Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo

A wide-angle instant print camera with digital tech, Fujifilm’s Instax Wide Evo hybrid can store images as well as print them. This means a higher price than the average Instax, but a lower one than most dedicated digital cameras.

The instax Wide Evo becomes one of the most compelling cameras in Fujifilm’s instant series to date, and finally gives some enthusiast-class attention to their largest format. Like the Mini Evo, it takes a wireless instax printer and adds a basic digital camera. You compose, preview effects and review images with the screen, and choose which if any to subsequently print. Meanwhile a phone app lets you access lower-res copies, remote control the camera, or use it as a wireless printer to output any image. The camera sports a useful ultra-wide lens and some nice-looking effects, but don’t expect miracles from the core image quality. It may be more than good enough for sharing online or making instax prints with heavy effects, but in sheer quality a modern phone will easily outperform it. What makes the Wide Evo different and more enjoyable though is the design and operation, from the twin effects dials to the fun crank lever that activates the printer. I especially love that Fujifilm makes you twist it round at least twice to send the signal to print. You’re paying for this fun though, with the Wide Evo costing about two and a half times the Link Wide printer, with identical quality when printing images from your phone. Plus the mini Evo delivers a similar experience at almost half the price. In fact you could buy a mini Evo and a Link Wide printer for roughly the same as the Wide Evo. But neither will give you the complete Evo experience with the wide print format, nor of course that fun crank lever. Ultimately the Wide Evo delivers a unique overall look and fun experience that I really enjoyed using.