a SP-1 owner, and just got my SP-2, about 2 days ago. did some testing, and comparison between the two.
Let me list some of the upgrades of the SP-2
upgrades
1. Super fast output rate. you can heard the unit is working, while the photo still being uploaded to the printer. the film came out, right after the upload progress bar is completed. (iPhone 6+) like the spec claimed, about 10 seconds.
2. rechargeable batteries, this makes it so much easier. never need to pay for the expensive batteries again.
3. standard micro USB port for charging. You can just plug the usb charging into a power bank, without any special cables. Pretty much you don't even need the rechargeable batteries at all. You can operate solely off the external power bank via USB cable. Unlike the SP1, you would need to get a special power cable to plug into the usb power bank.
4. Quality/resolution, this one is a bit iffy. I do have to admit the color is richer, and the blacks are actually black now. but I can barely tell the the DPI differences. Yes at some cases, the hair looks a little sharper and clear on the SP2. but you really have to look at it very closely to even see the resolution difference. As for the color, yes it is richer, and black is more black. it all depends if you liked that old a bit washed out film looks (sp1), or the more vivid color (sp2). that's just personal preference.
Overall wise I love the fast speed, battery, and USB charger. as for the image quality wise, I don't see a huge difference.
for the additional $100 over the SP1. I might wait for the price to drop a little before actually doing the upgrade.
You can view the image quality comparison with my attached images. I have labeled SP1 and SP2
hope that helps everyone to make their decisions.
I own a Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 for two years and I love the idea of getting my pictures print out right away. However, the success rate of getting a decent picture is not high. Whether I take the picture myself or ask other people to take it, the pictures just don't come out quite right. It is either because the exposure is too high/low or I'm too close/far from the camera. The films are so expensive and it's such a waste. That's why I decided to get the printer.
The printer is amazing! I love how I get to choose the pictures I want to print out. The printer gives it a nostalgic look. I like how I can adjust the brightness, contrast and saturation to give my pictures a different look. I usually set the contrast lower and the brightness higher because the pictures usually print out darker. I posted some pictures I print out using the SP-2 as examples.
I would choose the printer over the mini 8. Although the printer is $100+ more, I think throughout the time the films I wasted on mini 8, the printer is a better investment. I hope this helps you making your decision!
If you already have the SP-1, no need to buy SP-2. If you don't have one, and are deciding if you want one, yes, I recommend this little printer for sure. Instead of buying the fujifilm instax camera, I bought the printer for several reasons: 1) I am a perfectionist. That being said, with a negative note, if I use the camera and not being satisfied with the real time films, which happens quite often (imagine you take photos from your phone multiple times), that is such a waste of the films and I know I am not going to keep them or put them on display. The films come with a pack of 10 and they are not so cheap. I understand the excitement of having the instant camera and seeing the photos developed instantly but the disappointment of seeing the not-so-good pictures is greater to me than the excitement. 2) You pick what you want to print out from your phone, reprint them if necessary. With the instant camera, you have no way to save the pictures and reprint them. Having this printer gives me an ease of mind to take photos and pick the best.
I purchased the gold one and the color is beautiful. I use this printer with caution because I don't want to accidentally hit the opening button of the films (the films will be ruined) or hit the "reprint" bottom on the side. Unlike the instant camera, this printer is definitely not for kids to operate.
I have been using this printer and here are my tips for you what pictures might be printed with better quality. Keep this in mind that, and you might have known, the color of the pictures is vintage-like. That being said, the pictures will come out color-enhanced and a bit over-exposed. Therefore, you better pick the RAW pictures from your phone. For example, if you use iPhone, there are different filters (tonal, mono, fade, noir etc) for you to choose when you take pictures. Normally I choose "none" for the true color and this is the RAW pictures I am talking about. Don't get me wrong, if you choose the filters (special colors), they look really nice on your phone. But when you print out from this printer, they either look TOO DARK or TOO BRIGHT because the color was already enhanced from your phone. (See the attached 2 photos, one with filter from my phone and the other the printout came out too dark.) This also applies to the pictures you take from any photo apps or from Instagram in which you already edited or changed the color in some way. Another example is if your face is already over-exposed from the raw picture (like a hot sunny day at the beach and with no shade), that would not be a good picture to pick to print since your face will come out over-exposed. I also tried one of my wedding photos. It came out a bit blurring because the original one has a "soften" effect. That being said, any previous edited photos will come out too dark, too bright or a bit blurring. Some were not terribly bad but just not as good as I hoped from the original pictures. (Again, I am VERY picky with pictures.) Obviously, if your original raw pictures are not clear or in low resolution (depending what phone you are taking from), that will also affect the quality of printouts from this printer. Another reminder is after the film is developed, you will see the border lines not being fully developed (with some white lines if you look closely). I suggest do not use any clips on the pictures and do not put them in the album right away. Let them sit a bit longer (usually I let them sit overnight, just to be sure), the white border lines in the picture will disappear eventually.
