Many photographers shed a tear—and started building stockpile—when Polaroid announced last year it was halting production if its instant film. While there are revival efforts in the works, there’s no guarantee that all the pieces will come together to revive the manufacture of Polaroid film.

But instant film isn’t dead. In fact, thanks to Fuji, it’s very much alive and well. While Fujifilm’s FP100C film has been available for a while and is a good replacement for type 669 Polaroid film, it wasn’t until last November that Fuji brought its instant film system, in the form of the Instax 200 instant camera and Instax Wide Picture Format instant color film, to the U.S. market.

I had a quick look at the rather large, plastic camera last November during a House of Diehl fashion battle sponsored by Fujifilm but was more interested in capturing digital images of the designers as they created outfits out of sheets of photographic prints for their models. I thought the Instax 200 was cool but it wasn’t until February 2009’s New York Fashion Week that I really noticed the impact the Instax 200 was making.

Fuji at Fashion Week
While I’m sure there were a number of people still using Polaroid cameras and film during Fashion Week, designers like Yigal Azrouel, Elise Overland, Frank Tell, Rodarte, model/photographer Iekeliene Stange of the Netherlands and IMG Model Management, among others, were all using the Instax 200 to photograph typical fashion scenes like hair and make-up tests, model auditions, photos of each model’s looks for posting backstage during the show, fashion show collections and all the other aspects of fashion week that are best captured with instant film.

A photo assignment during Fashion Week brought me to Azrouel’s menswear show at his boutique on West 14th street where the designer and his team really put the Instax 200 through its paces. A window display showed Instax photos of his womenswear collection (Azrouel generally does a women’s runway show in the tents and a menswear presentation at the boutique).

Inside, a photographer was shooting the collection and the guests with the Instax 200, artfully displaying them on the floor and wall throughout the performance. Azrouel’s presentations are always interesting and lively and the Instax added another dimension to the fun, interactive atmosphere.

But, let’s face it, the Instax 200 is no fashionista. It’s big and clunky and reminds me a little of an old Fischer-Price toy camera. On the plus side, it’s solidly built and comfortable to hold, at least for short periods of time. Guys with larger hands will have an easier time maintaining a good grip on the 7.0 x 3.7 x 4.6 inch (WxHxD), 1 1/2-pound (sans batteries) camera.

The Instax 200 comes with a multi-language instruction sheet but you won’t need it since the toughest things you have to do are load the batteries and film (in that order)—not exactly rocket science. A set of four 1.5 V AA alkalines should last for about ten packs (100 shots) of film, according to Fuji. 

Controls are, not surprisingly, simple but proved more useful than I imagined. A control panel on the left side of the camera is home to the power button, fill flash (where the automatic flash is forced on), a three-step exposure control (lighten, normal, darken or +/- 2/3EV) and a shooting range control. Granted, the latter only offers two settings 0.9-3m and 3m-infinity but I found that to be more than sufficient for a variety of subjects.

There’s also an LCD that displays the remaining number of shots, whether or not the camera is set to fill flash, and arrows that point to the selected exposure setting and the shooting range. Shutter speed, which varies from 1/64-1/200th second, is set automatically.

A reverse Galilean type viewfinder (think of a telescope but flipped around, similar to those used on single-use cameras) sits above the control LED and juts out slightly from the left edge. The viewfinder is large, bright and relatively clear (depending on your eyesight) but don’t crop too tightly or you may end up cutting off part of the scene.

The Instax 200 accepts only the Fujifilm Instax wide picture format film, which is sold in 10-sheet packages and runs about $1 a shot (street price). Actual image size is about 3.9 x 2.44 inches but there’s a small white border around the image and a 1/2-inch horizontal strip along the bottom for notes. I found that a black Sharpie pen worked best, with good legibility and non-smearing permanence.