If Instagram has got you down as much as it has me down (I can’t even find friends’ photos anymore amid the deluge of AI-narrated spam posts and “suggested for you” nonsense), Fujifilm may have the antidote you needed. The company’s new Instax Mini 41 is a tightly-packed point-and-shoot instant camera for capturing the moment and handing off photographic keepsakes, which may mean you won’t have to ask your friends if they’ve given up their Insta account yet.
The Instax Mini 41 is a sequel to 2021’s Instax Mini 40 (which didn’t actually launch until 2022) but in a redesigned plastic shell that still sports the large flash and 60 mm lens. The big improvement this go around is the introduction of automatic exposure, which will adjust the sensor for the light levels when you press down on the shutter button. Fujifilm claims this will result in less blown-out photos when snapping in bright spaces like the great outdoors. The new design also adds parallax correction found in the Instax Mini 12, which should automatically improves focus clarity when centering the frame on your friends’ mug.
© Fujifilm
The camera is also relatively light despite looking like a literal tin can. It weighs in at 12.2 oz (without the two AA batteries) or a little less than a pound. The shell itself is 4.8 by 4 by 2.4 inches, which should be relatively comfortable for most hands. The camera spits out 86 mm by 54 mm “credit card sized” Instax mini film, which you have to buy separately for around $21 for a pack of 20.
It really is more of what you’ve come to expect from Instax cameras. Its lens has a wide angle view equivalent to a 35mm and only two manual focus zones for both up-close or slightly further away. There’s no separate button for flash control. If you want more of those features, you’d have to aim for last year’s $200 Instax Mini 99, which also has a mid-range zoom.
The best word I could use to describe Fujifilm’s new instant camera is “cute,” though it’s not as “cutesy” as the Instax Mini 12. Its rounded