Instax Mini 90 Review – The Best Gift EVER

by Mia M.

Hello, my friends – is anyone else confused that it took me so long to write this post? I mean, it confuses the hell out of me. By this point, we all know that I am basically a soulless capitalist robot – and polaroid cameras are most definitely “in” at the moment. This is a potential goldmine.

(Okay, so with 2% Amazon comission, it’s really not a goldmine . . . but I might get some new shoes out of it.)

Today, we are going to be reviewing one of my favourite things ever – my Instax Mini 90 Instant Photo camera!

I was lucky enough to get this as a gift for Christmas a few years ago and I can genuinely say, aside from my latop because that was basically a donated organ, I’ve never used a gift so much. (Also, with a case this damn cute, it’s really more of an accessory.)

Instax Mini 90 Review

Let’s get straight to the point: I love this camera. Love it. It’s portable, easy to use, durable and a whole lot of fun. Even better, it’s affordable! Overall, it’s a solid 5/5*s, I recommend it to literally everyone and I think it makes for a fabulous gift.

EASE OF USE & DOES IT DO WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN?

I suppose the first thing to get out of the way is that this camera delivers exactly what it promises: quick and easy photo fun. It’s quite literally point, shoot and instant photo. (Okay, well, you can also turn the flash on and off – but you get my point. It’s very straightforward.) I’ve never encountered any issues with it.

Honestly, I don’t know much about camera specs – but most people using this camera will just be using it for a laugh and to get some cute Insta-worthy ways to capture memories. I can tell you right now that this camera is perfect for that.

But fine, you want a more detailed review – I can do that.

THE DESIGN

Let’s talk about the camera design. Personally, I love it – it’s vintage as hell and, if you’re buying a polaroid camera, you’re obviously interested in that retro vibe.

There are a lot of super cute pastel coloured Instax cameras floating around out there, which are a little cheaper than this model, but I personally prefer this design a lot more. It’s far more elegant and mature, which sounds weird because we’re literally talking about a camera, but I said what I said and I stand by it.

PICTURE QUALITY

I should probably apologise for using literally year old polaroids in all my images – but at least you can see that the images hold up well! The photo quality, in my opinion, is really good. You’re naturally not going to get high-def perfection (thank God. Is there anything more terrifying than your face in 1080px HD quality? No. No, there’s not.) – but the photos come out nicely detailed and focused, while still retaining their retro quality.

(Perfect for Instagram shots, just sayin’.)

PRICE VALUE & CHEAPER ALTERNATIVES

In my opinion, this camera is totally worth the price. (However, it must be said, where the cost actually lies is in the film – the film works out to around 50p-£1 per photo, depending on if you buy it in bulk or on special offer.) It’s high quality, the photos turn out really well and I’ve been using it for years now!

That said, there are a few cheaper alternatives that Fujifilm offer – and they’re super cute, so if you are looking for a less expensive option, let me help you out.

(There are other colours available too, just saying.)

IS IT WORTH BUYING/DOES IT GET USE?

If you’re a follower of this blog, you will already know the answer to this – my polaroid camera is pretty much constantly in use. I use it in almost all of my bullet journalling endeavours, I use the pictures to decorate my bedroom – hell, I stuck polaroids I’d sneakily taken of people and put them on their Christmas presents.

Like in my Summer Bucketlist post; see that image there? It’s a polaroid of my friend’s butt that I took.

Things That Could Be Better:

While I do overall love the camera, sure there are a few things that in a dream world I would add to it.

Ability to check photos before printing them (although that does take some of the fun out of it and I’m not sure if any other instant film camera on the marker has this ability anyway.)
No photos are saved to the camera, or accessible via USB.

So, to summarise: I fucking love my Instax Mini camera, it’s 3am and I was running out of content ideas. I hope you’re all happy. (And I hope Google picks up this blog post and I earn a shit ton of money off polaroid camera comission. C’mon, world, we can make it happen.)

I hope you guys enjoyed this post! Do any of you have polaroid cameras? What’s your opinion on them? Would you enjoy getting one as a gift? Let me know your thoughts down below!

Peace,