The Ultimate FujiFilm Instax Hybrid Review: A Comparison of the SQ10, SQ20, LiPlay Mini & Evo Mini
Please take a look here for a you tube video showing the difference between the LiPlay and Evo:
Instax Mini Evo Vs LiPlay Fuji Hybrid Cameras Comparison - YouTube
In this article I will compare all the instax cameras. It’s a work in progress so I have included some test images indoors and outside to better demonstrate the differences in picture quality.
At the end I will pick out all the best features from each camera to create the dream hybrid camera.
Specs | Instax Mini Evo | Instax Mini LiPlay | SQ10 (Square) | SQ20 (Square) |
Sensor | 1/5-in | 1/5-in | ¼-in | 1/5-in |
Effective pixels | 2560 × 1920 | 2560 × 1920 | 1920 x 1920 | 1920 x 1920 |
Flash Effective Range | 50 cm to 1.5 m LED | 50 cm to 1.5 m LED | Auto/Compulsory flash/Suppressed flash/Slow synchro/Red-eye removal Effective range: Approx. 50 cm to 8 m | Auto/Compulsory flash/Suppressed flash Effective range: Approx. 50 cm to 2 m |
Sensitivity | ISO100 to 1600 (automatic switching) | ISO 100 to 1600 (Auto) | ISO 100 to 1600 (Auto) | ISO 100 to 1600 (Auto) |
Aperture | F2.0 | F2.0 | F2.4 | F2.4 |
Shutter Speed
| 1/8000 to 1/4 second | 1/8000 to 1/4 second | 1/29500 sec. to 1/2 sec. (Auto), maximum 10 sec. in Bulb mode | 1/7500 sec. to 1/2 sec. (Auto), maximum 10 sec. in Bulb mode |
Focal length | f = 28 mm (35-mm film equivalent) | f = 28 mm (35 mm film equivalent) | 28.5mm | 33.4 mm |
Focus range | 10 cm to ∞ | 10 cm to ∞ | 10 cm to ∞ | 10 cm to ∞ |
LCD | 3.0-inch TFT, 460,000 dots | 2.7-inch TFT, 230,000 dots | 3 in TFT Colour LCD Monitor (Approx. 460k-dots) | 2.7-in. (6.9 cm) TFT colour LCD monitor, Pixels: Approx. 230k-dots |
Filters | 10 lens effects, 10 film effects, 100 possible combinations | 6 filters, 10 frames | 6 Partial colour (Red / Orange / Yellow / Green / Blue / Purple), plus10 Filters, Brightness adjustment, Vignette | For still & video: 6 Partial colour (Red / Orange / Yellow / Green / Blue / Purple), plus 10 filters, Brightness adjustment, Vignette Plus 2 dedicated filters to still images and 3 dedicated to video. |
Print resolution | 25 dots / mm x 12.5 dots/ mm (635 x 318 dpi, 40 x 80 μm dot pitch) 12.5 dots / mm when printed from smartphone app (318 dpi, 80 μm dot pitch) | 12.5 dots/mm (318 dpi, 80 μm dot pitch) | 12.5 dots/mm (318 dpi, 80 µm dot pitch | 12.5 dots/mm (318 dpi, 80 μm dot pitch) |
Battery Life & Type | Approximately 100, Built-in | Approximately 100, Built-in | Approx. 160 prints, removable | Approx. 100 prints, built in |
Digital Zoom | Yes | Yes | 2.4x | Up to 4 X in shooting/printing |
Shooting modes | Standard, Double Exposure | Standard | Standard, Double Exposure, Bulb | Standard, Double exposure, Bulb mode, Split, Collage, Time Shift Collage |
Dimensions | 87 mm x 122.9 mm x 36 mm | 82.5 mm × 122.9 mm × 36.7 mm | H12.7 x W11.9 x D4.7cm | 119 mm x 50 mm x 127 mm/ |
Weight | 285 g | 255 g | 450g (includes film pack and battery) 400g (without film) | 440 g/15.5 oz. (including film pack). 390 g (without film) |
Tripod? | Y | N | Y | N |
The SQ10 The Original
So, I will start where it all began.
The SQ10.
The SQ10 and its younger brother the
SQ20 are odd looking cameras. The square format results in a square shaped
camera.
The build quality of the SQ10 feel
solid. The plastic feels like good quality, with a soft touch feel in the
recess that surrounds the lens. A bit heavy in the hand but feels nice.
The screen is also nice, images can sometimes
appear brighter than when they are printed but serves its purpose.
The scroll ring at the back is also a
great interface, making it easy to scroll through menus and filters.
The strength of the SQ10 are the
filters. There is a wide range, you can apply them before taking images as well
as after. The camera only saves the filterless image and processes the filters as
you scroll through them. You can therefore apply any filter before printing, as
well as previewing before taking the images. Unfortunately, as with the SQ20
you can not save the image with the filter applied.
