Instant Cameras

Instant cameras live or die on film. Instax Mini prints are credit-card sized and the cheapest per shot, Instax Wide prints are twice as wide and far better for groups and landscapes, Instax Square sits in between, and Polaroid i-Type film is the largest and most characterful but also the priciest and most temperature-sensitive. The camera matters less than the format you commit to, because every future pack of film locks you into that size and price.

The ten cameras below cover every current format plus the hybrids that change the equation: the Instax Mini Evo and Leica Sofort 2 shoot digitally and let you print only the keepers, the Kodak Mini Shot 3 Retro prints cheap dye-sublimation-style instant prints from its own cartridges, and the Instax Pal is a pocketable digital shooter that prints through a separate Instax Link printer. Exposure control, self-timer and selfie-mirror quality, and battery type separate the party cameras from the ones enthusiasts keep.