Instax goes hybrid and square

Fujifilm in the US has announced the Instax Square SQ10, a hybrid instant/digital camera system producing small square format prints and lowish-res digital files. 

The SQ10 is the first camera in the Instax series to adopt the hybrid digital/instant photography approach pioneered by Polaroid. Fujifilm says the SQ10 can take ‘brighter photos in low-light conditions (than other Instax cameras) and close-up shots from a distance as close as 10cm. It features automatic exposure control, facial recognition, and autofocus.

The SQ10 has a dual shutter system with two shutter buttons – one on the right and one on the left (these buttons also switch shooting modes). 

It has a 3-inch LCD monitor (460K dots), operation dial and buttons on the back of the camera. There are 10 filters, vignette control, and brightness adjustment. It uses a tiny 1/4-inch CMOS sensor (1920×1920 pixels). Prints are 318dpi and presumably dye-sub (Fujifilm doesn’t say.)

Users see a live LCD display of all operations through shooting, editing, processing and printing. Images can be edited (zooming, cropping and filters) before printing. 

After a picture is taken, users can print, save the image to the SQ10’s internal memory, or a microSDHC card, or transfer from the camera to a computer using a micro-USB. No Wi-Fi. 

The SQ10 features special shooting modes including: double exposure that can overlap two images onto one print by pushing the shutter twice; bulb exposure (up to 10 sec) for night scenes and creating pictures with dramatic light streaks; division mode for putting up to nine images on one print; and micro mode for close ups to 10cm.

The 800 ISO Instax square film format produces 62x62mm images (around 2 1/2-inches square) on a 86mm long, 72mm wide sheet.  

Other features:

Rechargeable Li-ion battery (NP-50) for up to 160 images per charge;

F2.4 28.5mm fixed focal length (in 35m format equivalent);

Micro USB for internal battery recharging;

JPEG image file format;

Print from internal memory or micro SD microSDHC card;

Tripod mount.

The Instax Square SQ10 will be available in May 2017 in the US and Canada. US price is US$$280 ($370). The Instax Square film is US$17 for 10 sheets ($22.50).

Check back in a day or so for local release details.