two dozen instant photographs, and I couldn’t be more happy.

For sake of full disclosure, I did carry five cameras on this trip – the Nikon D600, Fujifilm XE2, Nikon AW100, Fujifilm Instax Neo 90 Classic, and the iPhone5 (for me, I consider this as much of a camera as a phone) – because I planned to carry different systems for the different conditions I would encounter.

It’s worth noting that some of the instant photographs in image above were taken when I was carrying only a single camera, my Instax. After those ten days, I’m sure I’ll be carrying two cameras on any given outing in the future – one of which will be my Fujifilm Instax. So here are my Six Reasons to Carry an Instant Camera on Your Next Trip:

1. It’s simple.
   How refreshing to only have a few things to consider when taking an exposure – no zoom, no ISO settings, no Priority modes. Just frame your shot, zoom with your feet, and shoot. But if you do want to get creative, you can easily and simply toggle your flash, pick a shooting mode, and even darken or lighten the exposure. No menus – only a handful of thumb sized buttons.
2. Achieve a unique look and feel with your images documenting your trip…
   without using an overplayed filter.
3. You can really “share” your images.
   Who needs a business card when you can sharpie your number on a film? Or if you are like me and take street portraits, what a better way enrich the experience and say thank you than to give something you created together.
4. It will force you to take better photographs.
   In today’s digital world, there’s little incentive to take fewer photographs (memory is cheap and you see your results immediately on your viewfinder).  When you shoot instant, there is a cost to sloppiness. You will have to wait for the image to develop and possibly use additional film if you decide to retake the image. I guarantee that will make a huge difference in how you “think about” your shot before you take it.
5. You can’t ever print enough images.
   These days, it is easy to snap and instantly share your images on your preferred social media platform for all your friends and family to see. You can even look back years later. That said, have you ever lost a hard drive? Struggled to find that amazing shot you took (five or was it eight years ago – I can’t remember)? Or maybe you’ve realized that the online low res, highly compressed Facebook image isn’t going to print well? I’m guilty of not printing many images and probably of not protecting my digital library as well as I should. Not as complicated of an issue when shooting instant.
6. It’s light enough for travel.
   It may not be small in comparison to today’s ever shrinking phones, cameras, and GoPros, but I hardly noticed I was carrying it in my bag or my pocket.