Great comparison! Polaroid film will turn magenta if hot during shooting and even during storage. It really looks like your Polaroid film had not been stored properly. Fresh and properly stored film is key to better results, and they can be MUCH better than these. All that said, Instax is cheaper, sharper and more reliable.
bro! mad props, man. you're so thorough and methodically scientific with your research, testing, and even honesty. i'm saying this as an actual former scientist. i am left with no reason to watch any other review and/or evaluation. thank you so much for this!
I'm very happy with my old Instax Wide and I have found it to be pretty reliable in many different situations. I often bulk buy film which can cut the price per frame almost in half. The low price is a big plus. And I don't worry about storing the bulkload of Instax in the fridge. I think it's fine as long as you don't store it in the toaster.
How long does the pictures last after being taken? It's a question that's always been in my mind. Doesn't it fade in a few years or does it atleast last 20/25 years if stored in a album?
@@anujdaniel1771 I haven't seen any fading in the laste couple of years even when hanging open in a room. Exposure to direct sunlight over a long time will kill anything though, I guess. Btw bulk buying cuts less off the price nowadays...
Feb. 14, 2022: Imma be honest, I love taking pictures on my phone. But I got a sudden urge to try out the Polaroid Now camera, and it was a total failed experiment. Using an old style camera was WAY less convinient than my nostagia glasses realized, and I only got one good picture out of 8 tries ($17 bucks worth). (Probably through user error). Then I watch this video and it sold me on Fujifilm, but I didn't want to hassle with the cameras. I discovered they have blutooth printers for instant wide film. So I can take the high quality pics on my phone and print them directly to an instant film stock. This seems like the perfect middle ground, I'll update the comment when I actually try it out. March 18th, 2022: it was and is a success 😁 I love my printer and have made an excellent photo album!
@@atmavictu2995 there is a square format, but it's smaller than a regular polaroid :( I was thinking about getting the square printer (the instax Sp-3), but for some reason the've sold out from Amazon since my original post and are $290-$310 from third party sellers (even on ebay!) Hopefully that means a newer version will come out soon. 🤞
Also, if you get the 3 ring binder sheets that hold business cards, those will hold Instax mini photos, though they are somewhat snug. Each page holds 20 photos, 10 on a side. I have a few pages worth of high fantasy medieval pictures I right clicked from the Internet. Another fun fact is that the black and white Instax film allows you to choose between cool or warm toned grayscale when you print a grayscale image adjusted to be either shades of red and black (warm tone) or shades of blue and black (cool tone.)
This was the ultimate instant film showdown - very thorough man! I really wish I had taken that Instax Wide Blockbuster shot - Wow! Sidenote: I’m thinking of changing my channel name to “The Old Box With Holes Guy” after watching this.
What I noticed is that Polaroid makes better cameras but Fujifilm makes better instax films. This is evident when you shoot them indoors. I own a Polaroid Impulse AF which has a sonar autofocus and when I shoot it indoors, the background doesn't become so dark like with an Instax wide. Instax wide is still sharper but Polaroid has more detail indoors. When I shoot them on harsh direct sunlight, Instax wide was sharper, however, all the shadows were black and had no detail. The Polaroid Impulse on the other hand was a bit overexposed and softer, but had more detail in the shadows. So my conclusion is, Polaroid Impulse AF is significantly a better camera thanks to its Sonar focus, but, Fujifilm Instax wide produces sharper and more consistent photos.
Not was impulse better cameras was instax that is instant film whit cold not warm tones and worst dynamic range that fired Highlights at infinity and make also totally black shadows area I always hate instax for this and I shot old peel apart Fuji fp 100 c whit more warm tones and perfect dynamic range;Polaroid is more pastel tinged color palette and has color shift but whit gelatine filter on the flash in home and filter in premium models like slr 680 you can shot color film whit good color temperature balance or manipulate instant print whit digital photo of it whit your smartphone;instax wide is really usable only whit digital printer;I have 500 af camera the premium instax camera for wide film discontinued in 2001 but always whit wide printer i make perfect quality:my iPhone take perfect shot always thank also to night mode and portrait mode and whit Bluetooth and app on iPhone of wide printer I can crop pictures vs not reflex instax camera that whit wife format make disaster and app give you manual control of highlights and shadows before print you can under expose over exposed highlights at infinity and can bright shadows too dark and not waste film
Polaroid issues and price made the decision for me and I picked up an Instax wide camera for my instant camera fix. Fuji's 'black hole sun' issue is a pain though.
