Either I am totally out-of-touch with what young people love to do, or Fujifilm here may be introducing a novelty feature in its latest instant camera that people did not ask for. We are referring to the new Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay Instant Camera. It is an instant camera (or more correctly, instant print camera ), but with a particularly intriguing addition: the ability.
Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay Instant Camera can “record” up to 10 seconds of audio. The audio will be converted into a QR code which is printed onto the associated Instax Mini photo. A quick scan with a QR code reader on your smartphone will let you in the audio file. Did any of you asked for this? I don’t know. It sounds to me like a hassle and a feature that eventually little to no people use once the novelty wears out. Then again, I do not dispute the usefulness of this feature.
It could be use to tag an audio note of what’s up with the particular photo. That should come in handy in future when you are reminiscing about the past events. It could be useful for future generations to know what gramp was up to in his hey days, for example. But that’s provided the people of future still use the by-then ancient QR code technology.
Anyways, this audio recording kind of reminds me of the Sound-wave Tattoo from a couple of years ago. Though I would think the tattoo seems a little more high-tech. Audio recording is not the only trick though; it also sports a 27-inch color LCD for framing, reviewing images prior to printing and for personalizing settings with the easy-to-use menus.
Other features include integrated filters and frames, smartphone printing, remote shooting capabilities (via Bluetooth from a smartphone), and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery good for 100 prints in between charges.
The Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay Instant Camera is available in North America starting today for $159.59. Keep going to watch the product promo video.
Images: Fujifilm.
