Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo Cinema

Design and handling

• Super 8 inspired design
• Takes some getting used to but it’s fun when it clicks
• Grip and viewfinder accessories included

Depending on your age, you may recognise the Instax Mini Evo Cinema as having taken more than a few design cues from Fujifilm’s classic Fujica cameras, but what that means from a more contemporary perspective is that the device is built in a way that can feel completely foreign and unlike anything else that you can buy right now, which can take some getting used to.

Instead of the wider build that you typically see with most instant cameras, the Instax Mini Evo Cinema is constructed vertically, with the expectation that you use one hand to grip the base of the device and to access the trigger at the front, while the other can be used to operate the various sliders and dials on the left-hand side.

As much as I like the look of the Instax Mini Evo Cinema, it did take me a bit of time to wrap my head around how to hold it comfortably. I recommend using the little grip extension which can be added to the bottom and gives your hand the space it needs to help keep the device steady as you move.

When it comes to lining up your shot, there’s a 1.54-inch square display on the back of the Instax Mini Evo Cinema which is fine for scrolling through menus, but there’s a viewfinder accessory bundled in that I also recommend bringing into the mix. As someone who reviews a lot of the best smartwatches for a living, I don’t usually have issues with smaller screens but the viewfinder just helps you to get more creative with your framing.

If you want to take a quick selfie then you’ll be glad to know that there’s a small mirror on the front of the camera where you can line yourself up for the shot. I will admit that the framing can be a tad tricky as my positioning wasn’t quite where I thought it was initially, but after a few tries, it finally clicked.

As a final note on the design, I absolutely love the capture trigger on this thing. Instead of having a shutter button on top as you would with a typical camera, the Instax Mini Evo Cinema uses a trigger button where your index finger naturally rests. It’s just an immensely satisfying way of taking pictures and capturing video, and it taps into that aspect of photography that smartphones, no matter how great they are, can never really capture on a touchscreen.

Features

• Eras Dial adds unique, time period-inspired filters
• Built-in printer for photos taken on-device, and on your phone
• Glitches aren’t uncommon

Because it can take pictures, record video and even print photos, the Instax Mini Evo Cinema is an all-in-one device that stands above typical instant cameras that usually stick to photography.

The problem is that for the convenience of having access to those features, the cost comes at a premium, with the Instax Mini Evo Cinema tagged at £329.99/$409.95, which is just far too expensive. For that money and if you shop around, you could buy the Insta360 Go 3S vlogging camera and the Instax Square Link photo printer for around the same price. As much as I’ve enjoyed my time with the Evo Cinema, I don’t think it’s worth the full whack and you’re better off waiting for a discount.

If you do decide to push ahead however, there’s a lot to enjoy when you get this camera in your hands, and it starts with the rather ingenious Eras Dial. Part Instagram filter, part Taylor Swift-like trip down memory lane, the Eras Dial lets you jump between the decades to create a visual overlay that’s closely associated with the period in question, going all the way back to the 1930s.

What this translates to, for example, is a black-and-white TV-looking filter (complete with horizontal lines) for the 50s, as well as a slightly fuzzy but full of colour aesthetic when diving into the 80s.

Then there’s my personal favourite, the 90s, which took me right back with an overlay that looked like it came straight off a VHS player. It’s exactly how I remember our old family movies from the same era and I loved getting to play around with it. Taking pictures of modern-day items and places with this filter on was simply a blast, and I’m sure that everyone who uses the Instax Mini Evo Cinema is going enjoy toying with the decade that means the most to them.

You can tweak the overall look of each era by rotating the lens but I always found the default setting to be the most visually appealing. What I did enjoy toggling is the Frame Switch, a slider button on the side which, when activated, overlays some form of frame that’s exclusive to each era.

For instance, when the dial is set to the 90s, you’ll see information around the screen such as the date and a play button, much like how you would with video tapes back in the day. The 2010s frame is a nod to YouTube videos with a progress bar at the bottom and a livestreaming tag in the top-left corner which made me chuckle.

As mentioned before, the Mini Evo Cinema has a built-in printer that uses Fujifilm Instax Mini prints, and you can even use it to print off pictures that you’ve taken with your phone, something that I’ve greatly appreciated as I’ve been slowly maxing out my cloud storage with pictures of our newborn daughter. There’s a great bit of physicality to printing shots that you’ve taken on the device as there’s a lever you have to twist as a final bit of confirmation. I do wish however that the app situation was a bit more streamlined.

Instead of having just one app that works with all aspects of the Mini Evo Cinema, interactions are spread across two. At the centre of it all you have the Instax Mini Evo app which is designed for sending your photos to the Evo to print, as well as tapping into any video recordings you’ve taken on the device. If you want to extract pictures from the Evo then you’ll have to download the Instax Up! app, which just feels far too convoluted.

It also doesn’t help that during my time with the Instax Mini Evo Cinema, I encountered quite a few glitches. Being more specific, the camera crashed on me twice, requiring a reset in order to get things up and running again. Thankfully, these instances didn’t take too long to fix but it’s hardly ideal when you’re trying to capture shots in the moment, and for a device as costly as this one.

Image and video quality

• Photos have a great retro look to them
• The printing process is fast
• Videos are lacklustre at best

The quality you get from the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo Cinema depends on a number of factors. With regards to pictures and footage captured on the camera itself, the era that you’ve picked can have a big impact – the 1930s mode, for example, because it’s supposed to have a dated look to match the time period, it can look a bit grainy at times. The 2020s mode, which effectively removes all filters, certainly looks a bit clearer, but the 1/5-inch CMOS 5MP sensor still has its limits.

Because instant cameras aren’t exactly known for putting out the type of high-quality pictures that the best camera phones can achieve, I’m willing to give the Mini Evo Cinema a pass, especially as I do quite like the retro look that the prints come out with. They have an almost ethereal aesthetic as if you’re trying to recall a distant memory, but I think that’s part of the fun.

The camera’s printing ability is impressive as there’s a good degree of colour reproduction here, but you can really put it to the test by printing out shots from your phone.

There is a slight bit of resolution lost in the process, so pictures won’t be as sharp as they are on your phone, but again, the colour reproduction from the original shot is solid. Plus, now I have a wonderful collection of physical pictures that I wouldn’t have had without the Mini Evo Cinema in tow. That’s precisely why it’s worth having a device like this to hand.

What I take more of an issue with is the video capture side of things. There was room here for the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo Cinema to be a great little filmmaking tool, one that could inspire creativity like those classic Super 8 cameras could, but instead it’s something of a halfway house that doesn’t really serve anyone.

For starters, you can’t record anything longer than 15 seconds which is completely absurd. Why such a cap is placed on the user I’ll never know, but if the intention was to make the Instax Mini Evo Cinema a device meant for social media clips then I wouldn’t recommend it here either. The video quality is low-grade in a way that might be fun for transitions between better-looking footage, but you wouldn’t want to film long-form content on this (not in the least because the onboard mic doesn’t hold up well against surrounding noise).

To be more concise, this is a great camera for stills and prints, but less so for video.

Should you buy it?