Instax SQ1 Camera Case - Glacier Blue

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Place them side by side and you’ll notice the functional parts, like the lens, viewfinder, flash and shutter buttons are all in the same places, confirming the SQ40 on the right is simply the SQ1 with a different finish. Same features, same photo quality, but more serious looks for those who find the SQ1 on the left a little frivolous. Again like the fully-analogue instax models before it, composition is with a small optical viewfinder when you’re behind the camera, or a tiny mirror to the right of the lens when you’re in front of it taking a selfie. Like the SQ1 before it, beware of framing as you get closer to your subject, as the viewfinder will become less accurate due to parallax. In both of these shots, the donut sculpture on the left and the coffee cup on the right were placed in the middle of the viewfinder. The former has come out how I expected as it was a few meters away, but the coffee is well off-centre as it was shot at much closer range, so be warned. But hey, not quite knowing what you’re going to get is all part of the analogue charm, right?

Meanwhile those who never want a wasted print and like the idea of making instax photos from their larger cameras should get an instax Link printer, again available in any of the three print formats. And while the innards are identical to the SQ1, Fujifilm has made some minor adjustments to the SQ40’s grip, shaving off much of the SQ1’s rounded front, leaving the shutter button perched on a smaller plateau. In my hands, this made the SQ40 more comfortable, avoiding the tight pinch between the grip and lens barrel on the SQ1, while on the rear, the rubbery surface felt less slippy under my thumb. But beyond these exterior tweaks, the SQ40 is essentially the same as the SQ1. That’s not to say the instax process can’t make great-looking prints of very bright or very dark scenes, but you’re unlikely to be using an instax analogue camera to take them. Overall the instax SQ40 is a nice addition to the instax family, bringing the fully-automatic simplicity of the SQ1, but with a more grown-up looking retro-styled finish.But be in no doubt the SQ40 is simply an SQ1 in hipster drag, with both models sharing the same quality and features, which means inheriting the good and the bad.Like the SQ1, it’s a pure point-and-shoot with no control beyond setting the focusing range from near to far, and under very bright or dim conditions, you’ll often suffer from over or underexposed prints.The sample gallery (above) shows the sort of aesthetic quality you can expect from any Instax camera – that's a lovely desaturated vintage look, and the SQ40 is no exception. Meanwhile at the other end of the scale, access to longer shutter speeds allows the SQ40 to capture more of the surroundings in dim interiors. To help compose your selfies, the SQ40 has a tiny mirror on the front of a lens as a visual guide, but given its size it’s only moderately helpful. Fujifilm Instax SQ40: Performance Digitizing your prints is as simple as taking them, courtesy of the 'Instax Up!’ app. All the pictures in the sample gallery were digitized using the app, which includes guides for all film types, including the SQ40’s square format, and handy features like Remove Reflections. Fujifilm Instax SQ40: Price and release date

So SQ40 is not a follow-up to the earlier SQ10 and SQ20 models which employed digital sensors and screens. Instead, 40 in the instax lineup now refers to an analogue camera with a vintage retro look and feel, which means maybe we’ll see a Wide 40 in the future. C’mon Fujifilm, it’s time for a new Wide camera, can I get an Amen in here? There’s also a third option to consider which in theory gives you the best of both Worlds: going for one of Fujifilm’s digital instax cameras, which employ a sensor, built-in memory and screen, allowing you to not only take lots of photos and apply various effects to them, but crucially view them on the screen before deciding whether to print them or not.

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Instant photography doesn’t end with the cost of the camera of course, and there’s no such thing as cheap instant film. However, you won’t find better value than Instax. Next to the light meter is a Flash Light sensor for the always-on flash. I’d like a button to deactivate the flash for the times when I don’t want the foreground subjects brightly illuminated, and without that feature I often opt to physically cover the flash as a workaround.

Very bright scenes are however still likely to over-expose with washed-out skies becoming a familiar sight on all the analogue instax cameras I’ve tested. But at least the SQ40 remains an improvement over the Mini 11 and 12 which have a fastest shutter speed of 1/250 and especially the Mini 9s and earlier models which stopped at 1/60 and over-exposed in even mild brightness. That said, I still think Fujifilm should boost the top shutter speed to 1/500 or maybe faster still on future models to better cope with very bright conditions – after all, surely many instax cameras are taken on Sunny holidays.There’s a viewfinder for composing pictures. This isn't physically aligned with the lens, but it has parallax correction, so what you see through the viewfinder is pretty much the composition you’re going to get.