Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsIf you love instant film you will seriously enjoy using this camera.
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2017
It's by no means without issues, but this camera is just so much fun to use that I had to give it 5 stars. I took it on an Alaska cruise recently (along with a Sony RX10III) and thoroughly enjoyed taking it everywhere. The two pics are digital files; the analog prints look really good -:)
It's not an analog camera with a large, slow lens, like the SX-70, Spectra & SLR680 cameras that I own and have used over the past 10+ years. It's a digital camera (small sensor and lens) with a built-in printer. The images have a small digital sensor look: which also means they are sharp and you can see reasonably fine detail which I've never seen with my other instant cameras. Color prints are wonderful, with vibrant colors, and you can use the "Highline" setting to make a more vintage-looking print, but I'm not impressed with the monochrome or sepia settings. The biggest advantage, or course, is to just take pictures and figure out which ones to print later. Or make a few as you go, and simply delete all those out-of-focus or bad pictures that you would have to waste film on with a purely analog camera (which I expect will arrive, and will have a lens similar to those on current Instax Mini cameras). You can save and print the digital images, and you can load digital files taken with other cameras onto the SQ10 and print them out onto instant film. The digital files are small, and as you might expect look like they were taken with a point & shoot digital camera, but are good enough for 4x6 and 8x8 prints. I've loaded files from my iPhone and a bunch of different digital cameras onto the SQ10 using a MicroSD card. They will all print, and while they will have a different look they aren't better, which attests to how well Fujifilm have matched the camera part of the SQ10 to the printer portion. However, it works a lot better with Fuji cameras, because the file format for the SQ10 is the same as for other Fuji digital cameras. For other cameras you have to change the file name, which is OK, but it had an issue whereby it would only "see" three files at a time, no matter how many I placed onto the MicroSD card. If you own a Fuji digital camera then you are in better shape. I placed a MicroSD card (in an adapter) into my X100T and shot a bunch of pictures, then simply placed the MicroSD card into the SQ10. This time it recognized all the photos taken, and I still had the original 16GB files of the X100T to play with.
One feature of the SQ10 that I think should be highlighted is the ability to zoom an image when you want to print, because there is no loss of quality in the Instax print. This is significant, because it means that in effect you have a 28-60 equivalent lens, not just a wide angle one. I've found this feature very useful, because of the small size of the prints, when it comes to pictures of friends & family and being able to optimize the framing during the printing stage.
On the flip-side, the built-in flash is just like all such flashes, and gives a harsh look which I don't personally like.
Also, while the camera focuses accurately, it's not super-fast, which makes the SQ10 great for static subjects but poor for action shots. Just use another camera and transfer the file to the SQ10 in that situation.
This is a great camera if your primary aim is to make Instant/Instax prints. The colors are fantastic, the images are sharp, you can zoom and change the color balance, and you don't have to print crappy pictures or people with their eyes closed. For me this is so much better than a purely analog camera where you will have to print every time you trip the shutter. Yes, with an analog camera each instant print will be unique, but you can use the SQ10 like that too if you deleted each file after making just one print. If your primary aim is end up with large and/or RAW digital files use something else. If your main aim is to post onto Instagram and the like, use a mobile phone. Or you can use your phone to take a picture of an Instax print and post that, it actually works just fine!
Hope this review will be helpful.
