The Best Polaroid Cameras To Capture Your Favorite Moments

Film type: Polaroid i-Type | Print size: 3.1 x 3.1 inches

Best for: The vintage Polaroid instant picture-taking experience, with a few modern twists.

Pros:

• Camera comes with three boxes of film
• Includes five special effect camera filters
• Camera pairs wireless with a smartphone via Bluetooth

Cons:

• Additional film is expensive

To make getting started with instant photography easier, Polaroid shifted to selling its popular Now+ camera as part of specialized sets, like the Starter Set and Travel Set. Each comes with at least one box of instant film and includes at least one camera accessory. This Starter Kit bundles the Now+ camera, two boxes of color i-Type film and one box of black and white i-Type film.

This modern twist on the vintage Polaroid camera can wirelessly link with your phone. With your phone, you can control the camera, making it easy to focus, adjust aperture priority and snap your shots using light paintings or double exposure techniques.

Film type: Instax Mini instant film | Print size: 2 x 3 inches

Best for: Snapping those special moments without breaking the bank.

Pros:

• Affordable
• Has a selfie mirror

Cons:

• No double exposure
• Film sold separately

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 gives you a quick picture at an affordable price. It captures and then prints 2 x 3-inch prints in just five seconds; in another 90 seconds, your photo is completely developed and ready to go. To turn on your camera, simply twist the lens. It also has the auto exposure feature, plus a close-up mode with parallax correction. We especially love the integrated selfie mirror with a hand strap included for easier management. 

The compact design is incredibly lightweight, weighing just a pound, so it’s perfect to take with you on the go. Use with Instax Mini instant film, which is sold separately. 

Film type: Polaroid Go Film | Print size: 2.1 x 2.6 inches

Best for: Taking instant photos while you’re on-the-go.

Pros:

• Fast development
• Built-in self-timer and selfie flash mirror
• Lightweight and portable

Cons:

• Picture quality is limited
• Only works with Polaroid instant film

The latest generation of Polaroid Go brings some great improvements to the already excellent original Go, adding USB-C charging and a better sensor for much warmer and accurate images. The photos develop quickly, making sure that you can get a physical photo in your hand as fast as possible, and it has a built-in self timer and selfie flash mirror which makes taking photos with friends and family simple.

The LED flash is bright enough to illuminate darker shots and the design is super compact and lightweight, making it easy to carry around with you in a bag or around your neck, thanks to the built-in carry strap hook. The chassis is made from 30% recycled materials, too, helping to cut back on e-waste with new electronics purchases.

Film type: Fujifilm Instax Mini | Print size: 2.4 x 1.8 inches

Best for: An advanced photographer who wants instant prints.

Pros:

• A wonderful modern-day rendition of a Lomography camera
• Three interchangeable lenses
• Has three shooting modes

Cons:

• Generates small size prints
• Expensive

The popularity of Lomo’s simple point-and-shoot cameras gave birth to an entire style of photography, called Lomography. Today, that’s less common, but you can enjoy it in a modern camera with the Lomography Lomo’Instant camera. It’s for the more adventurous instant photographer, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth taking on as a challenge.

Like most instant cameras, it’s fully automatic, even if its focus isn’t. This camera is more advanced than the typical instant cameras: It comes with three interchangeable lenses—for far, moderate and close focus distances. And it has other advanced features like multiple exposures and long exposures using a “bulb” setting that leaves the shutter open for as long as you hold the button down (up to 30 seconds). This is a popular technique for night photography and for creating artistic light trail photos. The removable lens cap for this camera has a wireless remote control built in for triggering the shutter from a distance. The camera uses Fujifilm Instax Mini film cartridges to produce its creative prints.

Film type: Thermal print paper | Print size: 2 x 3 inches

Best for: For kids who want their selfies to work as stickers, too.

Pros:

• Fast printing
• Battery lasts for hours of video or photo taking
• Cute kid-friendly design

Cons:

• Thermal image quality isn’t the best

The Kidamento Model P isn’t a super-high-quality Polaroid camera, but it’s not meant to be—it’s meant to be an introduction to cameras for kids. It takes good quality images at up to 9MP and video at up to 1080p, and can print out the former in black-and-white on thermal paper in less than 30 seconds. It’s fast, cheap to run, has a long battery life and it’s built specifically for kids, with a cute design that’s easy for smaller hands to hold. The fun panda design also gives a fun flair for kids.

This is a great camera for kids from as young as five, and even some adults who are young at heart. The images are all saved on the included 16GB memory card, so you can transfer them and any videos your kids take to a computer to look at later in full color—and print them off in color if you wish. That gives this camera extra longevity, if kids as they age find they aren’t so interested in the thermal prints.