Lomography Lomo'Instant Wide Glass

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Instax Wide fans finally have a quality, affordable camera to use with the largest of Fujifilm's three instant film formats—but it doesn't come from Fuji. Instead, Lomography steps up to the plate with the Lomo'Instant Wide Glass ($279), an instant camera that uses a manual focus glass lens for clearer, sharper instant photos than you can expect from Fuji's plastic Instax Wide 400 ($149.95). It includes a decent amount of manual controls and a multiple exposure option to satisfy photographers with an eye for artistry. Put it together, and you've got the best Instax Wide camera we've tested. The Glass more than justifies its higher price and larger size versus the previous champ, the Lomo'Instant Wide ($199). In this case, glass makes the difference and earns the Lomo'Instant Wide Glass our Editors' Choice award for instant cameras.

Design: Instax Wide Prints Require Hefty Optics

The Lomo'Instant Wide Glass is a big camera, but it's big for a reason. Instax Wide is the largest of all modern-day instant film formats, so cameras that use it have to be large enough to hold a film cartridge, plus a lens that covers the film's 3.6-by-2.4-inch image area—that's around the same size as a 6-by-9 medium format negative. The images the camera makes are about twice the size of the popular Instax Mini format, similar in height (but wider) than Fuji's Instax Square materials and on par with Polaroid I-Type (3.1 by 3.1 inches).

Because of the image area, pretty much every Instax Wide camera on the market is sizable. So while the Lomo'Instant's 4.6-by-7.3-by-4.6-inch (HWD) frame is hearty, it's not out of line when compared with the Fuji Instax Wide 400 (4.8 by 6.4 by 3.9 inches). Bear in mind the quoted dimensions for the Lomo are with its lens set to infinity focus; the optics extend to get to the macro range for a 5.8-inch total depth.

The glass lens is also wider in diameter and heavier than the Wide 400's plastic optics. It accounts for much of the camera's 2-pound weight and makes the body a little bit front-heavy when handholding. Still, it's not that much heftier than the Wide 400 (1.4 pounds) or the older Lomo'Instant Wide (5.8 by 7.5 by 3.8 inches, 1.6 pounds).

At launch, the Lomo'Instant is available in one colorway: silver with dark brown leatherette accents. Lomo cameras tend to stay on the market for years and years, however, and the company frequently rolls out special edition finishes, so if you don't dig this one, just wait and see what comes down the road. While the lens is glass, the camera body itself is mostly plastic, which is typical for instant cameras.

Four AA batteries power the Lomo'Instant Wide, so it's easy to find an extra set if you run out of power. Many other instant cameras use less common CR123 photo batteries, so I see AA power as a good thing. Lomography was not able to provide an estimate for battery life; I shot five packs of film for this review and the batteries held up. The camera has a battery life indicator on its rear and a small blue LED light between the film door and the EV compensation toggle switch. It glows solid with a fresh set of batteries and blinks when it's time to change them out for a new set.

Lomography includes a few accessories with the camera. The lens cap is an interesting one; it doubles as a remote IR shutter release, so it's a little thicker than a typical pinch cap to accommodate the transmitter and CR2025 button battery. You also get a Splitzer, a lens attachment that blocks off a portion of the frame, opening up the possibility for creative multiple-exposure imaging. I didn't receive a Splitzer with the loaner unit this time around, but I previously tested it as part of my Lomo'Instant Wide review, so head there for details and my results. The lens also supports standard creative filters with a 52mm thread size, so you can add neutral density for long exposures in daylight or grab a lens hood if you'd like a little extra protection from flare.

The camera does not include a lens strap, so you'll have to bring your own. Lomography plans to release an official accessory strap that includes distance markers to aid manual focus, though it's not available at the time of this writing. I like that there are three lugs, not the typical two, so you can position the strap either at the top or left side to better suit your carry preferences—the top lugs are handy if you use a shoulder strap, while the side points are better for fans of wrist straps.

I opted to use my preferred cross-body camera strap, the Peak Design Slide Lite ($59.95), for carry. It's just about a perfect size to handle the camera's weight, but I had a little bit of trouble getting its anchor loop attachments threaded through one of the camera's three attachment points as the lug that's nearest the viewfinder is just a little bit too tight to easily thread the anchor without reaching for a pair of needle nose pliers or something similar to guide it through. On a positive note, this is a one-and-done operation.

