With Canon’s flagship EOS R series of mirrorless cameras very much in the spotlight, the fact that at the other end of the scale it’s released a second-generation version of its digital instant camera, may well have escaped your attention. Sold as the Canon Zoemini S2 in Europe and Australasia, and as the Ivy Cliq+2 in North America, this hybrid device cleverly combines a digital compact camera and instant printer.
While Fujifilm’s Instax range of Polaroid-like instant print cameras may well have saved its fortunes, Canon has been far less aggressive in promoting its own instant print alternatives. Perhaps it’s just gently testing the water, and the market? Or just maybe – whisper it – its own product is not actually very good.
Unlike Fuji’s Instax range, which utilizes photochemical film, Canon’s Zoemini S2 has something in common with the instant print cameras currently being marketed under the Kodak brand. Like Kodak, Canon favors Zero Ink or ‘Zink’ technology, using dye-infused paper that reacts to heat.
Experience has taught us that results from such cameras often more closely resemble crude photocopies than true photographs. So we’re interested to see whether Canon has been able to get the best out of this print format this time around, and improve on what we’ve seen in the past.