The Instax SQ6 is Fuji's first Analog Instax Square camera. Previously, their SQ10 camera and SP-3 printer were digital-only and the Lomo Instant Square was the only analog (traditional instant film) camera available in the format.
Having use the SQ10 regularly, the SQ6 is the one we've all been waiting for. It takes after the Instax Neo 90 (Mini Camera) in terms of looks and features (and overall image quality) while adding some fun new features (but also losing some features).
FILM / Square Format:
The Square film is an in-between size between Instax Mini and Instax Wide. There is some learning-experience require to make the transition as the Mini/Wide worked well for both landscape and portrait shots while the Square can be much harder to frame. You'll need to get in quite close to fill the frame while the other sizes typically worked well due to their wide/tall sizes.
CAMERA:
The build quality is very nice. It uses a thick plastic which feels like it can handle a couple drops. The LCD display from cameras like the Neo 90 and Wide 300 has been replaced with printed icons and LED lights to indicate the modes.. this is a nice improvement (expecially in low-light as the previous screens were not backlit). The visibility here is a nice improvement.. the one downside is that the large LCD film counter on the Neo 90 has been replaced by a small physical counter on the bottom corner (near where you hold the camera) which can be hard to seen.
A few odd changes from the earlier cameras are that the camera no longer ejects the dark slide automatically (so after you load a new pack, you'll need to take a photo in order to eject it). In most situations this won't be an issue.. but I did already have a couple times where I would load a pack, go out shooting and then come to find that my first shot ended up just being the darkslide. On the other end, after all 10 shots have been taken it will still allow you to take photos -- the Neo 90 and Wide 300 would see that the pack is empty and not take the photo. I would have liked this to be the case on the SQ6 but again it's a small complaint.
Eject times on photos seem to also be a bit longer than other cameras (adding 1-2 seconds per photo)
The camera also appears to be much more wide angle than other Instax cameras. This might be a good thing for selfies but for most other uses it's a bit TOO wide. To fill a photo with a person, you typically need to get in VERY close (uncomfortably close, even!) due to the wider angle of the lens. The viewfinder does not seem to provide an accurate depiction of the shot.. it's actually quite a bit wider than shown.
MODES:
The camera has 3 modes: Selfie mode (about 1 ft - 1.6 ft), normal mode (1.6 ft to 6.6 ft) and landscape mode (6.6 ft +)
There are 3 buttons on the back: MODE, TIMER and FLASH OFF.
Mode toggles between the modes (Automatic, Selfie (which has a mirror on the front of the lens), Macro (close-up), Landscape, Double exposure and Lighter/Darker modes.
TIMER sets a timer (I believe 10 seconds?) and Flash OFF toggles the flash on/off. Flash off is a bit odd because the light turned on means the flash is off (light off = flash on)
There are some downsides with the modes. Some of the previous buttons are now missing from the Neo 90 (the Lighter/Lighter+ and Darker button has been cut down to just Lighter/Darker.. the Lighter/Darker button has been removed and added to the Modes (so you'll need to toggle between all modes to adjust this) and the MACRO mode has been added to the MODES opposed to a dedicated button).
Some of the other issues I noticed were that modes from the NEO 90 were not present here.. ones like Party Mode/Night Mode, Bulb mode and Kids Mode. One thing I don't like is that because the MODE button cycles between so many different modes (standard focusing, macro, landscape) that in order to get to something like "Lighter", the lens will adjust 3-4 times as it cycles through each option which adds a delay to activating these modes.
Unfortunately, unlike the Neo 90, since the Lighter/Darker and Macro are now part of the single modes button (and not individual ones), you can't have a combination like Darker + Macro.. it's one or the other.
IMAGE QUALITY:
Image quality was very nice - definitely comparable to the other "good" instax cameras like the Neo 90.. The issue that I did have though are that the flash was very overpowering. For someone who has used the Neo 90 (which has a very well performing flash that doesn't drown out the image) and the Instax Wide 300 (which does tend to give lower-quality results), I found the flash on the SQ6 to be closer to that of the Wide 300 and would tend to overexpose images outdoors while underexposing indoors. The flash power is very bright but I wasn't impressed with any of the photos taken with it on. Shots without the flash would tend to appear much nicer in sharpness, color and exposure.
IN THE BOX:
The camera comes in 3 colors: Bronze, Grey and White - all of them look nice so it just comes down to preference. This is a nice change from the Neo 90 and Wide 300 which were very limited in color options (while not going as crazy as the Mini 70/Mini 9's bright colors).
The camera runs off of 2 CR2 batteries which should last for 30 packs of film (300 shots) - this can vary depending on flash usage. Since CR2 are a bit non-standard (the Neo 90 used rechargable batteries, the 300 and Mini 9 used AA batteries), it's best to stock up on a few extras just-in-case so you're not left scrambling for them after your initial pack runs out. The benefit here are that the CR2 seem to last quite a bit longer than rechargable batteries.
Included with the camera is a camera strap (full strap, not just a wrist strap like some of the Mini ones comes with). It also has a tripod mount an 3 included flash gels that fit over the cameras flash (orange, purple and green). I was excited for the gels but so far have not gotten very good results from them. They will take some trial and error.
Lastly, the SQ6 also has a tripod mount on the bottom.
- Product Dimensions: 15.5 x 15.5 x 10.4 cm ; 227 g
- Boxed-product Weight: 726 g
- Batteries 2 CR2 batteries required. (included)
- Item Model Number: Instax Square SQ6 Blush Gold
- ASIN: B07CW43M2L
- Date first available at Amazon.com.au: 15 May 2018
- Average Customer Review: Be the first to review this item
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
- #19 in Film Cameras
