Instant printers e.g. Canon Selphy, Polaroid Zip, Canon Zoemini, HP Sprocket, Instax share...

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My 16 year old daughter is a keen iPhone photographer, her pictures are selfies, her cat and her friends etc.
She's had a few pictures printed at Photobox - she liked the results but didn't like the wait or the cost of P+P
She'd like a photo printer for Christmas so she can quickly print a photo or two.

I've done the inkjet with clogged heads thing to death so I'm not looking for anything like that.

I've been browsing the range here which seems quite comprehensive
https://www.argos.co.uk/browse/tech...paper-and-ink/digital-photo-printers/c:30187/

HP sprocket - £10 for 20 - £0.50 per print
Polaroid Zink - £25 for 50 - £0.50 per print
Canon Zoemini - £22 for 50 - £0.44 per print
Canon Selphy - £35 for 108 - £0.32 per print
(Costs from here https://www.argos.co.uk/browse/tech.../digital-photo-printer-paper-and-ink/c:30186/)

My gut feeling is the Canon Selphy line, having a lower cost per print and a larger 6x4 output is the best option, but it's not really portable.
Looking at spending around £100 for the printer, less would be better :)

I'm looking for suggestions or recommendations or anything I've missed. Any owners or user opinions would be very welcome too.

Cheers for reading!
 
I had a selphy 1300 and it was great, but it had a jam once and whilst removing the paper (maybe a bit too forcefully) it bent something inside and was worthless from that point. I don’t feel I used excessive force on it, but that’s how it busted. It did print nice prints quite easily though @ 6x4”
 
How about the Fuji Instax SP-2 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Instax-Share-Photo-Printer-Shots/dp/B01J5KF9KG

My daughter has one sat in a cupboard, not sure she has ever used it, might have done, not sure so can't comment on its function.
I have an older model Selphy, works a treat although haven't used that for a while either

Seems we are hoarders of gear that rarely gets used.
 
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Got an old Selphy upstairs. I use it for printing postcards to give people quickly when on holiday. Never had a problem with it, although mine's so old that I doubt it will accept output from phones!
 
I have a canon selphy and its really great. Easy to print and use. Great quality and long lasting too.
You can also get it considerably cheaper than £35 for 108 prints.
For example amazon has it for £30 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-3115B001-AA-Selphy-Printers/dp/B001BJKO3M/
I normally pay around £23-25 by buying from amazon warehouse deals etc.

Thanks for the tip about the consumables - I just used Argos as they had everything in one place so it was easy to look.
Strangely places like Wex and Jessops didn't seem to have them organised to make it easy to see the range.
The idea started in Japan when we saw all the different instant cameras, printers and all the fancy different papers.

I had a selphy 1300 and it was great, but it had a jam once and whilst removing the paper (maybe a bit too forcefully) it bent something inside and was worthless from that point. I don’t feel I used excessive force on it, but that’s how it busted. It did print nice prints quite easily though @ 6x4”

Glad the prints are good, shame if it's easily damaged though :(
I do think the larger prints might swing in favour of the Selphy.


I'm looking at the Instax share too and their new one, the Instax link which is full of motion activated controls.
I didn't find the consumables at Argos so couldn't make the print comparison.

Do they use the same instant film as the Instax cameras?
e.g. https://www.wexphotovideo.com/fuji-instax-mini-colour-photo-film-20-shot-1549413/
Looks like £15 for 20 shots so £0.75 each

My daughter has one sat in a cupboard, not sure she has ever used it, might have done, not sure so can't comment on its function.
I have an older model Selphy, works a treat although haven't used that for a while either

The "sat in a cupboard" is a bit of a worry - I've always had an itch for one myself but I've tempered my enthusiasm with self awareness about how often I would actually use it.

Got an old Selphy upstairs. I use it for printing postcards to give people quickly when on holiday. Never had a problem with it, although mine's so old that I doubt it will accept output from phones!

The postcard thing sounds like fun - do you need an add on paper tray or just the correct media?