Yeah that's a weird effect...BUT I've seen a guy on RU-vid using Instax to create 'solarizing' effects. Basically, you blast the subject with a high power camera flash, and it created a negative-style solarized colour effect. Very arty, but not something you want in your street shots!
@@museonfilm8919 You can get a slave flash that will go off when it sees the flash from the Instax camera so it will do the high power overexposure at the right time.
I’m old enough to have done a lot of instant photography with Polaroid before the fall. The new films just aren’t good enough. I’m sure it’s the new chemicals they use. The images I took before the oughts are still good, and don’t seem to have faded, they’re all over 25 years old. Im impressed overall with fuji and that’s the direction I’m going with instaphotography.
Awesome video as usual. Ahhh, I shoot Polaroid exclusively, SX-70 being my go to film with amazing results. I have a 1974 SX-70 model 1 and a 1978 SX-70 sonar model. With ND filters, you can shoot round film and what have you 600 wise producing good images. All that being said, I do have a Fuji square job that produces images quickly and true to life(ish) and that’s FarOut. But I love the challenge of the “new” Polaroid, and once you figure it out, people love the results. Especially when you let them keep the image of them you just shot. Cheers again, can’t wait to see your next video.
They're really making use of the stay broke shoot film meme. I feel like I'd have to take out a 20k loan or become a Kardashian to start using instant film, it's so ridiculously expensive...
Had to stop by just to say how nice your videos are, and also thanks for the effort of making the comparison. Even though I have to agree with some comments about handling the Polaroid shots with special care would result in better results. But as you said yourself in the video, you were shooting just like someone who gets them out of the box to point and shoot. One thing made my mind on getting a Now+ over the Instax (and I believe is worth mentioning) was the creative tools, such as the app connectivity for things like light painting and multiple exposures, and the size of the actual photo, I don't mind the price per frame too much as I am not the happy trigger type. So quality over quantity, I guess...
Polaroid film is EXTREMELY sensitive to heat, when you shoot it while it’s hot it has a warmer look and I usually keep my Polaroid camera and film cold
i recently borrowed an og polaroid onestep when i was on vacation and although i loved the look and feel of the pictures, there were a bit too many overexposed pics. i was originally considering picking up my own polaroid now but after watching this video, i think for the price and reliability, it seems like fujifilm is the way to go for me
Very helpful video, I have been trying to figure out what I should buy for a week, researching, watching review videos, your videos was the most helpful and now I got my answers!
This was very helpful. I think people forget that instant films are not the same. I think you nailed it. Choose what type of film you want to shoot, then choose your camera otherwise, there will be disappointment. Fuji film does excellent with ND filters when outside as it is rated at ASA 800.
Pretty sure this is the first of your videos I've seen. Super funny and very informative. Nice work...looking forward to catching up with the rest of your channel.
11:30 is actually super important for me to know as someone who loves taking pictures of sunsets etc. I think I'm gonna get one of each and figure out what works best in which scenario!
Love the Instax Wide vignette. Speccctttttrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaa... But wow, you sold me on the Instax wide for sure. I really like that tree shot with the black sun though! How many Smashmouth references can we handle?
For us in India we don’t have a choice. It is Instax or nothing as Polaroid is not available at all. But maybe it is for good only given that it can’t take what we would call a nice cool day
Although Polaroids don’t come out 1to1, I think that’s the charm and aesthetic of it. If I wanted 1to1 pictures I would use a DSLR. Orange/magenta hues can sometimes ruin some shots, but from my experience I think it made some of my shots more vibrant and colorful. Back to what I was saying, Polaroids aesthetic is vintage, the cool/warm hues that can develop during processing just add onto the aesthetic, whether or not it’s intentional or practical
I have spent many many hours in Lightroom, the 2017 version, not the crap modern.... I digress.... This is a fantastic format for comparing cameras. I got all that I need to know about what instant camera type to choose..... damn, if only they made instant film cameras where you could change the lens.
Hello Lou, Actually a 650nm UVIR cut filter works great for Polaroid to cut down the magenta shift. I just blue-taced a piece 25mm UVIR filter onto the sx70 lens ring, and it works great!
I appreciate the comparison!! I have a couple old polaroids, but I decided to get an instax wide camera because 1) the film is cheaper and 2) the cameras are powered by AA batteries, which seems easy enough (since my polaroid requires the kind of film that comes with the battery pack -- don't love the sustainability :/ )
Great video! Love the instax and also the warm tone of the polaroid if it has a lesser warm tone. Which instax do you find have the best photo quality like in terms of sharpness and colour contrast? I notice than on your first photo with the chairs and van, instax wide has better contrast, while instax mini delivers the sharpest photo of the piano, and instax wide shot the best colour of your friend. As the photo quality varies on different photos of the 3 instax line, which one would you say has the best photo quality?
