Instant film
Instant film develops itself inside the camera, delivering a physical, ready-to-hold print within minutes of pressing the shutter, no lab, no scanning, no waiting. From classic Polaroid squares to pocket-sized Fujifilm Instax prints, instant film remains one of the most immediate and social ways to shoot on film. Compare instant film prices from UK retailers on Filmproof.
About Instant film
What is instant film?
Instant film packs contain both the light-sensitive negative and the chemistry needed to develop it, sealed together in individual pods. When a shot is taken, the camera spreads the developer chemistry evenly across the print as it's ejected, and the image appears gradually over the following minutes as it develops in daylight.
Edwin Land and Polaroid invented the format in 1948, and it remained a category Polaroid effectively owned for decades. Today it spans several distinct film systems, Polaroid's i-Type, 600 and SX-70 formats, Fujifilm's Instax Mini, Square and Wide ranges, and Lomography's own instant film, each requiring a matching camera system.
Popular instant film stocks
Fujifilm Instax is currently the most widely used instant system, thanks to affordable, compact cameras and printers and a lower cost per shot than Polaroid, with Mini (credit-card sized), Square and Wide format prints available in colour and monochrome. Polaroid remains the choice for the classic large square print and for anyone shooting a vintage 600 or SX-70 camera, with i-Type film for its modern cameras.
Lomography also produces its own instant film compatible with Instax and Polaroid-format cameras, often with creative colour effects and coloured edge finishes not available from the two bigger brands.
Buying and shooting instant film
Instant film is one of the more expensive ways to shoot film per exposure, since you're paying for the built-in chemistry as well as the film itself, but there's no processing cost or wait, the print is finished within minutes. It's worth checking which system your camera uses before buying, Instax, Polaroid and older peel-apart formats aren't interchangeable.
Filmproof tracks instant film prices and stock across UK retailers, so you can compare cost per shot across Polaroid, Instax and Lomography before you buy a pack.