New camera - Instax Neo Classic mini 90

Another reason I was excited about going to Japan was the release of this new Instax camera. I love my 'polaroid' camera. It's fun but it has extremely limited features. This new one has much more control. Just being able to turn the flash off it is real bonus. Plus it looks dead cool.

I don't think it'll be coming out in the US or the UK for a few months, so here are a few pictures if you are interested.

Here is the website: Instax Neo Classic mini 90
Now there is an English version too: Instax Neo Classic Mini 90

I took a few shots whilst we were on holiday and I got an extra pack of film for practising with. I've tried out a few some of it's great new features including:

Timer which is genius. Though it is fun getting strangers to take you picture. Everyone smiles when they see its an instant picture :)

Macro very pleased with this one. I like to take pictures of 'things' and being 60cm away was too far with my old instax. Very useful.

Party this is ace. Apart from a party is exactly where I want to take this kind of camera, the pictures come out better than the iphone. This is because the flash comes on 'later' in the photo - it means you don't get that super bright person in the foreground and a really dark background.

Bulb fun for taking light pictures but you can't hold it down very long.

Lighter/darker is difficult to judge before you've taken a picture and often you don't get a second chance!

Double exposure fun but can easily be over exposed.

Landscape okay, I've not tried this one yet.


And
It's about 100 times quieter. Switching my old instax camera on in public is a little embarrassing. haha

I also got a pack of Halloween themed film which, although I'm not sure we're going anywhere special this year, I couldn't resist.

I've just been to Japan.

Akihabara at night

Yes, in real life.

I've spent many hours dreaming of visiting Japan. Probably starting about ten years ago when I was watching a lot of anime. Then a few years later when I got interested in Japanese fashions. More recently I've been excited about the craft and stationery coming from there.

I always had a fond idea that we might go for our honeymoon. Until I actually started planning a wedding realised how much it costs! (I have no idea how people pay for a 'holiday of a lifetime' and a wedding in the same year.) As it turned out, that was the year of the awful earthquake/tsunami and following nuclear disaster at Fukushima. Not the ideal time for a visit.

So how did we end up going to Japan? We had an opportunity to stay with someone who is living out there and off we went! We booked the flights and a month later, on our 2nd wedding anniversary, we set off. I'm glad we had a bit of time plan, but not too long to wait.

It was a fantastic trip. We got to see some awesome things first hand, both traditional and pop culture. Our adventures covered parts of Yokohama, Shibuya, Harajuku, Ginza, Odiba, Akihabara and Takao mountain. Tokyo is the coolest place I've ever been. Before this trip it was New York, which is a pretty amazing city in itself.

Stay tuned to hear more about our trip. Including what it was like at Harajuku and my favourite sushi place of all time.