On a recent trip to Ventura, I had lunch with Megan O. Read, and she snapped some "polaroids" with her new Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S. The Mini 7S is a super-simple instant film camera that weighs less than a pound and is about 5" tall. It uses a fixed-focus 60mm Fujinon Lens, has a built-in electronic flash with exposure compensation, and produces 2.13" x 3.4" prints on Fujifilm Instax Mini Film.

Megan snapped a half dozen photos indoors, and they looked like what you would expect from flash shots on instant film: fun, nostalgic, but certainly not beautiful. When we were driving back from lunch, she asked me to grab the camera and shoot a picture out the car window. I did so, but when the photo developed, you could hardly see the image because it was so overexposed. I did a little research on this and found out that I wasn't the only one who experienced overexposures in bright sunlight.

So if you do decide to pony up the $100 or so for the Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S, keep in mind that this is more of an indoor party camera than an outdoor snap-shooter -- something to keep in mind because the Mini 7S costs you a buck every time you press the shutter button.

Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S photos by Megan O. Read. You can check out more of Megan's work on her Flickr page. Click on image to enlarge.