Expert rating
Benefits
- Small, compact and portable
- Better image quality than traditional instant cameras
- Lots of functions in the iPhone app
The inconvenients
- Charges via Micro-USB
- Poor battery life
- High printing cost
Our Verdict
The Instax mini Link 2 is perfect for those times when you want to make original prints of your iPhone photos. It doesn’t produce “studio quality” prints, but they are ideal for informal events, parties, or art projects, if you can plan for the high cost per print.
Best prices today: Instax Mini Link 2
$111.59
$113.61
$114.61
$124.75
$129.99
$129.99
$129.99
$130
Photographer Chase Jarvis said: “The best camera is the one you have with you. ” And for almost everyone, that means it’s a smartphone camera and, unless you’re a serious photographer, you don’t carry another camera everywhere you go. You know what else people don’t take with them? Printers to print all photos taken with a smartphone camera.
If you find yourself in a situation where you’d like to be able to instantly print photos you take with an iPhone, you don’t have to lug around this big all-in-one. As part of its Instax product line, Fujifilm offers portable photo printers that are very easy to transport. This review is about the Fujifilm Instax mini Link 2, a smartphone printer capable of producing beautiful photos of your family, pet, vacation get-together, or weekend getaway.
The Instax mini Link 2 is nice and lightweight, weighing about half a pound (312 grams) and is about the size of a smartphone: it fits in a jacket pocket and is ready to use right away. Printing is done via the Instax mini Link app and a Bluetooth connection.
The app is robust and offers a ton of fun features beyond just the ability to print to the device. The collage function is particularly interesting, because it allows you to print several designs on a single image. The Frame Print feature dresses up photos with different borders, and a silly Match Test feature prints a “compatibility score” on images with two people. You can add text or draw on photos before printing, choose between landscape and widescreen formats, and even load videos into the app and print individual images.
The collage function allows you to assemble several photos into a single print (German version of the application shown here.)
Simon Lohmann
The printer itself offers special possibilities for improving your photos. A light on the side of the printer is used for the fun Instax AiR feature, where you draw in the air using the light, and the result is added to a photo.
As for photo print quality, the images have a retro look reminiscent of Polaroid photos. You get much better overall quality at the nearest pharmacy or hypermarket, and it doesn’t measure up to professional prints. When you use the Instax mini Link 2, you consciously want the charm and retro style of instant photos. I’ve found that reducing the brightness of a photo and increasing the contrast and saturation a bit will get you the brightest images possible.
Fujifilm offers different “films” for the Instax mini Link 2, each with a different pattern for the plastic border surrounding the image. Each pack of film costs around $10/£10 and contains enough for ten shots, or around $1/£1 per copy. It’s a bit expensive and you’ll need to think carefully before deciding to make a print. You don’t want to waste a print on a design you’re not sure of. Multi-packs are available at a lower price per print to help reduce costs.
The Instax mini Link 2 has an MSRP of $99/£114.99.
Should you buy an Instax mini Link 2?
With all the photos you take, it’s easy to lose your best photos on your iPhone. The Instax Mini Link 2 is a great way to remember special moments. It doesn’t produce “studio quality” prints, but they are ideal for informal events, parties, or art projects, if you can plan for the high cost per print.
This article was originally published on Macwelt and was translated by Roman Loyola.
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