Instax Square 2: Mood Filters, AA Batteries and Soft Haze Film

Fujifilm’s Instax Square 2 costs $120, and its headline feature is a physical switch, not a new lens. DPReview reports that a mood filter control tints every shot warm, cool, or standard, while the optics and flash carry over unchanged from the SQ1. For instant film shooters deciding whether to replace an older square-format camera, the more consequential change may be the batteries.

What Happened

The Square 2 launches in late October with a hand strap and batteries included. Its Mood Filter switch offers “Warm” for a subtle golden tone, “Cool” for crisp, blue-toned color, or no filter for standard Instax color. The body is more rounded than the boxy SQ1 and comes in misty white, slate blue, and brick red.

The fundamentals are carried over. The 32mm F6.2-equivalent lens and the flash are the same, with automatic exposure and flash, a selfie mirror on the lens, and landscape, close-up, and standard shooting modes. It focuses as close as 0.3 m, and the flash takes about 7.5 seconds to recharge between shots. DPReview links to the camera at B&H.

Fujifilm also introduced Soft Haze, a new Instax Square film that changes the image itself rather than just the border. Fujifilm describes it as having reduced saturation and contrast, glowing highlights, and warm, diffused shadows. It works in any Instax Square camera and costs $18.99 per pack, launching around the same time as the camera.

Why It Matters

Power is the practical upgrade. The SQ1 used two CR2 lithium batteries; the Square 2 takes four standard AA batteries, which Fujifilm says should last about 30 film packs. That swaps a specialist lithium cell for one sold almost everywhere, which matters to anyone who shoots instant film on trips.

The mood switch works in camera, so the tint is part of the exposure and fixed on the print. It also overlaps with Soft Haze, which alters saturation, contrast, and highlights in the film itself. DPReview doesn’t say how the two look combined, so shooters who buy both should test a Warm or Cool filter on a Soft Haze pack before committing a whole box to one look. Beyond the filter, the body change, and the batteries, the article describes no other differences from earlier Square models.

What This Means for Instant Film Shooters

DPReview’s coverage is an announcement, with no hands-on impressions yet, so print quality with each filter setting is untested. Fujifilm keeps refreshing its film and instant ranges, as with the QuickSnap anniversary models, and the Square 2 follows the same approach: small, visible changes on a familiar platform rather than new optics.

Source: DPReview

Content created with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.