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instantphoto.eu                Fuji Instax Mini Liplay
 

The Instax Mini Liplay is a digital camera that prints images on Instax Mini Film. The camera specifications are at the end of the page, taken from the Fuji website.

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 The box.

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What's in the box (no film pack furnished): camera, cable only for charging, short manual, strap.

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The front. Shutter button, tiny lens with selfie mirror and flash and recording button
.

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The back: button to open the film compartment, LCD screen and control buttons, easy to use. Around the menu button is a 4-way ring switch.

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Left side. Strap lug at the bottom.

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Right side. 3 buttons, 
programmable via the app. Reset button. SD card slot under a cover. On/Off button. Microphone and speaker.

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Top. Image ejection slot.

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Bottom. No tripod socket. Micro USB charging socket. The flash lights up as long as it charges.

The basic handling is very easy. The camera is very small and very light. The plastic is o.k., not cheap, but not high quality either. Switching the camera on is fine, you press the "On" button for 3 seconds and it lights up. The menu is well done and easy. With a 4-way tilt ring and the OK button in the middle and 3 dedicated buttons, everything is quickly accessible. The screen is fine, nothing to signal. The captured photo remains on the screen for a moment, it can be printed immediately or processed with frames 
or printed later. However lighten/darken and filters have to be applied before taking the photo. The printed photos are clear and neat, nothing to say. You'll get what we saw on the screen. You can even zoom into the photos with good results. The printing speed is fast, it's like the output of a classic Instax photo, but it's quieter.

I like this camera. No more spoilt pictures. all handling is quick and logical. Focussing is reliable, but slow with night photos. You can get close to objects down to about 8cm (!). The camera keeps the parameters you put in, which is a good thing, but not the flash setting. It's flash on from start every time. It writes .jpg files which are not so bad compared to what we could expect given the size of the sensor. The .jpg is not modified according to the frame settings, it makes a small. csv file of the same name in which you find the settings. However filters and darken/lighten settings are not separate, if you choose black & white, the files are b&w. If you put an SD card, the files are written on the chip, otherwise there is an internal memory for about 50 photos. There is no way to get the files out of the internal memory, so putting a SD card is essential. Another gadget feature is the ability to record a sound snippet and attach it to a picture. If you let the camera print a QR code into the picture, a smartphone can read the code, retrieve the sound snippet and play it.

The smartphone app works fine. If you couple the smartphone to the camera via bluetooth, you have access to more frames and some more features. You can also print pictures taken with your smartphone, a nice idea. There is a remote function, you can command the camera via the app, take and print pictures. The absense of a tripod socket is bad, the camera isn't very stable if it stands on its bottom.

And here are some pictures:

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Calais, quartier Mollien, extremely sunny day.

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Zoomed into the picture.

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Small Calais house.

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Colour test.

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Picture from my smartphone.

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Black & white filter setting and a little bit of "darken".

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Macro, quite impressing, bigger than real.

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Calais, a DJ at the Fête de la Musique, photo with a sound snippet. You can scan the QR code with a smartphone and it will play the sound (noisy!).

The photo and the sound snippet are transferred to the Fuji servers when your camera is linked to the smartphone app while you print a photo with sound. It will be available for one year. For those who can't read the code, there is a link here, but the sound can also be retrieved from the SD card, it has the same name as the photo with a .wav ending.

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Calais, Place d'Armes at dusk, Fête de la Musique.

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Zoom into this photo, Calais lighthouse.

Some night photos:

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Park with War Monument, Calais Nord

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Statues of Charles de Gaulle and Winston Chuchill, part of the monument

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Calais channel with Beffroi (townhouse tower) in the background.

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Calais, Beffroi at night.

The camera specifications taken from the Fuji website:

Image sensor: 1/5-in. CMOS with primary color filter
Effective pixels: 2560 x 1920
Storage media. Built-in memory, micro SD / micro SDHC memory card (purchased separately)
Recording capacity: Built-in memory: approx. 45 files, micro SD / micro SDHC memory card: approx. 850 files per 1 gigabyte (without sound)
File system: Compliant with Design rule for Camera File system (DCF), Exif Ver. 2.3
Focal length: 28 mm (35-mm film equivalent)
Aperture: F2.0
Auto focus system: Single AF (equipped with AF auxiliary illuminator)
Focus range: 10 cm to ∞
Shutter speed: 1/4 sec. to 1/8000 sec. (auto)
Sensitivity. ISO 100 to 1600 (auto)
Exposure control: Programmed AE
Exposure compensation:  -2.0 EV to +2.0 EV (in increments of 1/3 EV)
Metering: 256-segment through the lens (TTL) metering, multi-metering
White balance: Auto
Flash:  Auto / Compulsory flash / Suppressed flash
Effective range: approx. 50 cm to 1.5 m
Self timer: Approx. 10 sec. / Approx. 2 sec.
Image effects: frame and filter
Voice recording: Recordable and overwritable during image capture and playback per 1 image

Printer Specifications

Film     FUJIFILM Instant Film instax mini (purchased separately)
Photo capacity     10 prints per pack
Film size     86 mm x 54 mm
Image size     62 mm x 46 mm
Supported image size     800 x 600 dots
Printing solution     12.5 dots per mm (318 dpi, 80-µm dot pitch)
Printing levels     256 levels per color (RGB)
Supported image format     JPEG images captured with the device
Printing time     Approx. 12 sec.
Print function     Images on built-in memory / micro SD are printable
Reprint up to the last 50 prints (up to 50 images stored in print history)

Other Specifications

Smartphone app functions     Voice playback from print, smartphone image print, remote image capture, frame addition
LCD monitor     2.7-in. TFT color LCD monitor, Pixels: approx. 230K dots
External interface     Micro USB Micro-B (for charging only)
Power supply     Lithium-ion battery (built-in, cannot be removed)
Charging function     Built-in
Printing capacity     Approx. 100 prints (when battery is fully charged)
* Varies depending on the conditions of use.
Charging time     Approx. 2 to 3 hrs.
* Varies depending on air temperature.
Dimensions     82.5 mm x 122.9 mm x 36.7 mm (excluding protrusions)
Weight     Approx. 255 g (excluding fiim pack and memory card)
Operating environment     Temperature: 5℃ to 40℃
Humidity: 20% to 80% (no condensation)

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