Fujifilm Instax Mini 99 Assessment - Exploring the Charm of an Immediate Photography Device

Key Takeaways

• The Fujifilm Instax Mini 99 offers creative freedom with color effects, manual controls, and retro design.
• This instant camera lacks digital features like image preview and connectivity, focusing on analog photography.
• While the Mini 99 may be fiddly for casual users, advanced photographers may appreciate its creative capabilities.

I was first wooed by the Fujifilm Instax Mini 99 ’s retro style, but it’s not without substance. It has a sneaky number of features to go along with its design. In fact, it might have too many options for the casual photographer and be too analog to be an instant buy.

Fujifilm Instax Mini 99

6/ 10

$186 $200 Save $14

This premium instant camera lets you capture photos in their true, analog format. Six awe-inspiring Color Effect settings let you fuel your creative freedom (they’re all powered by color-changing LEDs located inside the camera)

Pros

• Color effects allow for a lot of image variety
• Nice looking retro design
• Lots of manual controls

Cons

• No image preview
• Controls take time (and film) to get accustomed to
• No Bluetooth or Wi-Fi

$186 at Amazon $199.99 at Fujifilm

How We Test and Review Products

Price and Availability

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 99 retails for $199.99 and comes in black. It uses the Fujifilm Instax mini film.

Specifications

Battery

Rechargeable

Size

2.6 x 4.2 x 4.6in

Weight

0.75lbs

Lens

f = 60 mm, 1:12.7

Storage

N/A

Hotshoe

No

Exposure

Automatic: LV 5.0 to 14.8 (ISO 800)

Misc. Features

Tripod mount, Manual Vignette Switch

Expand

An Instant Camera That Loves Its Buttons

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

The first thing you should know about the Instax Mini 99 is that it’s more analog than most modern instant cameras. There’s no color screen on the back to preview photos. There are no digital elements inside the viewfinder to preview images there either. As its retro style indicates, it’s back to the basics in a lot of ways with the Mini 99.

The thing the camera does provide is buttons and dials—a lot of them. There are two shutter buttons, depending on the orientation you’re holding the camera. There’s a tripod mount. You can lighten and darken the exposure with one of the dials and apply color effects with the other one.

There is a tiny LCD on the back, but that’s just to show the number of shots remaining, along with displaying a few icons. There’s a manual vignette control that can be toggled around the lens. There’s even a neck strap and base mount included in the box. The Mini 99 has a lot going on.

Several of the instant cameras I’ve gotten my hands on in recent years have felt more toy-like than ever. Here, Fuji opted to go the other way and kind of chase its X100-series success by charging a premium for a potentially niche product.

I commend the effort with the Instax Mini 99. On the whole, I think the company largely succeeds at offering a more tricked-out instant camera to those who want it. It doesn’t hurt either that the retro styling is perfectly done.

Of course, there are a lot more compromises on this product than there are on the latest X100VI camera. For starters, the Mini 99 feels a little plasticky compared to how it looks. Turning the focus ring specifically stuck out to me in this regard. I worry about how the leather-like texture will wear over time too.

I feel slightly obligated to point out the Mini 99’s flaws more heavily because people might be overly swayed by its design. This is a great camera that rises beyond toy status, but it’s far from perfect, and without leveling expectations, you might come away disillusioned after purchase.

Things to Know About the Mini 99

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

The obvious thing to point out about the Mini 99 is that it’s just an instant camera. There isn’t Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Each click of the shutter is a roll of the dice, essentially.

If you want more technology infused into your instant camera, Fuji has the Evo Mini . That camera, however, skews more toward a photo printer that can also take photos than it does an instant camera.

Even in testing the Mini 99, I felt the weight of only having a certain number of opportunities to see how all the settings and features worked. It definitely took a full pack of film to see how the light adjustment and shooting modes would look in practice.

Again, no effects or adjustments are previewable in the viewfinder. You don’t get to see the colors applied to your shot ahead of time or how the manual vignette will change the composition. A lot of this may be obvious, and perfectly fine for you, but be prepared with a few extra packs of film as you get started.

I have some other concerns that you should watch out for as well. The back battery door isn’t attached. It surprised me each time I opened it and it accidentally fell to the ground. You need to open the battery door regularly too because there’s no way to charge the battery while it’s in the camera. That’s a shame.

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

Maybe it’s me, but I could not remember what the different color effects abbreviations stood for. It’s hard to play what-if, but I do wonder if just using a single letter for most of the effects would have been better. Instead of FG, LB, and SM for faded green, light blue, and soft magenta; G, B, and M, could have done the job. Because then I feel like the WT, SP, and LL initials would have been quicker to decipher as two letters—warm tone, sepia, and light leak, respectively.

Keeping the effects straight shouldn’t be an issue if you use the camera frequently. Using the camera all the time could get expensive, however, with buying film frequently. If you only pick the Mini 99 up a few times a year during special moments, remembering the color effects will be tricky.

As for the other dial, once I knew what the L and D were for varying degrees of lightness or darkness, I had no problem remembering or keeping them straight. There are two shutter buttons, but I didn’t care for having a photo be in landscape, so I stuck to using the button under the flash. I prefer instant film to be more traditionally oriented with the thick white part on the bottom.

Should You Buy the Fujifilm Instax Mini 99?

Tyler Hayes / How-To Geek

Despite the Fujifilm Instax Mini 99 ’s relatively steep $200 price point, I think it makes for a compelling instant camera for advanced users. It has enough controls that professionals might want to add it to their toolbox for new ways to express their creativity.

For the people who just want an instant camera for special moments, you’ll want to consider how fiddly you need your camera to be. The Mini 99 forces you to really live in the moment with its preview-less analog design. But if you’re okay stocking up on film to get the perfect shot, then you’ll be well served by the Instax Mini 99.

Fujifilm Instax Mini 99

6/ 10

$186 $200 Save $14

This premium instant camera lets you capture photos in their true, analog format. Six awe-inspiring Color Effect settings let you fuel your creative freedom (they’re all powered by color-changing LEDs located inside the camera)

$186 at Amazon $199.99 at Fujifilm

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