Many thanks for all the quick replies - I thought it might be a bit "low end" for the Printing section :)
 
Yes they do use the same film as the Instax cameras, one of those floating about somewhere too.
All these things sound like a good idea at the time, sort of gadget you buy as a present.
Can also buy a fridge magnet set, now they do look like good fun
Yes, got an unopened pack of them too, just looked

I have two packs of the postcard paper and inks for the Selphy
Just need the correct media, I used them for everything, same paper just different on the reverse side

Daresay there are a lot or similar items sat unused in cupboards everywhere
About to take a used twice 8" digital picture frame to the charity shop, still in its box
 
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Thanks for the clarification about the Instax papers and the Canon postcards. Fridge magnets could be good too.

That all rings a lot of bells - I remember looking into Selphy printers a while back and there were quite a number for £20-30 on Gumtree and Facebook market place.
I did wonder at that point if it would become a cupboard ornament so left it alone.

She's had various other gadgets over the years that saw limited use but I'm not immune so I won't judge. I suspect she's much more likely to use 108 Selphy images than I am as her room is decorated with pictures of her friends and they take a lot of them.

My digital picture frame lived unloved in the front room for quite a while but I moved it next to the monitor in my office and now it provides a bit of eye candy when I can't stand staring at spreadsheets any more :)
 
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The postcard thing sounds like fun - do you need an add on paper tray or just the correct media?

The postcard media fits the standard 6x4 paper tray. IIRC, the only difference is that the postcard paper is slightly heavier weight than the standard paper and has the postcard markings on the back (address, stamp etc..) Be aware that Jessops have been known to send out the wrong paper then deny that the postcard blanks exist (TBH, they might not exist now but certainly did when I ordered some from Jessops and had a hell of a job getting a refund - but that was just befopre they went pop last time...)
 
Just to close this one off - I know it's irritating when you find this kind of thread in a search and don't know what happened.

I picked these up from John Lewis (2 year guarantee)
Canon SELPHY CP1300 Portable Photo Printer with Wi-Fi (£99)
Canon RP-108 Print Pack 108 prints (£34.99)

Opened on Christmas day and she set it up without any problems and printed a couple of things out - her cat and some flower pictures taken when we were in Japan.
It went back in the box and I worried that I'd just paid £135 for 3 prints, but the other day she stripped down her pin board and printed a bunch of new pictures so it's getting some use.

My thoughts as a photography fan - it's smaller and quicker than I expected, neat little thing but a shame about the unwieldy power brick.
Print quality is very nice at least comparable with the stuff I've had from the high street.
I just need to come up with an excuse to borrow it and print some of mine ;)

Thanks for everyone who chipped in - much appreciated :)
 
Just to close this one off - I know it's irritating when you find this kind of thread in a search and don't know what happened.

I picked these up from John Lewis (2 year guarantee)
Canon SELPHY CP1300 Portable Photo Printer with Wi-Fi (£99)
Canon RP-108 Print Pack 108 prints (£34.99)

Opened on Christmas day and she set it up without any problems and printed a couple of things out - her cat and some flower pictures taken when we were in Japan.
It went back in the box and I worried that I'd just paid £135 for 3 prints, but the other day she stripped down her pin board and printed a bunch of new pictures so it's getting some use.

My thoughts as a photography fan - it's smaller and quicker than I expected, neat little thing but a shame about the unwieldy power brick.
Print quality is very nice at least comparable with the stuff I've had from the high street.
I just need to come up with an excuse to borrow it and print some of mine ;)

Thanks for everyone who chipped in - much appreciated :)

Just be careful if you get a paper jam. I wrecked mine whilst I ‘gently’ tried to remove a sheet. Thing is in the bin now :(
 
Just be careful if you get a paper jam. I wrecked mine whilst I ‘gently’ tried to remove a sheet. Thing is in the bin now :(

I'll gently remind her of this, thanks.

I have 4 canon selphys , got 2 at a bargain £40 each from aldi they where selling them off after an off and they where cp1300, never had a problem with them

Wow, that's an absolute bargain. Box.co.uk had the CP1200 model at a better price when I started looking but had sold out when we eventually made the order.
 
Been through a few hundred prints with my Selphy and never had a paper jam. Great for taking on holiday to print my own images as postcards - no liquid inks to spill!
 
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