Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo hands-on review

Early Verdict

On the morning of the 21st of January, Fujifilm launched its new hybrid instant camera: the Instax Wide Evo. As the Instax mini Evo's bigger sibling, it takes it to the next level by introducing a wide 16mm lens — the widest on any Instax camera yet — and a Wide Angle mode which covers even more area. If you're familiar with my coverage of instant cameras, you'll know that the Instax mini Evo is my favorite — so imagine my excitement when Fujifilm announced it in a wide format.

The Instax Wide Evo is one of two wide-format cameras offered by the Japanese giant, the other being the Instax Wide 400 ($149). It comes in a classic, premium-looking black and gray colorway and it looks and feels fantastic. The photos it captures are lovely, and the wide-angle lens captures a lot of the scene. Fujifilm has introduced a new Degree Control dial and six film styles which give you lots of creative control, especially combined with the 10 filters and 10 lens effects (100 combinations).

How do I know? I went hands-on with the Instax Wide Evo at the launch event and got to spend a couple of hours with it. We’ll be testing the camera fully very soon, but until then let me take you through my early thoughts in this Instax Wide Evo hands-on review.

Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo hands-on review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? Fujifilm's latest hybrid instant camera with the widest lens yet
• Who is it for? For instant photographers who want lots of creative control — and wide format film
• How much does it cost? The Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo is available to pre-order for $349 at Amazon U.S. / £319 at Amazon U.K.
• What do we like so far? The 100 effect combinations and new Degree Control option, the integrated Wide Angle mode, premium design, and the new print crank
• What don't we like so far? It's very expensive! And while the shutter button is fun, it's hit-or-miss

Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo hands-on review: Specs

Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo hands-on review: What we like

Even though I spent just a couple of hours with the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo, I found quite a few things to like — this is a very easily loveable hybrid camera!

100 effect combinations

Much like the Fujifilm Instax mini Evo, you get two dials dedicated to 10 film effects and 10 lens filters, which means you essentially get 100 creative combinations to experiment with — and they still work as well as they did on the Instax Wide Evo's smaller sibling.

What's even better is that you get a dedicated Degree Control dial around the lens, so you can choose if you want just a little bit of a filter or dialled all the way up. I really enjoyed using it as it means you don't have to worry about your photos looking too edited.

There's also a new button on top that lets you apply one of six film styles: normal, a cinematic look, a classic film strip look, a traditional date/time stamp format, a contact sheet look, and a vintage collodion process effect. I experimented with a couple of these and I was pleased with the results.

Wider and wider

As I mentioned, the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo is fitted with the widest lens on any Instax camera yet — 16mm (full frame equivalent) in its Wide Angle mode. The nature of wide film is that you're able to capture a lot of the scene — especially compared to square or mini film — so even in its Normal mode, shots are pretty spacious. Enable Wide Angle mode using the handy button, though, and you’re using the full field of view of the wide 16mm lens.

You can see the difference above. The first photo was shot with the "normal" setting and the second in the 16mm Wide Angle mode. I think this works really well and I can't wait to experiment more with this.

Crank it up

The new print crank is perhaps my favorite feature of the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo. It replaces the print lever I loved on the Instax mini Evo. It's similar to the lever you find on film cameras to load and unload film — and it's so much fun to use. When you start cranking it, you'll see a meter fill up on the right-hand side of the LCD screen and then an animation showing the print ejecting. It's a small thing but it makes the user experience a lot better.

If looks could kill

I can't not talk about just how gorgeous the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo looks. When I first got wind of this camera prior to its release, I was worried it would be just as bulky as the Instax Wide 400, and I'm so pleased it isn't. The Instax Wide Evo comes in just one colorway (black and gray) and it looks and feels premium: from its italicized name on the front to the faux-leather-like material that wraps around its entire body.

It's very easy to handle too as it isn't slippery at all and feels very comfortable to hold with both hands. Honestly, this might be the best looking instant camera out there — I can't think of any others that top this look.

Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo hands-on review: What we don't like

This is a hands-on review so I'll be able to analyze the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo's flaws in my in-depth review in the future, but for now, it's worth noting that this is a very expensive camera, and not much has changed since the Instax mini Evo.

How much?!

The most striking thing about the new Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo is that it’s a very expensive camera. It has a retail price of (and is available to pre-order for) $349 at Amazon U.S. / £319 at Amazon U.K. which makes it the most expensive Instax camera yet, followed only by the Instax mini Evo and the Instax mini 99 ($199 each).

This is a similar price to the Leica Sofort 2 ($399) which I marked down for being so pricey. The Instax Wide Evo faces fierce competition from the likes of the Lomography Lomo’Instant Wide ($169) which offers plenty of manual control. Once I've spent more time with the Instax Wide Evo, I'll be able to conclude whether it's worth the premium, but as of now, I'm a little skeptical.

The Evo-lution... continues?

While the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo retains many of the Instax mini Evo's features, it introduces a new shutter button — it has evo-lved, if you will. Instead of the dual shutter buttons on the smaller model, you get something like a rocker switch next to the lens. It's fun to use but it's a little finicky. You need to half press to focus and then shoot, but this didn't work very well for me. I missed a few shots because of how long the camera took to focus on the subject. And it's also difficult to use it for selfies, especially if you're holding the camera with just one hand. I'm hoping that the more time I spend with the Instax Wide Evo, the more adept I will become at using it but for now, I'm not entirely sold on it.

Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo hands-on review: Outlook

I love the Fujifilm Instax mini Evo. I've tested countless instant cameras and the Instax mini Evo is easily my favorite. I used it to document a vacation and even bought it for myself with my own money. The Instax Wide Evo retains many of its smaller sibling's features. Internal memory is still limited to just 45 photos and you get a microSD card slot to store more. There's a selfie mirror on the front, a USB-C port is used for charging, and battery life is still limited to 100 shots.

So is it worth spending $349 / £319 on? On balance, I’d say yes. You get a large 3.5-inch LCD screen, new film styles, Degree Control, and an integrated Wide Angle mode. Wide film is fun to shoot with too and captures a lot more than mini film. But not much else has changed from the original Evo, and I'll need to spend more time with the Wide Evo to determine whether this camera lives up to my impressions after full testing.