Fujifilm's retro-styled instant camera — Instax Mini film, auto exposure, selfie mode, AA-powered
The Instax Mini 40 is Fujifilm's retro-styled instant camera, unveiled in April 2021 alongside the 'Contact Sheet' film variant. Mechanically it is closely related to the Instax Mini 11, but dressed in a black leather-effect body with silver trim that recalls classic rangefinder styling, and it shoots the same credit-card-size Instax Mini film.
The lens is a two-element 60mm f/12.7 design with a shooting range from 0.3m to infinity, and pulling the front lens group out engages Selfie Mode for 0.3-0.5m close-ups, with a small mirror beside the lens for framing. Exposure is fully automatic (Lv 5.0-14.5 at ISO 800) with a programmed electronic shutter from 1/2 to 1/250 second and a constant-firing auto-adjusting flash effective to 2.7m. Prints eject automatically and develop in about 90 seconds. Power is two AA batteries, good for roughly ten 10-shot film packs.
It suits party, travel and gift use where instant prints are the point: operation is one-button simple, with the camera choosing shutter speed and flash output itself. There are no exposure controls at all, so results depend on staying within the automatic system's range, and the flash fires with every shot.
Instax Mini film remains in production and widely available, so running costs, not film scarcity, are the main consideration. On used examples check the film door closes cleanly and its light seals are intact, that the lens barrel clicks properly into both normal and selfie positions, and that fresh AA batteries power the flash-charge lamp promptly.