Unlike the Evo min and mini LiPlay,
there is no Bluetooth connection to enable you to print pictures from your
phone. You can transfer images to the SD card in the JPEG format and then
print, but it must have a file name with four letters followed by four numbers e.g.,
AAAA1111.
The removable battery allows you to buy an extra in case you needed more juice. I would say it has the best battery life out of the hybrid range.
The SQ20 The Cheaper
Made Younger Brother
The SQ20 can do all the SQ10 can do
but with the addition of video, allowing you to select a still from film
sequence, commonly known as frame grab.
The SQ20 feels ‘cheaper’. You can tell
they tried to cut manufacturing costs by using cheaper feeling plastic. The
shape the plastic is moulded is better though. Your hand fits better in the camera’s
grooves.
Now the major drawbacks with the SQ20.
They reduced an already small sensor, resulting in a higher focal length of
33.4mm vs 28.5mm, this results in a narrower angle of view. I found with the
square format you fit less in anyway, and with a higher focal length this is
reduced further. Despite this many people like the retro feeling of the square
format.
Bulb mode exists on the SQ20 as with
the SQ10, but NO TRIPOD HOLE! Crazy!
There are some great additions despite
these drawbacks. As previously mentioned, one big plus is the frame grab
function. There are split screen and collage templates, which I have used for many of the images in this article. You can go for standard split frames or more crazy patterns
of squares and rectangles.
One feature that I have never really
understood is the time shift collage, I just can’t get it to work for me. It
takes a picture, then takes addition images after a short time giving you a
time lapse image.
You can also do faux long exposure. It
acts as a sequence filter to create a sense of action, introducing movement in
your images.
It’s a fun camera but I have noticed
the short cuts taken when reducing the sensor has impacted the image quality.
Compared to the SQ10 the images are taken with a larger ISO value, resulting in
noisier images in poor light.
The 1/5th sensor also
exists on the Evo Instax and LiPlay, but these appear optimised compared to the
SQ20.
The screens resolution is also reduced
by half making the experience less enjoyable.
Another major drawback unlike the SQ10
the battery is built in. So, in 5 years when your battery dies so does your
camera unless you like taking things apart. This is true for the next two
cameras too. There definitely appears to be a move towards cheaper
manufacturing costs.
Also, with all cameras coming after SQ10 there has been a move from decent traditional flashes to weak LED flashes. This has reduced the range from around 8m to under 2m. The SQ20 suffered the most and seemed the least optimised for the 1/5th sensor and LED flash with noisy images.
LiPlay A Strange Camera
with a Useful Bluetooth Printer Built In
Just like the SQ20 there’s no tripod
hole, but no bulb mode either. It also
has a built-in battery, the same sensor size as the SQ20 but with the addition
of a Bluetooth App that allows you to print images from your phone or tablet to
the camera. It has the same low-resolution screen of the SQ20.
The format is also different from the square
film to the classic credit card size mini film. I find you can fit more into
this format, albeit on a smaller film.
The number of filters is reduced, but
you have some gimmicky frames which is great if you young but older users may
ask why??
It also has the weird sound feature. You
press the Sound Mode shutter button to record a sound clip with your snap for
10 seconds or so. You can then print the image with a QR to replay the sound
clip, but I think it only stays on their servers for a year. The sound file is
saved along with jpg images on the SD card. To be honest this feature has gone
over my head but is different.
There are 6 filters and 12 frames. My
favourites are the Black and White filter and for the frames ‘Focused’ and ‘Light
FX’, a mock light leak effect. Choices are limited though, and the filters must
be applied before taking the images as with the Evo. You can apply frames after taking the
image.
The Instax Evo: Trying to look like a film camera
So, the Evo looks more traditional than the LiPlay,
plus the tripod hole is back, but without bulb mode unfortunately. They have
brought back a higher resolution screen as seen on the SQ10.
They have taken the LiPlay, got rid of
the Sound function, dressed it up and added more filters.
Filters are its strength with 10 film filters
and 10 lens filters, resulting in a possible combination of 100 different
styles.
Luckily you can save your favourite
combinations to 3 pre-sets, useful because it can take a while to compose your
shot due to all the filters. Filters must be applied (or not) before taking the
image, as with the LiPlay’s 6 filters.
It feels like plastic but trying to
look more substantial. The retro looks created by a selfie mirror trying to
look like a viewfinder and a print lever like a film advance lever are nice
touches. Although I do worry about breaking the plastic print lever due to catching
it on my pocket, so I strongly recommend a case.
