The Mini 13 uses the same lens as others in the line: an optical plastic 60mm f/12.7 that captures an angle of view similar to that of a 35mm full-frame lens. It’s a good choice for typical snapshot photography—scenes like family photos, landscapes and cityscapes, travel photos, and selfies with one or two people in frame. The f-stop is pretty small, which means it lets in little light, but it works with a bright flash, so it’s usable in typical indoor home lighting. Instax film has a high sensitivity rating (around ISO 800), so you’re more likely to get overexposed images in bright sunlight than underexposed ones in dim light.
(Credit: Jim Fisher)
Because the Mini 13 uses the same lens as the Mini 40 and Mini 99, you won’t see a real difference in picture quality between them. Photos show soft detail and excellent color, with a narrow exposure latitude, as there’s not much visible information in bright highlights or dark shadows. This is typical of instant film in general, and you’ll get the same type of photos from Instax Square and Instax Wide cameras. I recommend Instax film strongly for beginners as it delivers consistent results and color, whereas the Polaroid I-Type film used by cameras like the Flip ($199.99) is wildly inconsistent, prone to color shifts in different temperatures, and often has parts of the image missing due to errors in development—it’s a better choice for artists who embrace its unpredictability.
You can get sharper images from an Instax Mini Link 3 ($99.95) smartphone printer that works with a mobile app for wireless printing, or look to the Lomo’Instant Automat Glass ($189) if you want an instant camera with a sharp glass lens. The Automat Glass has a very wide-angle lens (21mm equivalent), so it’s not as useful for day-to-day photography. I don’t recommend it to beginners, though it’s a good option for shutterbugs who know what they’re doing. The Mini 13 is a better choice for just starting out or taking photos in casual, social situations.
(Credit: Jim Fisher)
The Mini 13’s design lends itself to vertical, portrait orientation photos. You can hold the camera in landscape if you prefer, but the shutter button location makes it tricky. If you try and press the shutter with your right hand you’ll want to press it with your middle or ring finger, using your index finger (my natural instinct) makes it too easy to block the lens with your other fingers, and using your left hand blocks the viewfinder. You should also be careful not to block the light meter (the two black squares above the lens) when holding the camera horizontally, if you cover it when taking a photo, the camera will most likely overexpose your photo.
(Credit: Jim Fisher)
If you prefer taking wide landscape pictures, the Mini 99 is a worthwhile upgrade. It has dual shutter buttons: one on the top, like a typical camera, and one on the front, like the Mini 13, so it’s more comfortable to hold in either orientation. If you want to go even further with horizontal pictures, you could also get an Instax Wide 400 ($149.95) or Lomo’Instant Wide Glass ($279); they’re both very bulky when compared with the Mini 13, but make a widescreen format picture on film that’s twice the size as Instax Mini. Or you could just get an Instax Square SQ40 and simply sidestep the vertical versus horizontal debate entirely.
