Hi I'm Gordon from camera labs and this Is Mario VI with the Fujifilm in Stacks Pal a tiny digital camera with no Viewfinder no screen and unlike any Instax camera to date no built-in Printer either so it can't really be Described as an instant camera but what It does have apart from those cute looks Is an ultra wideangle lens that will Capture pretty much everyone or Everything you point it at it then sends Those photos directly to an Instax Printer or automatically to your phone Where a new app can apply effects before Sh Shing or printing them out available In four pastel colors or shiny black It's undeniably cute and surprisingly Good fun in practice but the big Question is whether it's 90 worth of Fund for the camera alone in the UK or 105 if you go for the Gen Black Version Or $200 when bundled with a mini printer In the US plus there's the thorny issue Of why you wouldn't just use the almost Certainly better camera that's in your Phone instead perhaps with one of Fujifilm's Link printers to find out I Spent some quality time with my new pal To see if it could be your pal too okay Let's deal with the baby elephant in the Room unlike any of the insta cameras Before it once again the pal will not Make prints by itself and again there's No you find your screen for composition
It's unapologetically basic but the Simplicity of pal is in fact its secret Weapon you see Fujifilm reckons that Rather than wasting time checking and Sharing pictures straight away on a Phone pal encourages you to stay in the Moment not to get distracted or delayed And just keep shooting plus if your Phone doesn't already have a 0.5 times Camera power will also give you similar Ultra wideangle coverage for larger Groups or selfies then like film there's The anticipation and fun of seeing your Photos later perhaps at the end of a day Out although if you like you can still View them straight away if you prefer And if you need more precise composition You can also use your phone to remote Control the power up to a few feet away Looking a little bit like like the love Child of Mike wowski and bb-8 the Insta's pal is undeniably cute and Seriously small it's barely larger than A pingpong ball and the rounded shape Sits comfortably in the palm of your Hand kind of like a saof beauty blender Fujifilm supplies it with a rubber ring Accessory that can either push onto the Top to provide very basic composition a Bit like peering through a monocle or More usefully be used as a stand Allowing more precise adjustments when Your remote controlling it when pushed Onto the top of the camera it's tempting
To use this accessory as a handle or key Ring but it's only held in place by Friction so do make sure that you also Have the string attached to the power Camera itself you don't want it falling On the floor if you do want to hang it More securely Fujifilm sells an optional Silicon case in five colors which Includes a proper carabina for mounting Do note the pal is not weather sealed Nor particularly tough so don't throw it Around like a GoPro this isn't an action Camera looking at Pal's design and the Insta's history you'd be forgiven for Assuming the little strip along the top Is where Tiny stamp-sized Prints might Emerge and how cool would that be but Remember pal can't make prints by itself This strip is actually the power button With a multicolored LED behind it to Indicate the operating status and you Can customize the startup colors via the Phone app to the left of the Instax logo Are three tiny holes for the speaker Which can play customized pre-shot Recordings like save cheese as well as Emitting a Melancholy sign when it Powers Down is this a camera or a Tamagotchi The Lines Blurred but I'm here for it Meanwhile to the right of the logo is a White LED that doubles as a flash or a Charging indicator The Flash can be set In the app to be Auto always on or
Always off I generally left it on though As strongly backlit subjects weren't Always correctly exposed without it Dominating the front surface though is The lens with ultra wide coverage Equivalent to around 16 and a/4 mil and A reasonably fast aperture of 2.2 the Focus is fixed and covers a distance of Around 20 cm to Infinity now the Coverage isn't quite as wide as .5 times Lenses on Modern smartphones but it is Way wider than any of the instat cameras To date so it's much more appropriate For larger group shots or those where You want to include more of the Surroundings plus it allows more success When you're shooting blindly without a Screen in stack pile has access to Shutter speeds from 1/4 to 8,000th of a Second as well as sensitivities from 1 00 to 1600 ISO but beyond a plus or Minus two EV compensation and the Flash Setting via the app exposures are fully Automatic it literally is just point and Shoot round the back is a generously Sized shutter button and it's easy to Operate the power on handed below this Is a USB C port for charging the Internal battery and bonus points to Fujifilm for allowing you to open the Unit from below and replace an old or Broken battery in the future we need to See more of that in fact while we're Looking underneath extra bonus points