While expected on pro digital cameras, a tripod socket is not included in every instant model. The Lomo'Instant Wide Glass includes a standard 1/4-20-inch thread properly centered on the baseplate behind the lens. This is in contrast with the Fuji Instax Wide 400, which puts its tripod socket all the way to the left of the baseplate, somewhat compromising its stability.

Film loads in the rear. The film door is secured with a recessed switch, so you're not liable to open it accidentally and expose your materials to light. Instax film packs hold ten photos each and there is a film counter window in the door to remind you how many are left in the pack. The Lomo'Instant also has the expected yellow marker in the film compartment that serves as a visual assistant to ensure that you're properly installing the cartridge. Lomography recommends that you regularly clean the rollers that squeeze out the chemistry across the film. I neglected to follow this advice and noticed some chemical burns at the edges of the picture, visible as streaks or purple. Don't be like me: Remember to clean the rollers.

Handling and Controls: Manual Focus Takes Time

Despite its off-kilter tripod thread, the Wide 400 has one ergonomic advantage over the Lomo'Instant: its grip. The Fuji has a molded plastic handgrip that's sculpted to fit average-sized palms, so it feels quite natural in the hand. The Lomo'Instant Wide Glass is closer to a flat front camera, though since it puts its lens on a second layer it doesn't fit that definition perfectly. Regardless, I don't find it that comfortable to hold. My fingers feel cramped if I try to grasp the slimmer portion, and I couldn't get a solid grip when grabbing the raised portion. I had better luck supporting the camera's weight with my left hand cradled below the body or around the lens, this lets me have a looser grip with my right while still resting my index finger over the shutter release.

An optical viewfinder (OVF) is included to help you frame up shots. It's serviceable, though a little small to the eye, so you may miss seeing background details in an image. The OVF is bright enough—I had no problems gauging a scene in a dimly lit interior space—and includes two sets of markers to correct for parallax when focusing close. You'll use the entirety of the finder for scenes from 1 meter to infinity, refer to inlaid black frame markers for scenes at 0.6-meter focus, and look to the brighter patch at the bottom left corner when taking macro shots at the minimum 0.3-meter distance. I'm a left-eyed photographer, so the right-corner position is just about perfect. If you frame with your right eye you'll have to live with your nose bumping up against the rear of the camera, however.

And that brings us to focus—the Wide Glass is a manual focus camera. The lens has a lovely scalloped metal focus ring with continuous focus available from 11.8 inches (0.3 meters) to infinity. Because there's no through the lens focus you're left to set the lens for zone focus—basically you'll guesstimate (or measure if you're a stickler for perfection) distance from camera to lens and rely on the markings on the lens to set distance.

The lens has four detent stops (0.3m, 0.6m, 1-2m, infinity), and while you can set the lens in between them, there's not that much rotation distance between each, except for the 0.3- and 0.6-meter settings. You've got some wiggle room there, and you can easily set the lens halfway between those two marks if you're photographing something that is around 18 inches (0.45 meters) from the camera. For the best results, remember to measure from the film eject slot, not the front of the lens. There's only one Instax Wide camera available that provides focus confirmation in camera, the Mint InstantKon RF70 ($899). I've not tried it, but the Mint has a built-in rangefinder for focus, though it's separate from the viewfinder, so you'll need to peer through one window for focus and a separate one for composition.

The shutter release is a rectangular button, positioned at the front of the camera, below the viewfinder. The other controls run in a column on the rear, also underneath the viewfinder. The camera has a button to toggle the built-in flash, an MX button for multiple exposures, an EV toggle to take photos with a brighter (+1 EV), neutral (0), or darker (-1 EV) exposure, and a lever to switch between automatic (A), bulb (B), 1/30-second shutter, or f/22 aperture exposures. All in all, you have far more creative control than with the Instax Wide 400, as the Fuji is a one-button camera with absolutely zero manual exposure control.

Instax film can be tricky to expose, but generally speaking, it's a good idea to dial in negative EV for close distances or for high-contrast scenes that mix bright areas and shadows. Conversely, set positive when taking an image of a shadowed subject against a strong backlight. In A mode, the camera will choose its own shutter speed (from 8 seconds to 1/250-second) and aperture (f/8 or f/22). The 1/30-second option is handy for scenes where you want to add some blur to subjects in motion, while forcing f/22 is a good idea for scenes where you want as much in focus as possible. The mode lever also serves as a power control; its top position powers down the camera, though don't worry if you forget, there's an auto power off that shuts things down after five minutes of idle time.

