Obviously, we live in a consumerist world where corporations are endlessly desperate to shove brand new products into our fists and prise us from our hard-earned cash. You can’t fight city hall etc etc.
But, every so often, a product comes along which truly stops me in my tracks and makes me think – hang on, why does this even exist? Who is this for? What’s the point?
Step forward the Instax Mini EVO Cinema. By all accounts, it takes poor-quality, low-res videos, but which happen to have a fun filter on them. For $410/£329! Excuse, me, what? I don’t deny that it’s got a lovely, fun design, and probably looks nice on a shelf, but other than that, it really does seem like a crazy, very expensive, gimmick.
Even if you can get past the low-fi nature of the videos, maybe you even like that, there’s no quick and easy way to get them onto social media, which is surely what everyone wants to do with them? Are you seriously telling me that people actually want to print out a picture with a QR code on it for others to scan to see the janky 15 second clip you’ve just made? REALLY?
And let’s not even get started on the fact that you’ll also be shelling out a small fortune in Instax film if you keep doing that, too. The dollars just keep rolling in…
Fine, I’m not a “content creator” (shudder), and I’m definitely not the target audience of this thing. It’s probably true that I just don’t “get it”. Fair enough. But from what I’ve seen so far, and the more I think about it, it actually makes me quite angry.
Maybe this thing will sell shed-loads, I’ve really no idea. But should it? Should companies be making things that people with enough money to spend on a silly frivolity like this will have fun with a few times, before sticking it in a drawer, only for it to end up in landfill in a few years time?
And yes, I know, It’s also true that most people also don’t NEED the latest do-all amazing mirrorless camera, or the latest top-end phone that does this, that and the other. You really can’t stop the deafening march of consumerism. But, at least with those products you get the feeling that they’ll be used for a good amount of time before simply being chucked on the pile of “stuff” gathering dust in your house.
Instax is a big brand that does really well. It makes lots of fun products that are popular. None of them are about high-image quality, sure, but with a regular Instax camera or printer, it seems likely that it’ll survive at least more than a handful of uses before being discarded. Surely a company like Fujifilm has an obligation to not mass-produce plastic trash that adds to the destruction of our planet?
I need to stop writing now before I get even more worked up about this silly camera. But, I’d like to make a plea to other camera makers – please think about the life of your products beyond the “ooh shiny” phase. I know it makes you big bucks, but aren’t some things more important? Perhaps not.
The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Amateur Photographer magazine or Kelsey Media Limited. If you have an opinion you’d like to share on this topic, or any other photography related subject, email: ap.ed@kelsey.co.uk.
Read more:
- I tried the Instax Mini Evo Cinema and it’s so much fun – but read this first
- The best instant cameras and printers you can buy
- Instax vs Polaroid: Which instant camera should you buy?
