Polaroid vs Instax: Which Instant Camera Should You Buy?

No. A standard Polaroid picture on i-Type or 600 film is 79 x 77 mm (3.1 x 3.0 in) on a 107 x 88 mm (4.2 x 3.5 in) card, according to Polaroid. That is about twice the picture area of an Instax Mini, which Fujifilm describes as roughly the size of a credit card: a 62 x 46 mm picture on a 54 x 85 mm card.

If you want Instax at Polaroid size, look at Wide. Its 99 x 62 mm picture covers almost exactly the same area as a Polaroid picture, but as a landscape rectangle, and Dan Finnen calls Wide comparable to the size of a traditional Polaroid frame. Instax Square (62 x 62 mm) has the Polaroid shape at a smaller size; Wired calls it the most Polaroid-like Instax film. Instax Mini vs Wide covers that choice in detail.

Polaroid Go is the exception on the Polaroid side. Its 47 x 46 mm picture is smaller than an Instax Mini picture, which matters if you are choosing between the two pocket cameras. See Polaroid Go vs Polaroid Now.

Instax, by a wide margin. A pack of Polaroid i-Type film holds 8 photos and costs $18.99 at Polaroid.com, or $17.00 a pack when you buy five, which works out to $2.13 to $2.37 a picture. Instax Mini film comes in 10-shot cartridges sold in twin packs: $18.17 for 20 at Unique Photo, or $46.00 for 60, so $0.77 to $0.91 a picture.

Shoot 100 photos and, at those per-photo prices, the film alone comes to about $213 to $237 on i-Type versus $77 to $91 on Instax Mini. That gap is bigger than the price difference between a Polaroid Now Gen 3 ($129.99) and an Instax Mini 12 ($93.95), so count how many pictures you expect to take before you compare cameras.

Other sources differ a little. Wired's 2026 Instax guide says a Mini film pack usually costs about $14 for 20 prints, or 60 to 70 cents a print, and puts Wide at about $1 to $1.20. On the Polaroid side, Go film is the cheapest per shot at $1.37, but the picture is small. 600 film costs more than i-Type, and every 600 pack carries a battery for vintage cameras. The Polaroid film guide explains which film fits which camera.

Instax is the more accurate film and Polaroid the more characterful one. In Dan Finnen's side-by-side shootout, which put Polaroid and Instax cameras through the same scenes on fresh film, Instax was "much more color accurate" and rendered blue sky and clouds better, while the Polaroid shots were "bathed in a dreamy, warm glow." Polaroid film also showed more chemical artifacts, such as blue streaks, spots and roller marks, across many of the images, and Finnen found the Instax pictures more contrasty.

Finnen stresses that which film looks better is subjective. He still prefers Polaroid's "wild colors and unpredictability" for artistic work and recommends Instax Mini for parties, weddings and other events. In his Polaroid Now+ Gen 3 review he writes that modern Polaroid film "is unpredictable and has cool color shifts" and that accuracy is not the point.

Wired's Scott Gilbertson, who has been testing and using Instax printers for almost two decades, says Instax cameras and printers have given the best image quality and most reliable results in his testing. He also finds Square and Wide prints generally sharper, with richer colors, than Mini.

Heat changes the Polaroid look as well. Polaroid says its film develops best between 55 and 82 F, and that above 82 F color photos tend to come out with a yellow or red tint.

Instax develops in about 90 seconds. Polaroid color i-Type takes 10 to 15 minutes, and the picture is sensitive to light at first: the camera ejects it under a film shield, and Polaroid says to keep it face down, or somewhere cool and dark, until it has developed.

Don't shake either one. Polaroid says shaking can ruin the chemistry of a developing picture, and Fujifilm says not to crease, bend or shake an Instax print while it develops.

Temperature matters more for Polaroid. Its film develops best between 55 and 82 F (13-28 C). Fujifilm rates Instax cameras for 41 to 104 F and says to keep the print somewhere warm if you shoot below 41 F.

Polaroid prints a production date on the box, not an expiration date, and says the film is best used within 12 months; store it cool, dry and flat in the fridge, but not the freezer. Instax boxes carry an expiration date, and Fujifilm says to keep the film in a dry, cool place and leave the cartridge in its foil until you load it. More in Does Polaroid film expire?

For finished photos, Polaroid says to keep them dry and dark for the first 30 days and to frame them behind UV-protective glass, since light fades them over time. Fujifilm says Instax prints can fade over time but stay fresh for years with proper care.

Both brands sell new cameras for under $100: the Polaroid Go Gen 3 at $89.99, and the Instax Mini SE, Mini 13 and Mini 12 at $69.00 to $93.95 list. Every current Polaroid except the Go takes full-size i-Type film, and every Instax Mini model takes the same Mini film.

On the Polaroid side, the Now Gen 3 ($129.99) is what Polaroid calls its classic instant camera, and the Flip ($219.99) adds sonar autofocus and a warning when a shot will be over- or underexposed. On the Instax side, Wired says the Mini 13 keeps the Mini 12's internals and adds a timer, and Dan Finnen calls the Mini 13 probably the best entry point into the analog film hobby these days.

Used cameras are another way into Polaroid. Dan Finnen calls the Impulse AF, a 1990s Polaroid 600 camera, the gold standard among affordable box-type Polaroids and says it usually sells for under $100 on eBay; 600 film's built-in battery powers it.

Instax, for most people. The Mini 12 sets exposure and flash automatically, so there is nothing to adjust, and at under $1 a shot a missed photo stings less. Dan Finnen calls the Mini 12 a breakthrough in consistent exposure metering. Wired's reviewer complains that the Mini 12 fires its flash far more than he would like, and says the Mini 13 hasn't changed that.

Polaroid asks more of you. Dan Finnen's review of the Now+ Gen 3 says its autofocus is still unreliable after three generations and that it can't focus close enough for handheld selfies at arm's length. With 8 shots a pack at more than $2 each, every miss costs more. Finnen tells beginners on that camera to buy black and white film instead of color, saying they will have a much better time with exposure.

If you want a Polaroid anyway, learn your camera's focus range. The Now Gen 3 picks between two fixed focus zones, about 1.3 to 4.3 ft and 3.3 ft to infinity, so keep your subject inside one of them.