Fujifilm's 2017 instant favourite — Instax Mini film, 60mm f/12.7, brightness dial, selfie mirror, AA power.
The Fujifilm Instax Mini 9 is an instant camera launched in spring 2017 as the successor to the best-selling Instax Mini 8. It shoots credit-card-sized Instax Mini film and arrived in five pastel colours with names like Flamingo Pink and Cobalt Blue, cementing the Instax line's position as the mainstream instant camera of the late 2010s.
It uses a two-element 60mm f/12.7 lens with a fixed 1/60-second shutter and an always-on flash. Exposure is set with a brightness dial around the lens offering indoor, cloudy, sunny and very sunny aperture positions (roughly f/12.7 to f/32) plus a high-key setting for deliberately brighter results. Over the Mini 8 it added a selfie mirror beside the lens and a clip-on close-up lens attachment. Power comes from two AA batteries, good for roughly 100 shots.
The Mini 9 is a party and gift camera first: point, check the recommended lamp on the brightness dial, and shoot. Results depend on the user matching the dial to the light — the most common cause of dark or washed-out prints — which is why the later auto-exposure Mini 11 replaced it. The selfie mirror and close-up attachment make arm's-length portraits genuinely workable.
Instax Mini film is still in production, so the camera is fully usable today and running costs are the main expense. On used examples check the film door and its light seal, the ejection rollers for residue, the flash for prompt charging and the AA bay for leakage. Make sure the included close-up lens attachment is present if the listing claims a complete kit.