More South Africans are going online or in store to get their hands on Fujifilm's (Fuji's) instant camera range, Instax.
So said Deon Brits, GM for photographic imaging at Fuji SA, speaking to ITWeb on the sidelines at the launch of the company's Instax Square SQ20 this week.
Between 2017 and 2018, Fuji SA experienced 37% volume growth for its Instax, said Brits, pointing out the product is most certainly attracting young people.
He noted children as young as six years old are encouraging their parents to buy them an Instax.
While smartphones exist to capture memories, it was Fuji's goal to combine the digital and physical worlds of photography by enabling printing of images on the spot directly from the camera, he explained.
This was motivated by the need to put photography back into the young person's hands, he stated. "Fujifilm will stay in photography, and develop it going forward. Instax is helping that process."
For the 2018 financial year, Fuji sold 10 million Instax units worldwide, said Takeo Hata, MD of Fujifilm SA, during his speech at the launch event.
Going hybrid
The Instax Square SQ20 is the latest camera from the Japanese photography and imaging company, and follows the Instax Square SQ10 that was launched in 2017, which introduced the square format.
The SQ10 also brought the concept of the hybrid instant camera, offering the ability to select favourite images before printing and to edit images with various filters.
With the SQ20, Fuji has introduced a video element that allows users to film a short video and then select the correct frame to print.
Called 'Motion Mode', it allows the user to shoot a video of up to 15 seconds long, use the dial on the back of the camera to select the frame that captures the moment best, and then print the square photo.
The video is stored on a microSD card, which can be transferred onto a computer or smartphone at a later stage.
The camera's other features include filters for the best images, a sequence filter, and a shutter button on both sides of the device. There are two colour variations of the SQ20 to choose from: matte black and beige.
Retailing at the suggested price of R2 999, the SQ20 is available from select stores countrywide or online.
Although he would not provide more details, Brits confirmed Fuji is in talks to have a few other online stores come on board to sell the Instax as well.
"Instax has really become a commodity. It's become something that shows the hugest growth in terms of boxes and volume moved in the present online stores and retail chain outlets," he concluded.
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