Torn between Instax vs zink (zero ink)? Don’t be. There’s actually no contest between the two, as one is garbage. In this article you will see why.
Introduction
There’s essentially two technologies when it comes to instant cameras: Instax vs Zink. What about Polaroid? Same thing as Instax because they are essentially the same technology: Instant film vs thermal printer.
Polaroid differs from Instax in terms of size but also color science, their colors are different. But what about Zink (aka Zero Ink)? Here’s the differences and why Zink doesn’t even begin to compare.
Instax vs Zink
Let’s get into the comparison between Instax vs Zink Paper:
Two different things
When making the decision between Instax vs Zink, it’s more important than you think because of the gulf between the image quality between the two.
Instax uses chemistry and is pure, 100% analog film photography. Even the digital ones like the Liplay simply expose the digital image onto an analog film but that’s splitting hairs.
When you push the shutter button on an Instax, it opens the aperture of the lens and let’s light in the Instax paper on the back. Then as the paper gets ejected it is squeezed and chemicals in the little pocket at the bottom of the film gets released onto the paper, and voila, you have an image.
That’s the same thing as (old) Polaroid, Fuji got the rights to that technology once Polaroid took them to court. So the image quality is like those old Polaroids that you remember: Somewhat muted, beautiful pastel colors and you get an analog print.
Zink on the other hand is a thermal printer, just like the old Gameboy printer back in the day. Thermal printers differ from inkjet printers where the ink is sprayed over a blank sheet. In thermal paper there’s a few layers of color and the printer applies different intensities of heat to recreate those colors when printed. In theory this should give you excellent photo-printer-like quality. I said in theory because when it comes to Instax vs Zink in terms of image quality, the second one is a joke.
Image quality
Before getting into Instax I got myself a Zink printers. My heart sank the first time I saw the results. Technically the results should be photo quality-like but what you get is mostly a messy blob that gets worse over time.
Compare that to the true analog look of the Instax. I went wow when I saw my first Instax shot, a far cry from my Zink reaction. I won’t mince words, I think Zink is junk. The prints are a disappointment.
They also have somewhat faded colors too but on Zink it looks like it just couldn’t quite do the color right while on Instax the fade adds to the quality.
Deceptive advertisement
I’ll be blunt: Zink has deceptive advertisement. Look at Fujifilm’s site about Instax and all you have are actual Instax shots, check out the prints coming out the Zink cameras and it’s a different picture. Literally: all the images are simulated, aka you never actually see a real Zink print in the advertisement. It’s all added afterwards in photoshop.
It’s kind of like when cereal companies say that their cereal is “enlarged to show texture” and “part of this complete breakfast”. One could actually argue that this is false advertising because nowhere on the Zink promotional materials does it say that the images are simulated.
Look, it’s understandable that the images won’t be studio quality or whatnot but the Zink images are really not worth it if all you want is something that looks remotely good.
What zink has going for it
Not’s all bad about Zero Ink however. Here’s 3 things that it has going for it. First all of the cameras are digital if that is something that you want. Second the prints have a sticker back to them so they are scrapbook ready and probably more importantly they are way cheaper than Instax film. Here’s the price breakdown:
| Name | Price Per Shot |
|---|---|
| Instax Mini | $0.67 |
| Instax wide | $0.98 |
| Zink paper | $0.49 |
They are more economical than Instax. But because the cameras are digital, you are not forced to print every shot, only the ones you want making it very economical. There’s only a few Instax cameras that are digital and let you print selectively but the best one is the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this article about Instax vs Zink. The only reason to go for Zink is if you are on a tight budget. For everybody else, there is no reason to go for such terrible paper quality. There is no contest between analog instant film vs Thermal prints, while the second one on paper would be more faithful in terms of colors (And that’s what the promotional shots show) the reality is, it’s just low quality.
Zink feel disposable while Instax feels like something you want to treasure. I’ve had both and there’s no contest Instax wins. Check out the Mini Evo for the best Instax has to offer.