It took me a few packs of film to get a really good handle on the Wide Glass's automatic metering. I tossed away several frames that were either way too dark or way too bright. But after two weeks and five packs of film, I've got a pretty good handle on how the camera will render a scene. My best advice: If your subject is at all in shadow, it's wise to dial in +1 EV. For scenes where a subject is evenly illuminated, it's best to leave EV set at the neutral position. For photos against a very strong backlight, it's a good idea to use a stronger off-camera flash than the one that's built in, or alternatively, to hand-meter a scene and use a tripod and bulb exposure mode. The Wide Glass rewards a careful, slow process and in many instances, it's not a snapshot camera.

Picture Quality: Crisp Instant Prints

The Lomo'Instant Wide Glass gets its name from its all-glass lens, a 90mm f/8 prime that can focus from 11.8 inches (0.3 meters) to infinity. The long focal length and close focus mean that you can get pictures with softly defocused backgrounds, and since Instax Wide film has a far larger surface than 35mm film, its view is a moderately wide angle, similar to a 35mm prime on a full-frame system.

The lens also focuses closer than most Instax cameras, so it makes images in the macro range without the need for a close-up adapter, another positive versus the Fuji Wide 400's plastic 95mm f/14 prime and its 36-inch (0.9 meter) close focus. The Wide 400 ships with a clip-on diopter to shorten focus to 15.8 inches (0.4 meters), however, so you're not totally out of luck if you want to snap a selfie or a macro shot.

The glass lens is sharp, too. When you nail focus, the results are crisp, with excellent contrast and fine detail. If you're sick of the soft results that plastic lens instant cameras deliver, the Wide Glass is your remedy. If I have anything bad to say about the images, it's that they show a strong vignette with darkened corners when focused at a distance, but even with that caveat, the photos are the best I've personally seen from an Instax Wide camera.

There is a downside to using instant film: The dynamic range is very narrow. If you have a scene with bright highlights and dark shadows, you'll either deal with blown-out highlights or dark, punchy blacks when using color materials. The Instax Wide Monochrome film is similarly punchy, and neither gets close to the exposure latitude provided by negative film or a digital sensor.

That said, Fujifilm's color materials are the best available. They show far better fidelity and are less prone to temperature-induced color cast versus the I-Type film that works with the Polaroid I-2, and they cost less, too. Instax Wide costs about $0.90 per image for color or $1.50 per exposure for black and white versus $2.10 per image for any sort of Polaroid film. I can't yet speak to the quality difference between Instax Wide Monochrome and the current version of Polaroid I-Type B&W, however, as I've not had a chance to try the latest Polaroid emulsion. That said, Polaroid's previous formula for B&W film was fantastic, so I expect there to be less of a gap than there is with color.

Wide film is also relatively high speed (ISO 800), but with an f/8 lens, you'll still need to use a flash in most situations, whether it be to add a bit of fill to shadows when photographing subjects outdoors or in typical interior lighting. The built-in strobe is handy for this use, and the camera goes a little further by including a PC Sync socket to plug into a more powerful off-camera flash or monolight. This is another uncommon feature on instant cameras, typically reserved for upmarket options. Among recent releases, we've only seen off-camera flash support in the Mint InstantKon RF 70, Polaroid I-2, and the Nons SL660 and SL645.

Verdict: The Instax Wide for Discerning Photogs

Fujifilm's Instax Wide format has long been a favorite among photo hobbyists and a hit at parties, weddings, and other social events. The Lomo'Instant Wide Glass marks the first time we've seen a serious camera for the format come to market at a reasonable price. At $279, it is a little less than a third of the cost of the pro-grade Mint InstantKon RF70. For the money, you get a sharp lens that can get bokeh and close-up photos, a decent level of manual controls, and the support for multiple exposures that's absent from the one-button Fuji Instax Wide 400, but you'll need to take time and care to realize its potential. If you prefer simplicity and big print instants, the Fuji will make you happy. But if you want more from an instant camera, the Lomo'Instant Wide Glass is the way to go, and our Editors' Choice among models that use Instax Wide film.