Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The build quality of this camera is terrible. It looks like a toy. It looks like junk. It does, however, take acceptable pictures. One must, though, follow some common-sense photographic rules. (1) Don’t try to take a picture of a black cat in a coal mine at Midnight. What I mean by this is turn the lights on in the room in which you’re taking pictures. Light is good, good. Darkness is bad, bad. (2) Have your background right behind the subject, no farther away from your subject’s back than one or two feet. If there’s all empty far-away space behind your subject, you’ll get washed-out, blown-out pictures. (3) Don’t take flash pictures in a cavernous setting. You need walls, close walls, in the room to contain the flash. (4) The camera turns on in the three to ten feet range. You’ll get your best exposed images at between four and six feet. Closer will wash out; farther will darken up. (5) Unless you’re a contortionist with the circus, you will not be able to take vertical pictures with this camera. I suggest you ONLY take horizontal images. (6) You CAN rescue dark images with a good scanner and a cheap photo editing program. I use Picasa. Washed-out pictures are almost impossible to save. (7) Framing your pictures can be difficult because Fujifilm has placed the viewfinder far, far, far, far away from the camera’s lens. Here’s the trick to properly compose your shots: Leave some space on the top and on your left side as the lens, which is lower and to your right, will “eat up” that empty viewfinder space. (8) I know about which I’m writing. This is my 45th instant camera since 1967. I’m kind of an expert on instant photography. I also used to develop and print both B/W and color print film. I also used to develop and mount color slide film. (9) I have yet to take an outdoor picture with this camera, but I do have some recommendations. The smart flash won’t fire outdoors as the camera won’t let it. I suggest you turn on the flash manually and use it as a fill-flash to (A) fill-in the shadows on your bright sunlit images, (B) add lighting to shots taken in bright shade, and (C) add lighting to back-lit subjects. You MAY have to use the lighten setting, also, on those back-lit subjects. (10) If any readers have any questions about this camera, please make a comment. I will ATTEMPT to reply to your comments. (11) Lastly, please remember one thing. This is not a Nikon. This is not a Canon. This is not a Sony. It’s an instant camera. Its purpose is making photography FUN. Taking instant pictures, especially if one gives away the prints, makes people smile. Yes, the pictures aren’t SLR camera sharp. Yes, one can see the film grain. However, this type of product is fun to use and makes people happy. Also, these images tend to scan well and make decent low-resolution digital images. I hope I’ve been helpful.