The Apps for both the LiPlay and Evo
are easy to use and allow you to use your phone as a remote with ‘live view’ as
well as a Bluetooth printer. Unlike the Evo when printing from the camera itself the resolution remains at 12.5 dots per mm. With the Evo you can get 25 dots per mm when printing from the camera, but is still 12.5 when using the app.
Print Quality of the LiPlay vs. the Evo
The LiPlay prints darker than the Evo. However there is a new firmware update for the LiPlay that means you can now lighten your prints, like with the Evo. Unfortunately many of the details in the example image below were lost, including the green colour of the grass and the details on the grave stones, that were visible when viewed on screen, so is definitely printing related.
The Evo's Rich Mode prints more vividly. As you can see in the example below it resulted in my image having a strange yellowly/brown tint. I personally prefer the Natural Mode because like the name suggests, it appears more natural. I would say it's half way between the print of the LiPlay and the Evo's Rich Mode.
Despite the Evo saying it prints at twice the resolution when images are printed directly from the camera (25 dots per mm vs 12.5 dots per mm) , I didn't really notice much different between the Evo and the LiPlay in terms of resolution. The LiPlay seems to artificially sharpen the image which may be the reason why.
Another observation is that the Evo took longer to print. From Rich mode it took 23 seconds vs 15 seconds for the LiPlay.
I would say Rich Mode is best for more colourful images like the one below and not for a dull day like the example above.
For further information I have a you tube video for the Evo
here:
A LiPlay vs Evo comparison here: Instax Mini Evo Vs LiPlay Fuji Hybrid Cameras Comparison - YouTube
And a video on the print quality between the Evo and LiPlay:Instax Evo Vs LiPlay Print Quality Comparison - YouTube
And a more extensive written review of the
Evo here:
The Instax Wide Bluetooth
Printer
I love the App that comes with this
printer. You can add text, QR codes containing messages and geo tags, filters
and split templates.
Why have I added this in? the reason
is I want a hybrid Wide camera. Now they have the printer it hopefully makes it
more likely in the future.
Weirdly the wide film costs the same
as the square, which is smaller, which I have never understood.
So, what would be
my perfect hybrid Instax camera?
I would want the following…
· =>The build quality
of the SQ10
· =>The analogue
looks of the Evo Mini
· => An improve
sensor, perhaps 8mp and larger sensor size
· => The higher
resolution screen seen on the SQ10 and Evo.
· => The Bluetooth printing
ability of the Evo and LiPlay
· => The added video
features on the SQ20. Perhaps with the sound recording function of the Liplay.
· =>The removable
battery of the SQ10
· ->The flash on the
SQ10 (not LED!)
· => The ability to
add filters after the image is taken like with SQ10 and SQ20, as well as
before as with the Evo and LiPlay.
· => A tripod hole
with bulb mode included as with SQ10.
· => The collage and
split frame functions seen on SQ20.
· =>And the main one IN
THE WIDE FORMAT, with similar features available on the Instax Wide printer App.
I realise this camera will unlikely
ever exist, and all I’ve done is took the best features of all their hybrid cameras.
Unfortunately, if you take a look at Fujifilm’s recent analogue cameras, they
appear more dumbed down, with fewer features such as double exposure, lighten,
darken, tripod holes and so on. Take the SQ1 for example, compared to the SQ6
it’s a big step backwards at the same price. Unfortunately the SQ6 and Neo Classic mini can be hard to find. Even the number has gone backwards! I may write an article
on this for their analogue range.
You also notice some backwards steps
with their hybrid cameras, so hopefully their next one won’t follow the same trend!
Image Comparison
Below are some outdoor images (dull day) taken to compare these models:
Double Exposure taken with the Evo:
Double Exposure taken with the SQ10:
SQ20
SQ10
As you can see from the images above colours are warmer on the Evo and Liplay. the colours for the SQ10 and SQ20 are more realistic, but makes dull days look bleak. You may notice for the church images above that the SQ10 has a better field of view with more in the image, this is a result of the reduction in sensor size.
I feel like there isn't too much difference between the Evo and Liplay, both seem to be of the same quality, not surprising considering that they are pretty much the same camera sensor.
There's not much difference between the SQ10 and the SQ20 when taking images outside, but the SQ20 suffers more in poor lighting as you will see in the following indoor test images.
Indoor test images with window lighting :
Evo indoor flash near window (auto):
Evo indoor no flash near window (suppressed):
LiPlay indoor flash near window (auto) :
LiPlay indoor no flash near window (suppressed) :
SQ20 indoor flash near window (auto):
SQ20 indoor no flash near window (suppressed):
SQ10 indoor flash near window (auto):
SQ10 indoor no flash near window (suppressed)
LiPlay indoor poor lighting with flash:
SQ20 poor indoor lighting with flash:
SQ20 poor indoor lighting without flash:
SQ10 poor indoor lighting with flash:
SQ10 poor indoor lighting without flash:
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