• Fujifilm has unveiled a new instant camera that’s designed to take photos only.
• The palm-sized Instax Pal is capable of storing up to 50 images at 4.9MP each.
• The Instax Pal is slated to launch in South Africa, but no precise availability or pricing has been confirmed.

Fujfilm continues to add to its lineup of Instax-branded instant cameras, with the latest offering being the Instax Pal.

Unlike previous instant cameras from the Japanese camera maker, the Instax Pal is unique for a number of reasons. This as it is palm-sized, as well as being designed solely for taking pictures and not printing them too.

As such, it is a niche product in an already niche segment of photography.

Weighing approximately 41g, the Instax Pal is capable of capturing 4.9MP-sized images. It also features native storage for up to 50 photos, along with a microSD slot good for storage too. There’s a built-in battery as well, with a full charge yielding capacity to capture up to 240 images in between charging via a USB Type-C port.

The images it captures can be transferred via Bluetooth to your smartphone via a dedicated Instax Pal application, and from there be printed by any number of the instant film printers that Fujifilm manufactures.

As such, this new device is more of a companion device than an out-and-out offering that we’ve seen from Fujifilm in the past.

“The Instax Pal features a variety of functions to facilitate different shooting situations. To start, the Standard mode allows a picture to be taken by pressing the shutter button at the back of the camera. This snaps regular pics or allows users to take advantage of the wide-angle lens to shoot selfies from an elevated position, using just one hand to capture a dynamic photo that incorporates more of the background,” highlights Fujifilm South Africa in a press release sent to Hypertext.

“There’s the dynamic Interval mode that snaps photos continuously at a three-second interval, in sequences of 3, 6, 11 or 21. The app can then be used to create an Instax Animation that combines multiple images into a flipbook video. Friends can play this video by scanning the QR code printed on an Instax print,” it adds.

At the time of writing, no local availability or pricing has been confirmed, but the fact that Fujifilm SA has sent a press release to us bodes well for more details being in the offing.

For now, it will be interesting to see who will be willing to purchase an instant camera that can take pictures alone.