So far I'm having fun with this little printer. I have not experienced any difficulties when operating this little machine except for the wifi connection is on and off due to for the time being that I am picking up which photos to print which may take a while. I suggest you know which photo to pick first, connect to the printer's wifi, and open the app and choose exact photo you need in case the wifi is disconnected while you're still choosing your photo. Some people are complaining about the official app. Unfortunately this is the only app that allows you to connect and print from your phone. I do not like any templates from the app but fortunately I only like to print the simple white ones with white borders. The app definitely has a lot to improve upon. The only disappointment for me is actually the black-and-white option. I was excited about this new feature but now not so much. I have not found the black and white pictures come out appealing so far. I give 4 star instead of 5 for this reason. I might need to do more experiment to jump into the conclusion though. Will update later if I find something new.
I was quite worried about buying this because you have to use the Instax SHARE app to use the printer and some reviewers have said that they weren't able to use the printer at all BUT it works perfectly fine on my iPhone 7. I love the possibilities you have with this printer and the option to choose any photo you like and edit it as well. I also have a Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 and I often times choose the wrong setting, am in a poorly lit setting, and the photos come out bad in general BUT now I am able to take pictures with my phone (or any camera) and print it! In the app as well, there are multiple editing options as well as the ability to split a photo into 2 pictures! Also, before you even buy the printer, you can just download the app and play around with the settings and see how your prints would come out if you were to have a printer.
(Tip 1: prints usually come out slightly brighter than the original photo.)
(Tip 2 : you can use practically any digital photo you'd like but you must be able to transfer it onto your device to print it via the Instax SHARE app)
After 10 minutes of charging from the box, it was ready to print. I have a Samsung Galaxy S7, so I had to turn on my location first (as may you, if you have a newer version of Android), then I opened the app, made sure the printer was on and film was loaded, and the phone found the printer in a second and it was smooth sailing from there. Why did I choose this over an Instax Mini camera? NO WASTED FILM. I can print exactly what I want, post editing and cropping, right from my phone, when I am ready to. I don't have to worry about macros, poor indoor lighting, harsh sunshine, or blurred action shots. My kids still get to experience the old school polaroid developing action, and I can add a vintage filter if I really want that sort of look to my images. As for the film cost - Watch the price of the white box of 60 count images here on Amazon. It will go down to 29.99 - 34.99 eventually. That's when I buy! It comes to about $0.50 per image.
Feature Product
- Create instax photos by sending images from smartphones and tablets using the free SHARE app
- High resolution images with print pixels of 800x600 dots and 320 dpi to show detailed gradations, facial expressions, characters or objects clearly. Uses 256 levels per color (RGB)
- A new laser exposure system achieves a faster printing time of 10 seconds from print data transfer to print output
- Equipped with a rechargeable battery that charges via micro USB port.Charging time Approx. 90 minutes (Varies depending on the battery remaining level)
- Available in Silver and Gold
- There is a manual adjustment on the share printer app that allows you to make image darker or lighter as you see fit
Description
instax SHARE SP-2 lets you print out your best smartphone pictures faster than ever in high quality credit-card sized prints. This next generation instax SHARE SP-2 features a sleek body, gorgeous image quality, improved Wi-Fi connectivity and a refined operation, all in two new gorgeous colors - Silver and Gold - with added texture for classic good looks. The new SHARE SP-2 improves its speed over the original Share SP-1 by printing smoothly and quietly in just 10 seconds compared to 16 seconds in the previous model.
