It is an era in which ultra-high-definition smartphone cameras with 100 million to 200 million pixel..

A film with a touch of emotion, “Fiery Light”

*Korea Fujifilm’s latest instant camera ‘Instax Mini13’.[Reporter Jeon Jongheon]*

It is an era in which ultra-high-definition smartphone cameras with 100 million to 200 million pixels and artificial intelligence (AI) correction functions have become commonplace. The blemishes on the face are erased, the cloudy sky is made blue, and a picture is taken dozens of times until you like it without worrying about film. Paradoxically, however, today’s generation says that photos that are a little shaky, faded, and even slightly out of focus are more “hip.”

Retro-style such as instant cameras and film cameras are enjoying their heyday again as the perception that one of their own “that” containing the atmosphere, emotions, and memories of “the very moment” is more valuable than the quality of photos. If digital creates a “perfect picture,” analog will leave an “unforgettable moment.”

According to related industries on the 23rd, Korea Fujifilm’s recently released instant camera “Instax Mini 13” also targeted this trend. In order to capture more moments, the self-timer function has been newly applied so that everyone can be naturally included in one frame even if they travel alone or with friends. It emphasized the experience of taking pictures together rather than the clarity of the picture.

When you use the Instax Mini 13, you can see this sensibility well. Between 2030s, emotions are called ’emotions’. Instant cameras look clunky and lacking somewhere compared to the latest smartphones that implement the latest high-definition pixels, but the touch of pressing a button to take a picture and the developed film comes out, and the waiting time for the photo to fill the photographic paper gradually makes you feel excited and retro atmosphere. It is also fun to combine various accessories that contain my own tastes, such as camera cases.

Instax mini13 design.[Reporter Jeon Jongheon]

The industry does not see the revival of instant cameras between 2030 as just a retro craze. It is analyzed that the standard of consumption itself has changed. In the past, buying a camera itself was the purpose, but now the experience of making a camera is said to be more important. The process of taking pictures and waiting for the film to appear slowly on the spot and decorating and sharing pictures with each other has become like a play culture. An official from Fujifilm Korea said, “The best picture is not the most perfect picture, but a picture of everyone together,” adding, “A culture that values the value of experience that focuses on the process of one picture coming out rather than the picture itself is spreading around 2030.

If you wait after taking a picture, the picture becomes clearer and clearer on the photographic paper.[Reporter Jeon Jongheon]

This change is also in line with the 2030 consumption method that buys experience and taste rather than possession. “The digital native generation is rather enthusiastic about instant photography and film-like analog formats because they find more authentic moments in a single photo that is irreversible than a perfectly calibrated image,” said Gong Sung, an office worker in his 30s in the related industry.

So the related pop-up stores are also changing. Instead of displaying products, it is decorated as a “space to make memories” rather than a “place to buy photos” with photo zones, film decorating spaces, and experience zones. The Instax Mini13 pop-up store, which was set up at Yongsan I’Park Mall until the 16th of this month, is also designed to experience the joy of analog filming and recording rather than selling products.

Related industry officials believe that the better AI makes photos, the greater the value of analog. It is interpreted in this context that people in their 20s and 30s who are familiar with the latest trends find old “digital cameras” at Sewoon Shopping Center in Jongno.