Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo 2 Gets a Bigger Sensor, a 4.5-Inch Touchscreen and 100 Built-In Looks

Fujifilm has announced the instax mini Evo 2, the follow-up to the hybrid instant camera that turned out to be one of its quiet hits. Hybrid means a digital camera and an instant printer in one body. You shoot to memory, look at the result, and print only the frames you actually want. No more burning a sheet of film on a blink.

The first Evo proved people want that. The Evo 2 fixes most of what held it back.

A real sensor upgrade

The old Evo used a tiny 1/5-inch sensor. The new one moves to 1/2.77 inch, about three times the area, with around 16.3 million effective pixels. Standard shots save at about 6.1MP, which is plenty for a credit-card-sized print. A new wide-angle mode, roughly 23mm equivalent against the normal 33mm, uses more of the sensor and saves at 12.8MP when you have a memory card in.

Autofocus now does face detection, and focus reaches down to 10 cm. You also get exposure compensation, white balance control, a macro mode and the option to switch the flash off. Small things, but the first Evo felt locked down without them.

Touchscreen, fewer buttons

The back is now one 4.5-inch touchscreen, up from a 3-inch LCD with buttons around it. Fujifilm kept the parts that made the camera fun to hold: a top dial for film effects, a ring around the lens for lens effects, and the print lever you crank to spit out a photo.

There are 10 lens effects and 10 film effects, so 100 combinations. Double exposure, light leaks, lens blur, half-frame diptychs and a new After Image mode are in the mix. Wide-angle and After Image replace the old Fisheye and Mirror effects. If you shoot Fujifilm digital bodies, this is the same idea as film simulations, pushed further toward play.

A new Expanded View shows the scene beyond the frame edges with a box marking what will be captured. Street shooters will recognise the rangefinder trick. There’s also a short Immersive Movie mode that grabs a clip around the shutter press, saved as video to a memory card, at a big drop in resolution.

Prints, price and the catch

Prints still use standard instax mini film, with a 62 × 46 mm image area. Film is easy to find and cheap per sheet, which keeps running costs sane.

The Evo 2 costs $289.95 in the US and £229.99 in the UK, and Fujifilm says shipping starts at the end of November. It comes in black only, where the first model had three colours.

That price puts it near entry-level mirrorless territory, and a 6MP default file won’t replace a real camera. That isn’t the job. This is a party camera, a travel toy and a gift that people actually use, and the hybrid design means every print is a keeper. For most buyers the sensor jump and the touchscreen make the Evo 2 the one to get. Owners of the original who mostly print in good light can skip it.

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