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Retro technology is back in style. Whether it’s the resurgence of Nintendo 64 consoles or vinyl records, there’s no denying that technology that by all measures of technological advancement has been defunct for decades is on the comeback trail. And perhaps counterintuitively, these technologies aren’t being bought up by the people who grew up using them, but rather Gen Z cool kids who are sick of the ever-progressing landscape of smartphones and social media.
Scroll your TikTok for long enough, and you’ll oxymoronically see videos teaching you how to shoot on film cameras and asking what the best Kodak colour film. Celebrities too have been spotted at fashion shows and dunk contests wielding old-school camcorders. In an age when we all have cameras on our phones, we’re chasing something else.
Camcorders, film cameras and instant cameras give us something tactile to play with. Like vinyl records, where the joy comes from handling the discs as much as it does listening to them, getting your film developed or seeing a one-of-one polaroid print emerge from your camera gives us a deeper, richer relationship with the images themselves.
And instant cameras in particular have a feeling of play when you use them. Film cameras can be expensive and getting your images developed can be a chore, but polaroids (and other different types of instant cameras) still give you that hit of instant gratification. They are amazing to whip out at a party to capture unique snapshots of friends, but they can also be used in creative and inventive ways.
Take GQ contributor Joe Brennan’s work with the form for example. As a photographer, Brennan is clearly adept at capturing images with a massive range of tools. He can wield a DSLR like it’s nothing, but he also loves turning to his trusty polaroid camera for its clear, unflinching portrayal of his subjects.Take these shots, for example. Of course, he could have taken these pictures with a digital camera, but on polaroid, it feels more tangible—like you are seeing the real, unfiltered subject.
Polaroids aren’t the only instant cameras these days either. With the rise of Zero-Ink (Zink) technology, you can also get instant digital prints straight from specialised cameras which is a whole other kettle of fish. Extremely fast and fun to use, these cameras give you high image quality prints that you can add straight to frames, stick to surfaces (if you are using sticky-backed prints) and give out to friends. More reliable than your typical polaroid cameras, these ones are great if you are looking for something with a little more practicality.
Whether you are looking for the charm of a polaroid camera or the simplicity of a Zink one though, there are plenty of options around to get you started on your instant camera journey. Before we get to that though, let’s take a moment to dive further into how the different options work so you can be confident in what you are looking for.