SusieG Studio

I’m basically a gadget geek at heart. Especially when it comes to my love of photography. I take pictures on a daily basis. To record my daily life. It could be some wildlife I see, a delicious foodie picture of my meal, a picture of my sewing project, a snapshot of my sketch, or a cool product I would recommend and share here on my blog.

I’ve been on the mini portable printer bandwagon for several years. It started back in 2015 when Hubby and I planned to go on a cruise and I had a brilliant idea to share my pictures with others. I purchased the Fujifilm Instax Share Smartphone Printer SP-1.

It was fun to print on the go on and print out credit card size photos. The photo paper reminded me of when Polaroids were popular. It was within minutes that a picture would develop right before my eyes.

This was a fun printer to carry with me on travel. Most of the time, I would give away my pictures. It was a joy to see someone’s expression as they watched the film/picture developed in front of them.

This printer required two CR2 lithium batteries. A set of batteries would print under 100 pictures. I believe I printed about 75 photos on a set of batteries. It was kind of a nuisance to purchase the expensive batteries and also to keep spares in my bag.

In 2020, I decided to upgrade to the latest Fujifilm Instax printer the Instax Mini Link 2. The print resolution was substantially better than my SP-1 and so was the technology. The printer had a built-in battery and I could recharge the printer using the included cable. This of course, was a game changer for me and made it easier to travel with. Just throw my printer, charging cable, and a couple of film packs into my travel bag and go.

Hubby and I stopped traveling in early 2020 right before the pandemic hit. My portable printer was put on the shelf and forgotten.

Late last year, I dusted off my printer and found some old unopened boxes of Instax mini film that I had kept in a container. I was hoping to use the film before the expiration date.

As you can see that did not happen. Here we are in 2026 and I’m using film with an expiration date of 2019-06. I thought it would be a good idea to use up the old film and see what develops.

After I installed the cartridge into my printer, the printer automatically ejected the plastic cover from the cartridge.

I already had the “instax mini Link” app on my smartphone. I used bluetooth to connect my smartphone with my Fujifilm printer. Once the connection was made, I was able to add my photos to the app and started to print them.

The picture I selected moves up to show the picture is printing and then disappears off the screen.

The smartphone app will show the number of remaining film sheets available and the remaining battery life.

The printer’s on/off button glows different colors during the printing process.

When the picture is finished printing, the film slides out of the opening. I just give a small tug to release my picture from the printer.

From one cartridge, I was able to print all 10 sheets of film. The other two cartridges I had, I was able to print 9 out 10 sheets. Not too bad, considering it’s almost seven (7) years past the expiration date. To be honest, I was not sure what would come out of my printer. I was quite happy with the results. A nice surprise and a good experiment.

Watching the Film Develop

This is what I call the magical moment.

I’m always amazed as I watch my pictures come to life.

Here’s another picture being developed.

After a few minutes, my picture was still coming to life. I knew the blue in the sky should be a bit darker. So I set my picture aside and continued to print out other pictures.

A few hours later I decided to check on my pictures and here are the results.

Waiting for my pictures to develop.

Some pictures take a bit longer to develop. I assume it’s because of the film’s age and how they are stacked in the cartridge.

I wanted to share the picture I had to reprint. The bottom picture slowly developed and stopped. The top picture was the reprint.

The Next Day Results

The next day, I went to check on my pictures and here’s what I saw. I assumed the top picture just needed a few more hours to develop.

Here’s a few pictures that I printed recently.

Summary:

I’m printing up all of my old/expired film cartridges before I purchase additional boxes for our upcoming trip.

Years ago when I did a lot of printing with my Instax printer, I had no issues with the boxes of film. All my sheets printed brilliantly and quickly.

Here’s a collection of Instax pictures I printed back in 2020 when the film cartridges were used before the expiration date. You can see how vibrant the colors appeared on the film. I can verify in 2026, that the colors remained the same.

Besides the basic white film frame, Fujifilm offered a variety of colors including gradient colors, monochromatic, and basic black.

The pictures are printed on glossy film and I have to watch out for finger prints. I used a soft cloth to remove them from the pictures.

I recently purchased an acrylic picture holder/container from Amazon. It holds four Instax pictures and I use this container to store my mini paint brushes.

There’s a smaller acrylic cube that sits inside which holds the pictures in place. You can see how well made this picture holder is and how thick the acrylic is.

I store my printed Instax pictures in a small box that sits on my studio desk.

I’m getting ready to purchase a few boxes of film. I will update this blog post with any additional findings I come across.

Tip: To print the best quality, be sure to print the film before the expiration date.

Reuse: I’ve used the empty film cartridges as frames to hold my pictures.

Pros:

• Ability to print from my Smartphone
• Pictures with higher contrast will print nicely
• The film sheets feel substantial
• The cute size of the film (credit card size)
• Portability of both the printer and the film
• Basically a fun printer to use and share the pictures
• The smartphone app has limited capabilities to edit the pictures, but can add text, print a collage (it would be tiny), or add a frame around the picture

Cons:

Here are a few things to watch out for:

• Don’t expect high resolution print outs
• Lighter pictures may not produce good results
• Sometimes the color might be off (e.g. skin tones)
• I already mentioned the finger print issue

• The 10-pack film sheets can be a bit expensive. I’ve looked at multi-packs which ends up with a better cost/sheet. It also depends on where the film packs are purchased.

Printer: Fujifilm Instax Mini Link 2 -Space Blue. There is a newer version available with cooler colors and multi-color lights. I was comparing the specs and I assumed there wasn’t a huge difference between the two models. I’m quite happy with my model.

Film: Fujifilm Instax Mini Instant Film. The film also comes in other colors besides the white frame. I’ve also have purchased the Mini Monochrome Film. I’m not sure if that is still available.