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With its Instax Share SP-2 ($199.99), Fujifilm takes the instant film format used by many of its cameras, including the Instax Mini 70 ($194.15 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) , and puts it in a Wi-Fi photo printer that works with modern smartphones and tablets. It’s a fun way to share physical images with friends and family, and should be a hit at parties, but the small image format will be unsatisfying for photographers looking to display their work. Until Fujifilm develops a similar product using the larger Instax Wide format, photographers who want instant prints should look at the Editors’ Choice Impossible Instant Lab Universal ($204.95 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) .
Design
The SP-2 ($199.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) is small enough to stow away in a small camera bag or a larger purse. It measures 5.2 by 3.5 by 1.6 inches (HWD) and weighs 8.8 ounces without film loaded. It’s powered by a removable NP-45 battery and includes a micro USB cable that is used for charging the battery. Fujifilm rates a fully charged battery for 100 prints—10 full packs of film. This is a step up from the first-generation SP-1 ($249.95 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) (4.8 by 4 by 1.7 inches, 11 ounces), which uses CR2 photo batteries that are not easily found at retail.
The SP-2 is finished mainly in matte white, and is available with your choice of gold or silver accent panels. Its design is angular but rounded, with a diamond-shaped Power button and a triangular Reprint button the only physical controls. The battery door is on the bottom, but you’re more likely to recharge via micro USB. The port is covered by a triangular flap at the bottom of the left side, below the Power and Reprint buttons. On the angled top panel, just above the slot from which prints emerge, are a power indicator and a series of dots that show you how many prints are left in the current film pack.
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The SP-2 ships with a pack of film installed. To replace it, open the rear door (there’s a mechanical switch to open the latch), remove the empty pack, and align the yellow line in the compartment with the corresponding one on the new film pack. When you close the door, the dark slide that protects the film from light will automatically eject and the printer is ready for use.
App and Print Quality
While it was possible to print to the SP-1 from a Wi-Fi–enabled Fujifilm digital camera, that’s not the case with the SP-2. It works exclusively with mobile devices running at least Android 2.3.3 or iOS 7.1. I connected the SP-2 to my iPhone 6 Plus ($299.00 at Verizon)(Opens in a new window) with no problems. I simply had to open Settings, connect to the open Wi-Fi network broadcast by the SP-2, and enter a code using the Instax Share app. This isn’t the toughest security to crack, especially if you don’t change your password from the default 1111, but it’s a plus for using the printer in social situations. You can load up a pack of film and let guests at a wedding reception print with a code, no complex WPA2 password required.
The app has a number of tools to help you make better prints. Basic editing functions—image rotation and cropping—are included, as are image filters. You can use the built-in Fujifilm Intelligence, Black-and-White, or Sepia filters, or individually adjust the brightness, contrast, and saturation settings. There are also banners and stickers that you can add to images from a gallery of templates, including collage templates that arrange multiple images into a single print. It’s also possible to split an image across two prints, which can help sidestep the small Instax print size, but you’ll have to deal with a border in the middle of your photo.
Size is an issue. As the prints measure just 1.8 by 2.4 inches, detail is easily lost and wide shots can look a bit muddy. The cost per shot isn’t bad for instant film, about $0.75 per photo, but it’s a shame that Fuji hasn’t brought out a similar printer for the Instax Wide (3.9-by-2.4-inch, $0.80-per-shot) format. If you want bigger prints, the Impossible Instant Lab Universal is a viable alternative. It uses Impossible 600 or SX70 film with a 3.1-by-3.1-inch image area, but is pricey at about $3 per image. Transmitting and printing an image takes about 17 seconds, with the first details emerging about 45 seconds after the process has begun and the print fully developing in 4 to 5 minutes.
Print quality is solid. The Instax format is photochemical, giving digital images a distinctly analog feel. The finish is glossy, which adds a bit of vividness to colors. I did notice that some photos came out a bit darker than expected. I printed a landscape shot of the tree-lined entrance to the Wormsloe site in Savannah, a shadowy scene with dark green and brown as the main colors in the palette. The result was a noticeably underexposed print, with little detail in the shadows. Printing the same image with the Fujifilm Intelligence filter applied netted an image closer to what I was seeing on my calibrated computer screen, but without the nuance that a larger print would deliver. Using the Intelligence Filter is a good idea when printing shadowy images.
Macro images and portraits fared much better. I printed a portrait of a puppy with a brown-and-black face against a dark-green background and the subject still popped, even without a filter applied. A macro image of cherry blossoms, bright to begin with, also printed fine without the filter. I did turn it on when printing an image of an airplane wing lit by the last bit of sunshine of the day and was glad that I did. It gave the portion lit by the deep orange light a bit more saturation and the part of the wing in shadow showed details in those dark areas.
Black-and-white printing, available with or without sepia toning, is a big plus. Fujifilm has never offered monochrome Instax film (you can get monochrome Impossible film for Polaroid cameras). I printed a few different black-and-white scenes, including a couple that I had captured using the Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) ($4,064.50 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) . Results were strong, especially in the midtones, although some detail was gone from the shadows, just as with color prints.
Conclusions
While serious photographers will feel underwhelmed with 1.8-by-2.4-inch prints, fine art is not the target market for the Instax Share SP-2. Its price tag and app design make it a solid choice for sharing physical snapshots with friends and family. Bring one to your nephew’s birthday party, a family reunion, or Christmas dinner and it’s sure to be a hit. You and your loved ones will be able to print images from smartphones simply by sharing a four-digit passcode among you. The biggest challenge might be bringing enough film.
If you want a larger print, however, whether for display in a small desktop frame or to give your favorite digital image a truly analog form, the small format suffers. Fuji has yet to release a printer that uses the larger Instax Wide format, but Impossible’s Universal Instant Lab delivers similar results (with a different printing method). It’s a pricier piece of tech that’s also expensive to feed—Impossible film costs about $3 per image—but those who are more serious about moving digital images to instant film will want to give it a look. For the rest of us, the Instax Share SP-2 is a quick, easy, and relatively inexpensive way to print and share digital images that retain a distinct analog charm.
4.0
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The Fujifilm Instax Share SP-2 is a fun way to print and share photos at events and parties, but the small image format leaves us wanting more.
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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/fujifilm-instax-share-sp-2