Ok- it does have issues- BUT I FIGURED A WAY AROUND IT:) it’s a emotional printer. !! It prints and it doesn’t print!!
Before I got this product- I saw the reviews and it got really bad reviews specially the one big issue which is -cannot print this picture.. As I had the camera which I love I wanted the same printer that uses the same film, (sometimes I forget my camera and I need photos for my artwork reason why I got this printer ) so I ignored the reviews and got it knowing it was risky. ( after i checked it worked with iPhone 8s.) So when I started printing what happened:-
1 it printed first photo, when I wanted to print another one, it said it couldn’t print it! ( eventhou it was next to the first picture!!) I checked everything and still no luck, and it kept saying can’t print can’t print on and on I got pretty angry as I saved photos that I really needed for my art. (They were from 3 weeks ago to this weekend).
2 the printer does keep turning off so you have to make sure it’s on and connected to the internet all the time!.
SO HOW I FIXED IT
1 make sure all photos are downloaded properly from you iCloud ( specially the older photos) I noticed it wouldn’t print photos not download properly with a ! Eventhou it’s still in my library.
2If that doesn’t work try to edit the photo and that helps download the photo.
3 which I found EASIEST is just screenshot the photo you want turn it landscape so you don’t have the black areas zoom in and screenshot it and that should work. Might not work for everybody..
I figured out that the newer the photo better chance it works. This is how it works for me. I was able to print all the photos I wanted, by doing these things! Which is very frustrating!!!
The prints are amazing and great quality.
As this is just a back-up Incase I forget my camera it should be fine.. Hopefully it will continue working..
Battery life half way through battery after printing 40 photos. But I think that’s because I was trying fix it!! So only 3 stars for me!!:(
Hope this as helped!
I don’t know how I feel about his printer.
Do you love the look of Polaroids but suck at taking pictures on the instax cameras?? Well you're in luck!
This printer minimizes the money you waste on blurry or overexposed photos because you know exactly what you're printing. Set up for the printer and app are really easy, and I love the customizable features it provies on your polaroids (like collages!!!!) This is the cutest way to decorate a dorm or apartment, save precious memories, scrapbook, and much more!
I also love the size of the printer and the design. It looks very chic and sleek, and the gold or silver is a classic touch.
I did find that you need to adjust your picture brightness to a few notches darker when printing because the photos do come out a little overexposed, but once you get the hang of it it isn't a problem.
I love using this to print out vacation photos for my journal and scrapbooks!
Overall I highly recommend this for anyone who wants a cute way to keep special photos!
If you're considering the SP-2 as an upgrade from the SP-1, I definitely recommend it.
A few noticeable changes from the SP-1:
- the new design feature soft grip feelings on the side while maintaining a sleek look and better stand
- quieter, faster printing
- rechargeable battery
- clearer film count and battery life
- more contrasted prints
The only downside I could think of for not getting this printer is if you enjoy the old-timey faded look of original polaroids. Since the SP-2 is a higher resolution printer, the images come out sharper and more contrasted -- which is not a characteristic of traditional polaroid photos.
While I use an Instax Mini 90 camera for non-critical shooting, I was impressed with the SP-2 reviews to give it a try. Was glad I did. Photos from the printer mimic what was taken on a smartphone or tablet. All you need to get started is to download the Instax app to your device. It is available for iOS and Android. Set your device's WiFi to the printer's WiFi (the device will locate the printer's WiFi automatically), open the app on your device and start printing. The printer has filters you can use to modify your print, but as this is written, I have not used them. Pictures come out quickly and developing time is reasonably quick. For those individuals who like hard copies of digital photos, this is a wonderful way to get started.
This is a huge hit with the teenagers in my household. We bought an Instax Mini camera last year, but we can rarely capture good photos on it. They are nearly all washed out or out of focus. It is also difficult to bring the big bulky camera along on trips. My kids love that they can snap photos on their phones and come back to print "Polaroid" photos. We have had no issues connecting to the printer. We've downloaded the app to our smartphones, and it has worked perfectly every time. Highly recommend!
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