“Bunny, chicken, crocodile, kitty” or instant camera on a receipt tape

Hi all! How long have you been using analogue photography? I think the last time it was 20 years ago, if not more. Of course, film cameras are still in demand among some people and photographers who want to feel the “vibe” and atmosphere of such photos: format, color, image quality and other delights of the process that takes us back through time, evoking notes of nostalgia. But today there are only a few people who engage in film photography and subsequent film development.

I would like to discuss an alternative to photographic film – instant cameras.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), with the beginning of the digital era, analog technologies are becoming a thing of the past; using them in our time is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive, due to the colossally low demand. However, in this case there is a way out – a children's instant camera, a photo of which you will receive in a minute! What is most interesting in this situation is that each photo will cost you a penny (literally), unlike other cameras from famous companies such as Fujifilm or Polaroid, where one photo costs several hundred rubles.

In this article I want to tell you what kind of menagerie I have created here, how it works, the capabilities of this miracle of Chinese thought, and what we get as a result.

What are we dealing with?

To put it very briefly, the image below shows a camera that is meant to be for children. Instead of film, there is a receipt tape 57 mm wide, on which an image is printed in the same camera, and you can also select photo frames and other effects, shoot videos, listen to music and even play built-in games. There are many models of this type of camera from different “manufacturers”, but they all imply the main thing – photography and printing the image right here and now. In my case, the camera is in the shape of a bunny from a brand that has no name. The series of this manufacturer also includes cameras in the shape of a chicken, a crocodile (many call it a dinosaur) and a cat.

Yes, the camera was created specifically for children. It has a childish design, a drawn face with ears and a multi-colored menu. That's why I decided to work a little on the design and made the front side a little stricter.

The camera's equipment is rich! In addition to the device itself, you receive two rolls of receipt tape (regular and self-adhesive), stickers, markers, a memory card, a USB charging cable, a Micro-SD to USB adapter, a strap and silicone bunny ears, which, fortunately, can be removed. It is assumed that the child will print funny photographs, color them with felt-tip pens, and stick stickers on the camera itself or in an album where they will paste the pictures.

How does this work?

You install the receipt tape into the camera, turn it on, take a photo and print the photo. In the camera, you can select a filter (b/w, sepia), a frame (usually for children), various other effects, and also use a second camera for selfies. Yes yes, there are two cameras here! After “releasing the shutter,” the photo is saved to the memory card; you can print it immediately or print selected photos manually after saving them.

The camera, of course, does not have its own optical viewfinder. There is only a 2.4-inch display, on which the image from the matrix is ​​displayed. The matrix itself is stated to be 12 megapixels, but in fact the image quality is low and inferior to the cameras of modern budget smartphones. On the other hand, this quality is enough for printing on receipt tape, even to examine the details in the picture. The battery is either 1200 mAh or 1500 mAh, I still don’t understand, different sources indicate differently, and I didn’t disassemble the camera itself to see the markings on the battery. The charge lasts for a very long time and this is the main thing.

The image format that the camera produces is jpg. Resolution – 6000×8000 pixels (at maximum photo quality). The image resolution can be changed in the settings; this will not improve the quality of the weather, but the pictures become much “easier”.

Videos can be shot in FHD, but we all understand the quality of these videos.

The camera has 3 built-in games: snake, Tetris and some crap with boxes. As I understand it, games can be installed independently, but we will not dwell on this, we are interested in some other functions.

What about the pictures?

Photo cards are 78×57 mm in size, the printed image is 63×47 mm. In the settings you can select the image contrast level (from 1 to 7). Due to the fact that this is done through the menu, in practice it is not very convenient to go into the settings section every time and change the contrast value. In general, you need to get used to this contrast and get used to it so that the shots come out with good exposure and quality in general; this quickly comes with time and experience.