For also including a tripod thread I Didn't expect it on a camera like this Also note the switch labeled L and F L Stands for link mode and tells pal to Automatically send the last photo to a Connected Bluetooth Instax printer is Compatible with any of the link models Whether they output mini square or wide Prints although to avoid too much Cropping do ensure that you previously Set the pile to your printer's shape via The app first here I've got it connected To a mini link printer a painless Process which took care of itself as Soon as I turned them both on a few Seconds later the combo were ready to go And moments after pushing the Pal's Shutter button the print emerged from The mini link it's neat but I think that Most people will probably use the pal Via their phones so set the switch to F And you're in fun mode where the pal Automatically sends photos directly to The new app on your phone via Bluetooth Or cues them up for transfer later in Bulk if the app or phone aren't Available straight away now since these Photos are designed to be viewed on a Phone screen or printed on Instax paper There's actually no need to even use the Full 5 megapixel resolution of the Sensor so the Pal app resizes and crops Them depending on the Instax film type That you previously selected in the app
Mini square or wide the resized versions May now only measure around 1 megapixel Each but still have sufficient Resolution to make a good-look Instax Print and the smaller file sizes mean That I was never waiting more than about 3 seconds for each image to transfer Over Bluetooth to my Galaxy s20 Android Phone that said friends of mine testing It with iPhones reported slightly longer Transferred times per image up to around 10 seconds each there's enough internal Memory to store around 50 photos but no Way to access view or delete them until You're connected to the app the 50 shot Limit is to minimize the potential Transfer time to your phone by default The app automatically deletes images From the Pal's internal memory as soon As they're copied onto your phone Thereby freeing it up to take some more But if you want a backup of those images At the full 5 megapixel resolution Without cropping or effects applied just Pop a Micro SD card in the slot in the Side but beware if you have automatic Image deletion enabled in the app Settings as it is by default it'll Unhelpfully delete images from the SD Card as soon as they're transferred to The phone yeah thanks for that Fujifilm If you disable automatic image deletion Though any subsequent photos you take Afterwards are kept on the SD card or
Appear it still up to a maximum of 50 so You'll still need to enable auto image Deletion at some point to clear that Memory and and the queue but in my test This does seem to leave any previously Recorded jpegs on the SD card now to me This doesn't make any sense if I've Inserted an SD card I want the pile to Record untouched images to it and leave Them untouched even as the internal Memory is refreshed on each phone Connection hopefully this capability Might be added as an app update in the Future but for now if you want to record Images onto SD cards for later use You'll need to disable auto image Deletion before shooting and accept a 50 Shot limit of course this is Overthinking what is supposed to be a Very simple product but I can't help it And hopefully you also enjoy this behind The scenes detail that I go into in These reviews but let's get back to the Pal and the way it was designed to be Used here I have the Pal app running on My Samsung Galaxy s20 and I've Previously paired my phone with the Camera you can see the battery status And shooting format in the top left Along with my customized name for the Pal take a photo with the pal and you'll See it automatically transferring to the App after which it can be viewed in the Gallery again it took about 3 seconds to
My phone Note the default tool shape of The image matching the Instax Mini Format you can change the format to Match the Instax square or Instax wide Formats at the point of capture using The app and I found myself mostly Capturing images in in the wide shape as It maximizes the coverage of the lens to Illustrate the coverage in action I Photograph bright and Pier with the pal In each of the three formats before then Downloading the images via the app Here's the view when set to Instax Mini Followed by Instax square and finally Instax wide note how the app has added Borders to match the output of an actual Instax print with the all play side by Side it's clear how much more the wide Version is capturing and how the square And the mini versions are simply Cropping the field of view widthwise Leaving you with less coverage so if you Want to exploit that wideangle lens you Should be shooting in the wide format I Also took the same view with an SD card Inserted which recorded an uncropped Image with the full 5 megap resolution Of the sensor place this image side by Side with the one that I downloaded via The app and you'll see the processed Version on the right is applying a tiny Crop to the width to match the paper Shape but to all intents and purposes They are repres presenting the same view
