In my humble opinion, one of the best parts of film Photography is instant cameras. There’s just something so rewarding about taking a picture and having it developed and printed within a few minutes. One of my favorite instant cameras is the Fujifilm Instax Wide 300. Today, I’m reviewing this handy little camera for you as well as sharing the best ways to use it.

I got the Instax 300 camera as a birthday gift a few years ago, and, while I immediately loved it, I bombed my fair share of film packs trying to figure out how to properly use it. Most of my images came out either severely under or overexposed or really blurry. I ended up wasting a few packets of film because I had no idea how to shoot this camera. That’s why I’m reviewing this camera for you guys, so you can go out there, take great images, and live your best lives!

Purchasing

This camera is a pretty easy camera to find, I ended up buying mine on Amazon. The camera came in a box with a manual, strap, four AA batteries, and a clip-on for close-up lens shots. The camera is pretty light which makes it very easy for carrying around for long distances and big trips. It is a great travel companion if you’re looking for an instant camera to take on your fun journeys!

Camera Details

Compared to other instant cameras, it’s exposure time per image is much faster. I found that compared to my Polaroid camera, the Instax film develops fully in about 10 minutes whereas most Polaroids take about 20. A thing to remember about this camera is that you are getting an instant camera at it’s barebones. No fancy buttons or anything like that with this baby. It’s genuinely just a simple camera without all the fluff that some instant cameras on the market have nowadays.

The size of the images initially drew me to this camera. The Instax Mini’s images were just too small for my taste, so I knew the wide 300 would be perfect for me. The images for the Wide are double the size of the Mini’s, measuring in at 4.2” by 3.4”.

Accessories

When you purchase this camera, you also receive a clip-on lens that allows you to take selfies or up-close images that are an arm’s length away. I highly recommend that you DON’T take selfies with it, they are not flattering in the slightest, and trying to get the camera in position is an arm strain. Just don’t do it!

However, using the clip-on attachment for up-close images can be fun, especially with how well this camera retains clarity and detail. I particularly love it for flower images or anything colorful and scenery related. I usually just put my arm out and make sure my subject is right where my fingertips are, that’s the perfect distance for using the close-up attachment!

Other than a clip-on attachment for up-close shots, there aren’t too many available accessories for the Fuji Instax Wide. But, luckily, there are some fun resources you can get to help keep your images and your camera safe!

Here are a few of my favorite resources (all found on Amazon):

• Instax Wide Album
• Black & White Film
• Color Film
• Leather Case

Camera Usage

As I stated above, when I first got the Instax Wide, I tanked quite a few packs of the film because I just couldn’t figure out how to properly use the camera. All my images were coming out underexposed, blurry, too far away, etc. It took a little research and trial and error to figure out how to use this camera to its fullest potential. On the lens, the camera has specific settings for distances. You have two different settings, one for 3 to 10 feet and one for 10 feet to infinity. This was where I struggled with getting blurry images.

This camera is very picky about your distance to your subjects. So picky in fact I ended up writing myself a little cheat sheet and taping it to the back of my camera so I wouldn’t forget! You’ll often hear me yelling, “Am I 3 to 10 feet away?!” before taking an image. The 3 to 10 feet setting on the lens is good for portraits, and the 10 to infinity setting on the lens is terrific for landscapes or anything that is far away.

Unless you’re a huge fan of flash, this camera is incredibly light hungry. I find that it works its absolute best around sunset time when the light isn’t too harsh and there is still enough that won’t trigger the flash to turn on. I’ve taken pictures in the forest where there has been a ton of light and I put my camera on “Lighter” mode and still ended up getting severely underexposed images. Light is your friend when it comes to this camera!

Pros

• Image Sharpness: One of the best pros is how sharp the images are compared to other instant film cameras. Maybe it’s because my original Polaroid camera is an oldie, but I find that my Instax images are clearer and sharper looking compared to my Polaroids.
• Film Price: Also, the film is considerably cheaper, and you get more images per pack. And everyone loves more pictures, especially since these images are much bigger than their counterparts!
• Sunsets/Sunrises: Another pro for this camera is that it captures some of the most beautiful sunset and sunrise images. Because it loves light so much, taking images during the sunrise or the sunset is truly where it shines. They are some of my favorite images to take with this camera!
• Faster Film Development: I love that the film develops fast mostly because you get the chance to see right away whether you need to retake an image or not.

Cons

• Film Variety: A few of the cons is that unlike the Instax Mini, the variety in film packs is greatly lacking. Other than the regular pack and a pack for black & white images, I haven’t found any film packs that have fun borders or effects Fujifilm needs to up its game with the Wide 300 film packs because mama likes to experiment with crazy borders and effects! Can I get an amen?!
• The Flash: One of the biggest cons for me is that there is no capability to turn the flash off. Because of its simplicity, this camera will turn the flash on whenever it feels there isn’t enough light, which can be frustrating if you’re taking an image where you don’t want to lose the color or details. Flash has its place, but I’ve found that it will go off in circumstances where I thought there was plenty of light which leads me to have to take more images and inevitably wasting film.

Have you ever shot with an instant camera before? If so, let me know your favorite instant camera experience in the comments below!

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Want to read more about film photography? Check out the film photography category on my blog!