Yep- I talk about that in my Polaroid Now review, but for this one I was trying to keep things as the right out of the box experience (beginners in mind)
i got a polaroid one step plus, polaroid go gen 2, and a lomography automat. Was going to get the lomo wide but couldnt justify the price and couldnt find any used or discounted (withs lenses) one, so i went and bought a g100 and gh5 instead 😅. cause those were more bang for your buck but aren’t instant lol
Interesting! Thanks for sharing! I have instax cameras, and a lomo camera, but was kinda curious about Polaroid. I’ve enjoyed instant photography a lot, but have only gotten into it recently. I love your videos and photography and channel. :)
Ehhh yeah, soooo many mistakes with the Polaroid film. You really need to use an frog tongue to protect them from light. Putting them in an dark place after it ejects will not help. The film is the most sensitive the first 2-5 seconds. So you can’t do this hand held. That’s why they are orange, that’s the layer that got hit by light after the film ejected from the camera. I’m sorry, I find this comparison not fair at all. You can actually get unbelievably good results with the Polaroid but you can’t just take a shot and let it do it’s thing like instax. With Polaroid you really need to think about what you’re doing before the actual shot & the development is the most important. Yes I agree Instax is easier but looks like an digital photo in an instant photo. A big no for me
I'm confused why you assume he's not using a frog tongue. I know he's not for the sx 70, but that wasn't even the worst of the ones with the hue problem. it looks like he's using a polaroid now for the i-type and 600 film which I know from experience comes with a frog tongue already installed (most if not all of the polaroid originals cameras do I assume). I didn't see any specific shots in the video where the photo was coming out (other than the sx 70) but I may have missed it. otherwise I'd assume it's there.
I have to disagree, somewhat. I know what the original Polaroid film was able to achieve (the actual original). I was over the moon when The Impossible Project tried to revive it. I spent more money from then until now, than I care to think about. Early on, I gave Impossible a lot of leeway for what they were trying to accomplish...but their film was absolute garbage. That disappointment turned to elation again, when Impossible bought Polaroid. At last, the would own the patent and now make the film correctly. No more constant, uneven chemical capsule breaks. No more ridiculously soft contrast. No more consistent jams. They would be able to fit the original 10 shots in a pack...instead of 8. Eventually they could lower the cost. Nope. Even with the access to the original pack designs, the film range is still trash. Frog tongues don't address any of the issues above. And I'm baffled by the fact that that you're defending this extremely subpar film, considering that none of the things were issues 20 years ago. They now own Polaroid...the company...the designs and patents. As Impossible, they were back-engineering the packs, but now they have zero excuses. There's absolutely no reason why they shouldn't be producing stable, consistently developed, non-jamming, 10-image packs that deliver similarly to the same film produced 20 years ago. Look, I've used the Spectra, the 600, and the SX-70 since the Impossible Project started. I'll never buy it, again. I only put so much money into it, because I love my old Polaroid cameras. And yes, I tried multiple cameras, cleaned the rollers between every pack, used frog tongues, and paid close attention to temperatures. Hey, guess what you never had to do with the same film decades ago? Almost ALL of that. They should put 5 minutes into producing the actual original quality film, instead of the newest cutesy film border of the month.
@@PoeInTheDitch They always had the original formula, the problem was that many of the materials required weren't available to them so they had to work around that. It's fine that their film isn't as good as old polaroid's was, they are a much smaller company by comparison, Polaroid had decades to perfect their process with basically unlimited resources having a monopoly on the market, but new polaroid's lack of development lately is worrying.
Fujifilm doesn't fade like at all, polaroid does fade in a couple years but they are technically constantly working on the film so the packs you buy today might be better than the ones from a few year ago. Vintage polaroid doesn't really fade. Still, instax is a clear winner atm
That's so weird about the Polaroid film. Everything I've shot this year has been spectacular. I don't trust the fridge with this stuff and I try to shoot it within a couple of months. I wonder if that could have had something to do with it ... and I've shot a lot in the heat this month. The main thing I don't like about Instax is that Fuji doesn't care at all about film photography and they'll cut bait as soon as they can make it profitable enough to do so. Polaroid has at least steadily improved over their revival, and if these most recent packs I've shot are still on trend, I'll stick with them. I do wish they'd be a bit more innovative again, though ...
