Fujifilm Instax Wide 400 review – Back to the future

Fujifilm’s range of Instax cameras of late has offered a weird and wonderful mix of tech. The new Instax Wide 400 takes a few steps back by going completely retro, serving up an instant camera that does just that. It focuses on quick snaps with no second chances and is all the better for it.

This makes the R3,500 price tag a little hard to bite down on. Three and a half grand for a low-tech camera that runs on AA batteries stings a bit. Add an extra two hundred bucks every time you want to fire off ten images and you really have to want to own one of these. Thankfully, Fuji makes it easy to get into that mindset.

Block of history

If you’ve got any hopes for especially hardy construction from the Instax Wide 400, we suggest you recheck the price on the receipt. It’ll never match up with a starter-grade DSLR and even an older compact digital will have a tougher chassis. That isn’t to say that the Wide 400 is flimsy. The chunky package in your hands is made almost entirely from a lightweight plastic that should shrug off most attempts to destroy it. Even so, we’d be loathe to drop it on a concrete surface from a moderate height. Bits would probably fly off.

Considering how simple the Instax Wide 400 is, any bits are likely to be important. There’s a single large compartment for the four AA batteries you need to power the thing, an integrated flash, and the lens. The ring around the lens, which causes it to extend, also acts as the power button. The bulge on the front left (if you’re staring into the lens) hosts the shutter button and the toggle on the right of the lens is the timer, so you can get out into the group shot. Images pop out of the slot at the top.

Finally, there’s an optical viewfinder and a compartment at the rear for the Instax Wide film packs. Operation for the latter is simple. Stick in the film, ensuring that you line up the yellow bit in the compartment with the yellow bit on the back of the foil-wrapped film pack. It’s almost idiot-proof.

WYSIWYG

Barring an upgraded form of idiot, putting the Instax Wide 400 into operation is incredibly simple. Load the film, pop out the lens, and press the button (once) to eject the film pack’s cover. After that, you’ve got ten shots before you need to reload your photographic carbine. Point. And shoot. Preferably using the small optical viewfinder, which has guides that help you get your subject in the centre, whether you’re using the 95mm f/14 lens in its 0.9m to 3.0 configuration or have it set from 3m to ∞. A secondary guide lives in the optical viewfinder. That’s for when you’re attempting extreme closeups with the included adaptor, which offsets the lens’ centre point.

Image quality? Sure, it would be nice if there was some. Instant photographs, dating back to their inception in 1948, have always had a certain dated look. All of your shots will end up either over or under-exposed unless you’re really certain of what you’re doing. Others will pop out with perfect colour rendition. If you’re really lucky, that’ll be the shot where everyone’s eyes are open. But if you’re quibbling over quality, you’re missing the point of the Instax Wide 400.

You can see the whole camera in action. Pry open the back and turn that lens dial on the front (without an open pack of film in, please). You’ll see the whole workings pop into position, ready to irrevocably capture an instant in time. There are no second chances or take-backs. It’s just you and your subject and the world at the time, which is a form of artistry in itself. You don’t need talent. Just a chance moment, captured at the perfect time. There are surprisingly more of those than you’d expect.

Fujifilm Instax Wide 400 verdict

Do you need one of these? No. You’ve got a smartphone. It’s got a better lens. You can take several images and choose the best one, or some sort of AI will do that for you. But the Instax Wide 400 comes from a different time, where the images you took were the images you got. The need to develop the film yourself, or take it to an expert in a store, has been removed, letting you see your artistry (or lack thereof, which is a form of art) in roughly 90 seconds.

It’s a tangible way to chronicle events in the moment and the iconic click-and-whirr of an instant photo will have folks crowding you in a way your smartphone snaps just won’t. It’s just worth remembering that the Instax Wide 400 isn’t a once-off purchase. You’ll pay at least R2,000 for film packs by the time you need to swap out the AA batteries, each time you do that. For some folks, that’s a worthy cost. For others… maybe stick with your smartphone and an Instax printer. It’s less sexy but you’ll always know what you’re getting.