Blue streaks — commonly referred to as blue lightning — result from the unique solution to prevent light damage Polaroid engineered when releasing the worlds first integral film.

The visible result of this, when shooting in a hot environment above 28°C (82°F), is that black and white film photos will have drastically reduced contrast, while color film images will have an overall yellow, orange or pink color cast across the entire image.

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If you drop or knock the camera against something hard, there’s a good chance the camera will start to malfunction. You’ll know it’s a malfunction if all the lights on the lens adjustment dial continue to blink or if the red lamp by the viewfinder doesn’t go off even after inserting brand new pair of AA batteries.

If the camera does not turn on, the problem may be that the battery is dead and needs to be replaced. The cartridge holding the undeveloped film and power pack are the same unit. After replacing the cartridge, the camera should turn on.

Issue: Yellow or Purple cast on Polaroid films. Polaroid film has traditionally been a victim of color temperature. Besides color temperature that affects the picture, sunlight or strong light in the first few seconds of development also affects the film. That is why some Polaroid cameras have a built-in film shield.

To check how much film is left in the pack, simply turn the camera on. To do so, turn the control knob counter-clockwise until the yellow lines on the control knob and shutter button line up, and the filled circle symbol is at the front. When the camera is on, the ring flash will light up.

Shooting in the Cold (< 13°C): Below 13°C (55°F), photos tend to emerge over-exposed, lacking color contrast and with a green tint. When shooting at lower temperatures, let your images develop in the inside pocket of your jacket or somewhere else close to your body.

The image “never touches air, so shaking or waving has no effect,” the company said on its site. “In fact, shaking or waving can actually damage the image. Rapid movement during development can cause portions of the film to separate prematurely, or can cause ‘blobs’ in the picture.”

In my personal experience, this is most likely due to scanning. Color film has it’s own base color that needs to compensated for. If you cannot change the scanning color you can compensate in software by using the tint (green/magenta) slider. Bring it more to the magenta side and you might see the green tint go away.

I’ve left my instax camera in my car during hot summers and cold winters, not advisable and does affect the film colors and if done for too long the first couple exposures and the ones after could look a little off or not expose at all. As far as your camera, should still be fine.

within 12 months

The film was already exposed to light This can happen if you happen to be in direct sunlight while loading the film pack, or if you open the back of the camera and remove the film before you’ve used it up. In either case, the only solution is to throw the overexposed pack away and start again!

According to Polaroid.com, the American National Standards Institute says that Polaroid films do not fade any faster than any other photographic medium, as long as they are properly stored. They say it takes more than 100 years for them to fade if stored in an archival quality album.

One of the best things about Zink photo paper is that they are durable and are resistant to water and smudges. Moreover, they don’t fade with time. However, they are susceptible to heat.

We designed the Polaroid film box with intention: it helps to protect each film pack from light and moisture damage. As a result, we always recommend keeping unused film sealed inside of its unopened box, in a cool and dry environment until you are ready to shoot with it. Do not freeze your film packs!

It doesn’t run out of ink, each film has its own “ink.” The thing is, it doesn’t use ink, when the shutter opens and light hits the film, it sort of burns the image into it.

Polaroids are not archival and were not meant to last forever. Some Polaroids yellow, fade, or become brittle, but there are steps that you can take to lessen the damage to them over time: Keep Polaroids out of direct sunlight, moisture (high humidity), and temperature fluctuations.

Zink Polaroid Snap Instant Digital Camera (White) with ZINK Zero Ink Printing Technology.

After the film cover is ejected, the counter will read 10 and count down after each exposure until you are out of film and need to reload. Remember, it’s best not to open the back of a camera with film in it, but with instax, even that is forgiven.

During exposure, the shutter opens, projecting an image through the transparent film cover sheet, creating a latent image on the silver halide emulsion in the negative. After the shutter closes, the photo is ejected out of the film pack, passing between two rollers.

Instax, Polaroid, Fuji pack film, anything instant will be fogged by the x-ray machines. Meaning that 800 ISO film (particularly Portra 800) can go through the x-ray at TSA. 3200 speed film should be hand checked by TSA. Again, just like the instant film, have it out of the box and wrapper.

The number one reason pictures taken with the Mini 9 end up underexposed is because the wrong setting was chosen on the brightness adjustment dial. Bright sunny days will almost always require the Very Sunny setting, just as dark rooms will almost always require Indoors.

the number of shots remaining

10 tips for shooting better instax photos

1. Keep your distance to avoid a selfie fail.
2. Avoid subjects too small in the frame.
3. Don’t allow fingers in the shot or obscure the flash.
4. Use natural light where possible.
5. Try the same subject from different angles.
6. Good subjects for instant photography.
7. Contrast your subject with their background.

Caused by: When either the electronic eye (which sees the picture and decides which exposure to use) or the shutter mechanism (which needs to accurately open and close, letting just the right amount of light into the camera) are not functioning properly, the resulting image will be incorrectly exposed.

if you have a scanner you can scan it in and boost the exposure a tad and then boost up the blacks, shadows**, and whites a bit. You might be able to lighten it a bit using Photoshop or Lightroom after scanning it as TIFF (not as JPEG), but don’t expect miracles.

Instax Mini 9 Photos Come Out White or Black? Follow These Tips:

1. Make sure the light meter is not obstructed and the camera is held properly. The light meter in Instax Mini 9 measures light coming in and adjusts exposure accordingly.
2. Adjust the exposure dial accordingly.
3. Handle and load the film into the camera correctly.