I think there are color blind engineers at Polaroid. The image quality of an interpolated sensor children's camera blows them away. They "work" not only with strong magenta and yellow overexposure, but also with crappy optical rendering. The Instax is light years better, but the contrast, tone (gradation) and line sharpness are poor, but it is already used. Thanks for the informative video!
This video clearly displays how Polaroid needs to work on their film stock to compete with the sharper, more punchy, stable and cheaper Fuji instax stock. The company should channel funds into that area rather than making flashy new cameras.
fujifilm is better for truer colors but polaroid takes the cake for composition and lighting for me. I find my fujifilm photos always get lost in the highlights and shadows compared to polaroid which seems to really have a good handle on contrast. would be interesting to see a similar experiment but only using the black and white film for each respective camera
Polaroid has never been color accurate, ever. The new film is absolute trash compared to the original Polaroid film, not the Impossible Project garbage they have been making since they revived it.
I hope people realize the color are due to storage. I have an sx70 and the colors come out accurately and cooler than this. I do think instax has some of the best dynamic range and color though, but I choose sx70 for style points
What cameras did you use for the instax shots? I think I missed it in the video? Im going for my first instant camera and I'm looking at the Instax Mini 90. I wanted to go for the lomo'instant automat but since i'm a beginner and I dont want to waste film, I think the instax mini 90 is the best option for me? I also want to dabble with double exposure and the likes btw.
What I did when I found out that there was Instax film in my area was get some wood slats from the crafting section and build a pinhole camera with a hacksaw and a hot melt glue gun. I used duct tape to make a hinge for the back door, part of a soda can with a hole made by a sewing needle as a lens, and magnets to hold the door shut. Load and advance the camera under many bed sheets and pass the film through the rollers from a broken polaroid camera to develop it. The pictures come out kind of soft but are actually usable. Later I bought the printer and then the cheap blue plastic camera
well tbh wouldnt you want the pictures to look as terrible as possible? the whole point is to get the 70's/80's vibe in the picture. if you want good pictures then you'd just use your phone
Such a shame, as Polaroid film was always nicer than Instax, it’s colours were always so vibrant. Now all we have is the new recipe, it is so inconsistent and really makes everything it stood for, shameful. Though, I’d rather have this, than nothing, as the new film does really nail some shots. I really miss the original Polaroid film, it was just as stable and reliable as Instax film but with much better colours.
14:35 Fuji’s been making film far longer than Polaroid Originals or the new Polaroid but to be fair IP/PO/Polaroid have been producing film for 14 years so the failures, at this point, are inexcusable.
remember fuji has been around more and more time to refine the chemicals while polaroid has only been around since 2010 i think?? less time to tweak formula
Aww. They're from the Northeast. These are my kind of people. How's Connecticut? LOL. Thanks. I might get an Instax or maybe a disposable camera now in 2022. Who knows? I'm bringing back 2002 and 2006 in 2022.
600 and sx70 are different iso they can't be the same batch. also fuji is still a license of a copy of original polaroid, wonder how that stuff looked when it was new. but new polorid still feels like a cound funded college project all these years later.
Never been!! Is it anything like Arizona or Utah? I kinda prefer those dry heats as opposed to how ball soup it gets over here with all the humidity haha
@@SweetLouPhotography not here in Houston it’s humid hot summer that’s no fun. I’m a big guy so walking around with my Polaroid is nice when the film works but when it doesn’t it’s that much more infuriating lol
"If Portra 400 didn't work in the summer, I don't think people would love Portra 400 so much." Lololol Honestly, I'm sick of being disappointed by modern Polaroid. Have been for years. I've promised to never by it again a few times now...but, my love for my old polaroid cameras kept bringing me back. I forget about how terrible and frustrating the film is, and crawl back. It's been like an abusive relationship. They've had, like, A DECADE to address the issues. Instead, they've focused on the border color of the month. Impossible bought Polaroid...they have the f*×%ing patents. They know exactly how the classic, reliable Polaroid film was made. Yet, it's still the most unreliable film I've ever seen, still comes in only 8 shots, still have to jump through 20 hoops to get it to maybe perform optimally, and has never dropped in price. Ever. I'm over it. I don't love my Sx-70's enough for this. Time to pack them back up. I wish Fuji would buy Polaroid and do the film correctly.
Sunny, warm, unpredictable = Polaroid. Cold, dark, reliable = Instax. Choose your weapon wisely. Oh btw, your Polaroid was not treated with care and it got too hot.