And while the original does have a Little bit more detail the processed one Is good enough for sharing or printing Meanwhile if the Pal set to Mini or Square formats via the app the SD card Still records a full width image but the App generates and saves a cropped Version at the desired shape it's also Possible to change the format of an Existing photo within the app through The gallery but do beware that if you Originally shot it in the narrow mini Format then you'll be making square or Wide crops from that not the original Wide image the result unsurprisingly Becomes rather tied as you're starting By cropping that wide image to match the Narrow mini shape before then cropping It again to match the square or wide Shape that you want to Output in this is Why I ended up leaving the Palin inst Sta wide mode as it gave the maximum Flexibility in cropping and recomposing Later within the app I think it's the Best choice even if you only ever print Or share mini- shaped images moving on The app also lets you edit images adding Text or stickers Zooming in or rotating changing the Format as I've already mentioned Applying one of 18 effects or simply Adjusting the brightness contrast or Saturation with a series of Sliders you Can then add a background color to
Highlight the frame for sharing online Download the image save it or send it to A printer the app will talk to any of The Instax link printers that use Bluetooth as well as to the mini Evo or Mini Le playay cameras which feature Built-in printers of Their Own It won't Talk to the old sp3 printer though which Was Wi-Fi only it's also possible to Assemble a series of images into an Animation which can either share Digitally or print it out with a QR code That then links to a digital version This works well with the pal when you Push and hold down the shutter button to Capture a short burst of action before Wrapping up one of the highlights of the Pal is using the app to remote control It this uses Bluetooth to deliver a live Preview on your phone and while the Speed of Bluetooth means the update is a Bit laggy even when the phone and Camera Are very close it is good enough for Composing a more precise chart or Framing a larger group I used it to Ensure my test view bright and Pier was Straight as well as this view of Brighton Pavilion reflected in a pond Now neither of these images would have Looked particularly great with a squint Horizon when shot blindly it'll also Allow you to remote shoe to a modest Distance limited by the speed and range Of Bluetooth again of course but here it
Was fine for composing a self-portrait From across a desk you can also set a Self timer so you have time to glance up From your phone screen after composing I Can see this remote control being fun For portraits of say pets where you can Pop the pile in front of them before Retreating to a nearby sofa to remotely Trigger the shutter okay now it's time For my final verdict during which I'll Show you some digital shots that I took With the pal all of these were processed And downloaded via the app at first Glance the Instax pal is a curiosity Sure it may be Tamagotchi cute but Unlike any insta camera to date it won't Print by itself there's no means to Compose on the camera alone and in terms Of quality it'll almost certainly be Beaten by your phone which Les we forget You'll probably be carrying all the time But the insta pal is all about Simplicity and staying in the moment not Getting distracted or delayed by your Phone and instead merrily pointing its Ultrawide lens at anything that takes You fancy if you're rolling your eyes at This point don't worry I too was Skeptical at first but having spent some Time with a pal I actually enjoy the way It frees you from a traditional way of Shooting blindly taking photos can be Surprisingly liberating and there's Certainly some fun in anticipating how
Certain charts will work out when you View them later it pays not to overthink The pal although if I could give just One piece of techie advice it would be To set it to the Instax wide format to Maximize not only the coverage and Detail but also the flexibility in Making crops later on in the app if you Shootting the cropped square or Especially the mini formats you're going To lose a lot of the benefit of that Wide lens as for the actual images I'd Also recommend not looking too closely At the original files or you're going to Notice digital artifacts that are Reminiscent of vintage Digi cams or even Webcams sowh to so I wouldn't even Bother recording onto SD cards instead Use the pal as it's designed to be used Shoot casually and smile as the often Unexpected results pop up moments later On your phone here the quality is more Than good enough for digital sharing or Physical output using one of fujifilm's Inst sta printers at this point it would Be easy to only recommend the pal for Kids or teens and that series Photographers should stay clear but I Actually enjoyed my time with it and the Way encouraged me to take photos in a Completely different way to normal it's Certainly fun it's certainly cute but Only you can decide if it's worth the Asking price I'd have been happier had
It been a little bit cheaper but I guess It's not subsized by the necessity of Instax media for day to-day use you Could print everything if you like or Nothing at all I'd love to hear what you Think in the comments especially if You're an existing Instax owner or Someone who's considering an instant Camera for yourself or maybe as a gift And remember if you'd prefer a Standalone Instax camera or an Instax Printer for your phone do check out my Other videos on this channel as I've Reviewed them all which only leaves me To thank you for watching kindly request A like and a follow and bid you farewell Until next time Bye-bye
