Consumer Watch: Which instant cameras are best to use today
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Has it been a while since you've printed out photos?
Now you can have photos in an "instant" with some cameras that are quite the blast from the past. The latest instant cameras come in two types.
"There's Instax, which is a lot like the Polaroid cameras that you probably remember," says Jake Swearingen with Consumer Reports. "And then there's something called Zink, for zero ink, which is basically a little bit like a photo printer attached to a digital camera."
With Instax film, the chemicals needed to develop the photo are in the piece of paper. You just wait for it to come to life.
"It actually looks a lot like maybe some of the filters that you would use on smartphone apps that you're sort of trying to digitally fake," Swearingen said. "Only, you're getting it for real."
With Zink cameras, photos emerge ready to go. The film also has a little bonus.
"The other fun part is that you can actually peel the back off on most of these, and they're stickers, so you can put them up anywhere you like," Swearingen said.
Zink cameras also save your images to an SD card in the camera, so you can make as many prints as you want.
Consumer Reports checked out six instant cameras now on the market and looked at several things, including image quality and autofocus.
Their experts found there are a few drawbacks to "instant" photography.
"With these instant cameras, you're not going to get high-quality photos by any stretch," Swearingen said.
It can also be a little expensive. Expect to pay anywhere from 66 cents to $1.15 for each standard color Instax print, and about 50 cents for each Zink print.
Consumer Reports suggests trying to buy the film in bulk to save money.
