Fujifilm’s New Instant Camera Records 4 Seconds of Video Before You Press the Shutter

Fujifilm‘s new Instax Mini Evo 2 is a hybrid camera that lets you view your photos (and tweak them a bit) before printing them out on Instax film, with a few new modes and a larger touchscreen. It’s basically a little more of everything beloved about the original Instax Mini Evo, plus some extra bells and whistles. There’s a built-in selfie mirror, too. © Fujifilm When it comes to the camera hardware itself, the LCD touchscreen is the biggest upgrade here. The Evo 2 has a 4.5-inch screen, a significant jump from the original Evo’s 3-inch screen. When you’re trying to perfect a shot before you commit to using up a frame of (relatively pricey) film, that larger screen could make all the difference. The Evo 2 also has a slightly larger 1/2.77-inch sensor; the original Evo had a 1.5-inch sensor. The Evo 2 also improves shot composition with the addition of a new Expanded View feature, which displays a wider field of view than what will actually be captured in a photo. This mimics the action of film cameras, allowing you to see what’s outside the shot to properly line it up. But the flagship new feature here—called Immersive Mode—is one users might recognize from their smartphones. When turned on (with a microSD card inserted), Immersive Mode allows the camera to capture the four seconds leading up to a shutter press, similar to an iPhone’s Live Photos or Samsung’s Motion Photos. This four-second video can then be played back on the screen or exported to a computer. These videos are limited to 560 x 992 pixels at 24 fps, so don’t expect to take any groundbreaking setup shots here. A dial around the lens can be used to change filter combinations. © Fujifilm Like the original Evo, the Evo 2 comes with a slew of filters to vary your photo’s atmosphere and mood. There are 10 lens effects (like vignette, soft focus, light leak, and half frame) and 10 film effects (like vivid, deep, pale, and sepia) for a total of 100 possible filter combinations. A dial around the lens can be turned to cycle through these filters. You can also manually adjust exposure, white balance, and flash right on the camera. The Instax Mini Evo 2 will be available towards the end of November for $290—about $55 more than the original Evo.