# Wow! Little instant film cameras w/ credit card sized pics are a thing! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 5, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673 "2015-11-05T01:48:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/1 "2015-11-05T01:48:48Z")
Honestly I hadn’t given film cameras a thought in years. Between smartphone cameras and standard digital cameras I thought they had just kind of vanished as a mass market consumer item with maybe a few scientific and hobby users remaining. Well…I was wrong. They are being sold across the counter at Walmart! Little instant film cameras with instant credit card sized pics. Link here [Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S Instant Camera +Mini Film 10pk](http://www.walmart.com/ip/20512790?u1=ebs2d2437157d2946d1446687796476sbe&oid=403904.1&wmlspartner=*7WaaTN6umc&sourceid=36734409610125465501&affillinktype=10&veh=aff) [Amazon link here](http://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B00AWKJPPY/ref=dp_ob_custreviews_ce_cm_cr_acr_img?showViewpoints=1) ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/2 "2015-11-05T01:51:22Z")
Well every time I’m at the mall I see people paying $7 to get four pictures of themselves taken in a booth. Some people like to have a picture to hold in their hand I guess. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/3 "2015-11-05T01:51:24Z")
Polaroid had these just before they went bust. Nobody (except in japan) bought them ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/4 "2015-11-05T02:04:09Z")
Polaroid has them, too. I don’t know who actually makes them, but they seem to be identical to the Fuji model. > **[Amazon.com : Polaroid PIC-300 Instant Film Camera (Purple) : Electronics](https://www.amazon.com/Polaroid-PIC-300-Instant-Camera-Purple/dp/B007HR9W44)** > > Polaroid Pic-300 Instant Camera Features a Easy and fun to use To use, simply snap, print, and share your photos - that's it! Take it on the go so you can send friends and family home with pictures of their own within minutes. The film counts down... ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/5 "2015-11-05T02:16:52Z")
Instant film cameras are good for privacy, because they only create one copy of the image. Someone would have to get their hands on that physical copy in order to create another. I can imagine a lot of people would be using these to take sex pictures. (That’s definitely what I’d use them for! :D) ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/6 "2015-11-05T06:36:33Z")
‘Polaroid’ is NOT Polaroid - in the Bankruptcy, every last asset of Polaroid was sold - including the use of the name ‘Polaroid’. I don’t know if the TV’s are made by the same people who make the cameras who make the film, etc. But it ain’t the Polaroid of your youth. And the store that goes/went by the name ‘Wards’ was NOT the old Montgomery-Wards (which, toward the end, also went by ‘Wards’) - they will not honor you M-W gift certificate, nor are they interested in fixing your Admiral\* product. - - how many knew the Admiral name was ‘Monkey Wards’? How many ever heard of ‘Admiral’ brand products? (that is probably why M-W failed) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/7 "2015-11-05T07:01:51Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > ‘Polaroid’ is NOT Polaroid - in the Bankruptcy, every last asset of Polaroid was sold - including the use of the name ‘Polaroid’. And Tom Scholz undoubtedly is glad he pursued a musical career 40 years ago. 🎸 ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/8 "2015-11-05T07:48:17Z")
The second question in the product Q&A for the first OP link is: \*\*“Do the pictures come out in color or black and white?” :smack: \*\* ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/9 "2015-11-05T12:52:06Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > ‘Polaroid’ is NOT Polaroid - in the Bankruptcy, every last asset of Polaroid was sold - including the use of the name ‘Polaroid’. > > I don’t know if the TV’s are made by the same people who make the cameras who make the film, etc. > > But it ain’t the Polaroid of your youth. > > And the store that goes/went by the name ‘Wards’ was NOT the old Montgomery-Wards (which, toward the end, also went by ‘Wards’) - they will not honor you M-W gift certificate, nor are they interested in fixing your Admiral\* product. > > - > - how many knew the Admiral name was ‘Monkey Wards’? How many ever heard of ‘Admiral’ brand products? (that is probably why M-W failed) It’s not “Polaroid” for legal reasons – they don’t want to be saddled with paying all those retirees, for instance. So the company was killed and resuscitated. But it still uses the same sort of color stripe branding. Until they finally moved a couple of years ago, they occupied the same buildings as “Old Polaroid”. I’m certain there are some people from original Polaroid still working there (in buildings only a few miles from their old digs). It’s not quite the same as those movie studios that buy the “National Lampoon” name so they can slap it on their direct-to-DVD movies. Polaroid wants the advantage of some continuity without the financial responsibility the name implies. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/10 "2015-11-05T13:18:22Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > The second question in the product Q&A for the first OP link is: > \*\*“Do the pictures come out in color or black and white?” > > :smack: > \*\* Not sure why that’s a head smacking question. I certainly remember black and white Polaroids. And if you’re going to go retro, why not go all the way? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/11 "2015-11-05T13:27:28Z")
We have one. It’s actually a lot of fun for small children who can hold the photos right after they are taken. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2015, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/12 "2015-11-05T15:50:32Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > We have one. It’s actually a lot of fun for small children who can hold the photos right after they are taken. And for some reason, it’s terrific fun at parties with adults, all of who have 8-10 megapixel cameras on their phones in their pockets. I have to figure it’s a nostalgic things- they’re excited to see the pictures actually develop like they did as children (and for children, it’s a new thing anyway). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-little-instant-film-cameras-w-credit-card-sized-pics-are-a-thing/736673/13 "2015-11-07T17:08:00Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Amazon link here](http://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/B00AWKJPPY/ref=dp_ob_custreviews_ce_cm_cr_acr_img?showViewpoints=1) Going to the main product page from that link just amazed me. Almost the entire listing tells you how it differs from previous versions. You pretty much have to infer what kind of camera it is. If I didn’t know from the OP what it was, I would have probably not realized it.