Canon takes on Fujifilm's Instax with its IVY instant cameras
They provide instant picture printing while letting you save digital photos.
Canon is going up against Fujifilm with its first instant cameras, the IVY CLIQ and CLIQ+. You can save digital photos or load them up with 10 sheets of Zinc paper and print in 2x2- or 2x3-inch formats. The cameras pack built-in flashes and selfie mirrors, optical viewfinders, microSD card slots, USB charging and auto exposure/focus. They feature wide and relatively fast 25.4mm f/2.2 lenses.
The CLIQ+ has an 8-megapixel sensor and full-lens selfie mirror, compared to 5 megapixels and a smaller mirror on the cheaper CLIQ. The CLIQ+ also has a ring flash around the lens, on top of the normal flash, for better, softer selfies and portraits, along with wireless Bluetooth connectivity. That lets you pair it with the Canon Mini Print mobile app, allowing you to add filters, photo frames and text, or remotely shoot group photos.
Canon is late to launch an instant camera, considering the money to be made. Fujifilm sold 8.5 million Instax units in just three quarters last year, nearly doubling its sales in all of 2016, and sells its own film consumables on top of that. Unfortunately, Zink film is inferior to Fuji's Instax film, which may dissuade instant camera aficionados looking at Canon. Still, Canon's pricing is pretty attractive, at $100 for the IVY CLIQ and $160 for the CLIQ+. They'll arrive in stores in April of 2019.
