Nearly three years have passed since Fujifilm announced the Instax Mini 9 camera. Yesterday we met its successor, the Instax Mini 11, which looks a lot like its predecessor on the outside but introduces a couple of important upgrades to the exposure settings and lens. Let’s discover all the main differences between these two instant cameras now! The biggest difference between the Mini 9 and 11 is that the older model gave you some control over the exposure whereas the new model makes all the decisions for you. In addition to being a little lighter than the Mini 9 (293g vs 307g with the batteries, strap and film), it is also thinner (107.6mm vs 116mm) and taller (121.2mm vs 118.3mm). The depth is more or less the same (67.3mm vs 68.2mm). Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Heather Broster/Mathieu Gasquet and Instant Camera Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Unlike the Instax Mini 9 which had a dial with five different presets (Very Sunny, Sunny, Cloudy, Indoors and Hi Key) to change the exposure, the Mini 11 relies on an Automatic Exposure mode that adjusts the shutter speed and flash output automatically. The shutter speed ranges from 1/2s to 1/250s, and the exposure from Lv 5.0 to 14.5 depending on how much light is in the scene. Another thing to consider is whether you plan to take a lot of selfies or close-up shots with your Instax camera. If so, you might find a model like the Mini 11 more convenient since it has a built-in macro option. To be fair, the separate selfie lens of the Mini 9 works just fine, but I can’t count how many times I’ve forgotten it at home. On one hand, having some control can be a good thing, as the camera may not always judge the lighting correcting, but on the other, it is also easier to make mistakes and waste quite a lot of expensive film in the process. Whether you choose one or the other really depends on how confident you are in your own ability to select the right exposure.