I also like the twisting barrel which makes it easier to power-up and enter close-up mode. On the downside though, you will still suffer from over-exposures under bright daylight conditions, but the upgrades are still worth spending the extra tenner over the previous Mini 11 if you mostly photograph people. Fujifilm skipped the number 10, so the next model was the Mini 11, seen here with its slimmed-down grip, and while the push power button remained, the exposure was now automatic, and you no longer needed to remember a clip-on adapter for selfies.

It's because the auto exposure system can now vary the shutter speed between 1/2 and 1/250, so it should be able to capture the right amount of light in all shooting scenarios. This is a big step up from the Mini 9's fixed 1/60 shutter speed, and helps massively when shooting indoors. The Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 improves on the previous generation Instax Mini in meaningful ways, making instant photography more accessible than ever with a largely accurate auto exposure system and an adjustable lens that works for close-ups and selfies as well as portraits and landscapes. There's no way to manually disable the flash, which fires automatically with every shot – whether it's really needed or not.The fixed focus lens manages to keep the majority of portrait and middle distance shots looking crisp, while landscapes can appear softer and more dreamlike. Overall the INSTAX Mini 12 becomes the best budget INSTAX to date, especially if you’re into selfies or portraits. The print quality may be essentially the same as previous models but by reducing the flash power and adjusting the viewfinder when set to close-up mode, the 12 minimises washed-out subjects and inaccurate framing.

At first glance this would appear no different to the Mini 11 before it, but in a useful upgrade, Fujifilm has now added parallax correction to the 12 where the viewfinder adjusts when you have it set to close-up mode. This allows you to more accurately frame subjects at close range and avoid them appearing off-centre.The INSTAX Mini 12 is the latest instant camera to use Fujifilm’s enormously popular INSTAX Mini film. Launched in March 2023 and available in five pastel colours, the Mini 12 produces small prints using a fully analogue process that eject straightaway and gradually develop before your eyes in roughly 90 seconds. Switching the camera into selfie / close-up mode also reduces the power of the flash to minimise over-exposed subjects. Here’s two selfies I took, with the older Mini 11 on the left and the new Mini 12 on the right. The difference is subtle in this comparison, but the Mini 12 selfie on the right is definitely a little less washed-out, showing better skin tones and more detail.

Constant firing flash (automatic light adjustment), recycle time: 6.5 seconds or less (when using new batteries), effective flash range: 0.3 to 2.7 m But for anyone who still finds the Mini 12’s styling a little too frivolous, here’s the earlier Mini 40 on the left with its more serious looks, a little like a vintage film camera, albeit much the same as the Mini 11 inside. And at the other end of the scale, the Mini 12 still over-exposes bright outdoor scenes. Here’s a couple of shots I took in Brighton on an overcast day where the sky is completely washed-out – and remember this is England in Winter. If it’s sunny, the subject can become washed-out too, so beware of using any INSTAX cameras for bright daytime photography.

The front grip is narrower, and there's now a ridged thumb grip on the rear for easier one-handed use. Beyond the lens barrel release, which also acts as a power on switch for the built-in flash, the only other button is the shutter release. As I twist the lens barrel to the selfie / close-up mode though, notice how the viewfinder changes, showing the subject now shifted to one side. I’ll now move the subject to recentre it in the viewfinder and take another shot. Now while the final print is still not perfectly centered, it’s an improvement over the previous version and allows you to be more accurate with your framing at close-range with fewer wasted prints.

Push the lens barrel release and it extrudes using a spring mechanism, with the built-in flash activating automatically. The first major difference between the 12 and the models before it is how you actually switch it on: the Mini 12 employs a twisting control on the barrel, so one twist will power it up and extend the lens for general use, while a second twist will extend it further for close-ups or selfies.Compare it to the previous Mini 11 seen here, where you’d push a large button to extend the lens and power up the camera, before then manually yanking out the lens further for selfies or close-ups. There's no way to disable the flash, no self timer, and no tripod thread on the bottom. This is about as simple as instant cameras get. With no need to manually adjust the exposure settings every time the lighting situation changes, the Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 has a much greater hit-rate when it comes to correctly judging a scene than the Mini 9, although the nature of Instax film means overblown highlights are still common. The off-center viewfinder can also make light flares an issue when shooting towards the sun. What might seem well-composed can actually have direct sunlight hitting the lens.