Fujifilm Adds Mood Filter and Landscape Mode to the instax SQUARE 2
Fujifilm has added the instax SQUARE 2 to its instant camera range, an entry model for square format film that succeeds the SQ1 and reaches Singapore at S$169. The company says it keeps the simple operation of its predecessor while adding a landscape mode and a filter switch that changes the character of a finished print.
The square format sits between the smaller mini film and the wide format that is twice its size, and its even proportions suit portraits and landscapes alike. The SQUARE 2 works the way the SQ1 did, with a lens barrel that powers the camera on when it is turned, after which the user points at the subject and presses the shutter. Fujifilm says the shape is meant to let users capture not only the subject but the background and atmosphere around it.
And the changes are mostly about control rather than automation. Where the SQ1 offered an everyday setting and a mode for close subjects, the new model adds a landscape mode for distant subjects, chosen by rotating the lens, so scenery and group shots come out sharper than a fixed setting would allow.
The more novel addition is the Mood Filter, a switch beside the lens that places a physical filter in front of it instead of applying a digital effect. Two options, Warm and Cool, shift the tone of a print while leaving the grain and colour character of the film intact, which is the point for a camera whose appeal is analogue rather than sharp.
Fujifilm has also introduced a new square film stock called Soft Haze, developed to produce softer light and warmer tones through a revised emulsion. The company positions it for portraits, skin tones, sunlit interiors and travel scenes, and says the look is distinct from existing instax film.
But the body carries over more than it changes. The design keeps the clean lines and large curved surfaces of the current generation, with striped accents on the grip and lens, and it comes in Slate Blue, Brick Red and Misty White. The automatic exposure system and the selfie mirror beside the lens both return.
The pricing puts the camera at the accessible end of the range. It sits below Fujifilm's higher specification instant models, and it takes the square format film retailers already stock, so buyers are not tied to a new consumable that may be hard to find.
The timing also matters in a category that has held its ground against phone cameras. Instant photography has survived because the print is the product, and Fujifilm has spent years widening the range of films and looks rather than chasing resolution, which is the strategy the new film stock extends.
So the SQUARE 2 is an update in the ordinary sense, a familiar body with a wider set of shooting options and a filter anyone can work without opening a menu. Whether that is enough to pull buyers away from the mini format, still the cheapest way into instant photography, is the question the announcement leaves open.
Fujifilm announced the instax SQUARE 2, an entry model for square format film and the successor to the SQ1
It adds a landscape mode for distant subjects alongside the standard and close range settings, selected by rotating the lens
A new Mood Filter switch places a physical Warm or Cool filter in front of the lens
The camera reaches Singapore at S$169 in Slate Blue, Brick Red and Misty White
Fujifilm also introduced a square film stock called Soft Haze, with softer light and warmer tones
Source: Fujifilm