Original photo

There is also a choice of print quality in the settings. There are three gradations in total: low, medium, high, but there is one more, with an asterisk – a matrix. Below is a photo with different settings for clarity:

Original photo

By the way, you can print your photo taken on another device, but there are some nuances. First, the photo must be loaded into the memory card manually, since there is no wireless communication of any kind in the camera. Secondly, the photograph must correspond to the format, aspect ratio and name, as the camera itself calls them. Yes, it’s confusing, but if you understand the algorithm, then all this will be done quite quickly. There are cameras on a receipt tape with a wireless module to send photos to it for printing from a smartphone via an application, but as far as I’ve heard, all this is done crookedly and through crutches, where you also need to adjust the photo to the camera. Perhaps this was the case before and now everything is in order, but personally I don’t need to print out photos from my phone, I didn’t pursue this, although I tried a couple of photos from my phone just for fun.

Original photo

Consumables in the form of receipt tapes are one of the strengths of the camera. Here you can experiment a lot, revealing your creative potential. We never think about it, but receipt tape can be completely different: some tapes are more contrasting, some less so. The same situation occurs with the thickness of the tape. There are also pigmented ribbons, for example, yellow or pink, which can also be used creatively. There are tapes with a self-adhesive layer in which you can stick a photo like a sticker. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the check itself is, in fact, a tape with a chemical composition. If you don’t go into details and speak in simple language, an image (or characters) is printed by heating the tape in certain places with the print head, after which we get the result. Here you can experiment with double exposure or leave the tape in the sun, refracting the light at different angles, for example, to achieve some effect in the photograph. Everything is limited only by imagination. But there is another side to the coin – photos fade when exposed to open sources of sunlight (as on Fujifilm or Polaroid photo cards). In general, whether it is a bug or a feature is up to you to decide.

In my subjective opinion, the quality of the pictures on the receipt is good. Much, of course, depends on the frame itself. The camera matrix itself, as I said above, does not shine with quality by modern standards and is highly dependent on lighting and composition as a whole.

You can buy any album you like for this camera. On the same marketplaces there are albums for Fujifilm Instax mini cameras, the format of which is also perfect for receipt tapes. For myself, I chose the simplest black album, which came with photo corners, where I independently made the “layout” of my final photographs.

What about the money?

The camera itself with all the necessary kit costs about 3,000 rubles. The price varies in different stores and marketplaces, but on average the price is the same.

Now I propose to calculate how much the pictures on the receipt tape cost. The price of tapes can be completely different, depending on the manufacturer, the quality of the paper and the number of rolls in the package, because tapes are not sold one at a time, as a rule. Personally, I experimented for a long time with different tapes, and eventually settled on a thick tape from the company Lumicube (which, by the way, also makes such cameras on receipt tape). The set includes three rolls for 430 rubles, where 70 photographs are stated for each roll. It turns out that a printed photograph costs about 2 rubles. I also have rolls from Brauberg. It is less thick and not as contrasting, but it also has a right to exist. A package for 250 rubles contains 16 rolls of 11 meters each. Based on simple mathematical calculations, knowing the size of each frame, it turns out that in total we will make approximately 125 frames on one roll, and one photograph on such paper will cost 8 kopecks.

I bought the photo album for 525 rubles. Here, as you understand, everyone decides for himself which photo album he likes best. Many people even put their photos in boxes.

Conclusion

An excellent device for creativity in photography. An excellent device for communication. An excellent device for collecting. And in addition to the above advantages, this is an excellent tool for some kind of meditation, when you can print and sort the pictures you take, and then paste them into a photo album and enjoy the result of the work done.

Yes, the quality of the camera itself (matrix) would be better, but I find it difficult to answer whether this would make sense if we print photographs on a receipt. By the way, it’s interesting to look at the quality of digital photography of the same Fujifilm Instax mini, for comparison.

One of the important advantages that I want to emphasize is communication. By this I meant attention to this device. Everyone in your company (and not only in yours) who sees this “soap box” begins to wonder what it is, and when you give them a printed photo card, there are no limits to sincere joy and surprise. It even seems to inspire.

Of the minuses, I would like to note the design and interface. Yes, it is, of course, suitable for children, but alas, as a “serious” device. Some buttons and internal settings are made illogically. It would be cool to see such a device for an “adult” audience, with a different design and menu, and also, perhaps, with other formats of receipt tape and hardware.

I hope everyone understands that you don't need to ask much from this receipt camera. However, it can become part of your hobby and bring joy not only to you, but also to the people around you.

Thank you to everyone who read the article. I will be happy to answer all questions and comments.