Best High-End Instant Cameras 2022

In photography, quality is as important as artistic direction. It doesn’t matter how sharp, and how many megapixels your photo has, if it doesn’t look the way you wanted. Likewise, it doesn’t matter how perfectly a photo matches the look you were going for if the quality is terrible and no one can see what you were going for. As technology has advanced the quality of cameras has advanced and it’s now possible to take many high-quality photos to get the perfect one quickly, at a relatively low cost. Modern phones and other cameras though lack the retro charm of an instant camera and the simple charm of being able to hold a physical copy of a photo without having to go through the faff of going to a printer shop.

Realistically, though classic instant cameras weren’t great in terms of quality. Thankfully, with the popularity of the retro aesthetic, the instant camera has seen somewhat of a revival with a modern twist. The updated tech still offers the same charm and convenience but often comes with a range of quality-of-life features too. To get the best instant photos and the most features, you will have to spend a little cash, but the price of a top-tier instant camera is still very reasonable.

To help you find the best models out there, we’ve drawn up a list of the best high-end instant cameras in 2022.

The Kodak Smile Classic is a slim but relatively large instant camera. The slim profile makes it relatively easy to fit in a bag although the large square size can make it a little cumbersome to use. the main benefit of the large size, however, is that it can make larger prints, in this case, 3.5 by 4.25 inches. The sensor itself is 16MP allowing you to get good detail in the prints you make. You can even save the photos you take to a microSD card or transfer them to your phone, so the decent resolution is even more appreciable.

The app offers a broad feature set including the option to act as a remote shutter for selfies. It also features filters, stickers, and augmented reality features. If you do use a microSD card, it supports cards up to 256GB in size, allowing you to store a huge number of photos before needing to transfer them. Unlike in many cheaper models, the flash only fires when low light levels are detected, so you don’t need to worry about being blinded when taking a selfie on a sunny day or scaring off some skittish wildlife. The one thing to be aware of is that, like all forms of instant printers, the Zink printer paper doesn’t give printer shop levels of quality.

The Polaroid Now+ is a classic polaroid style camera bringing more advanced tech to the table. It offers extra features such as double exposures and autofocus. It also comes with an app that offers even more advanced features such as full shutter control allowing light painting. It produces large prints making it more obvious for details to come through.

A particularly useful feature for some will be the tripod thread allowing for easy mounting. It doesn’t come with a selfie mirror which may make taking selfies less precise. The camera itself is relatively large and heavy making a little more of a pain to transport. It also comes with a set of physical filters that o over the lens which can add some interesting effects without needing any post-processing.

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 Neo Classic may have a name that’s a bit of a handful, but it is a strong and reliable piece of kit with few downsides. It has a retro leather styling in black or brown and prints in a fairly large format for a decent quality result. One of the nice pieces of attention to detail is that the front shutter button for use in selfies is mirrored so it also doubles up as a selfie mirror.

The ability to take double exposures can be a helpful one for those photographers looking to take more adventurous photos. The flash can be manually disabled but by default is used in low light. The shutter speed is also controlled automatically but can be manually adjusted. There are modes for fast shutter speeds, ideal for high-speed shots, and also the ability to hold down the shutter for up to ten seconds, ideal for light trails. The off-centre viewfinder can be a pain when first using the Mini 90 Neo Classic, but that is a common issue for most instant cameras.

The Canon IVY CLIQ+ is a hybrid instant camera, using a digital camera to record the image and an attached Zink printer to print it. This design allows the 8MP sensor to shine, makes it simple for the app to connect via Bluetooth and use the camera as a printer, and for the whole thing to be super portable. The use of Zink means that you only have to wait for the photo to print, there is no development time like with other instant camera prints.

The attention to detail on some features is fantastic. For example, the flash is a ring of 8 LEDs around the lens offering great lighting. The surround of the lens itself is large and mirrored so you can easily see what is going to be visible in your selfie without having to peer at a tiny off centre mirror. The app has some great features too, allowing you to print collages but also to tile a single image. Tiling lets you split one image into multiple prints, which, with some scissors, can let you make larger prints.

That was our roundup of the best high-end instant cameras in 2022. Have you recently bought a high-end instant camera? What sold you on it and what has your experience been with it so far? Let us know down below.