Fujifilm has launched the Instax Pal 2, a serious departure from its unserious predecessor, the original Instax Pal.
The first thing you’ll notice is that they look nothing alike, which is probably a good thing, but they were both designed with fun in mind and the Pal 2 continues that tradition with a few new features to lend it some added credibility.
You’ll be forgiven if you’ve forgotten the original Instax Pal, an oddly bulbous-shaped instant camera that looked more like a fashion accessory, had no viewfinder or screen to frame your shots, and forced you to shoot blindly or rely on slow and laggy smartphone app.
In another departure from Fujifilm’s Instax brand, the digital-only Pal was the first in the lineup to transmit images for printing via an app rather than directly onto instant film. Yes, you heard right. This is an Fujifilm Instax camera that really isn’t instant and involves no film.
The new Pal 2 has been completely redesigned and now features a handsome analogue – and palm-sized tiny – retro look. The 10.7MP CMOS sensor is more than double the capacity of its predecessor’s 4.9MP sensor.
Thankfully, it also sports a built-in viewfinder as well as an LCD screen to review your images at a glance, plus a physical control dial and lever controls to change various settings, including photo format and applied or custom effects.
One of the coolest new features is the Animation Shooting Mode, which lets you turn 10 separate frames into a flipbook-style animation.
View Fujifilm Instax Pal 2 Pricing and Availability at Vistek
But the inability to produce prints directly from the camera is a quirk that the Pal 2 retains.
Instead, you connect the camera to your smartphone using Bluetooth or the built-in USB-C connector to send images to the Instax Pal app, then choose the images you want to print, apply desired effects, and send them along to a compatible printer.
And since photos taken on the Instax Pal 2 are instantly saved as digital images within the smartphone app, they’re immediately available to be shared to your favourite social media platforms.
Integrated memory lets you store up to 100 photos on the camera, and you can use microSD cards when more room is needed.
Features
- Lightweight 41g
- 10.7MP CMOS sensor
- Built-in viewfinder
- One-inch LCD display
- 28mm f/2.2 wide-angle lens
- -2.0 to +2.0 EV exposure compensation
- Five filter themes, six effects
- Animation shooting mode
- Stores up to 100 photos onboard
- microSD card slot
- Bluetooth smartphone connection
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