Instax Square Monochrome

Fujifilm launched Instax Square Monochrome on November 6, 2020 in Japan, with US availability earlier in October at $14.99 a pack. It completed a trio that started with Mini Monochrome in 2016 and Wide Monochrome in late 2017, three formats over four years to fill out the entire monochrome instant lineup before competitors could establish a foothold. The Square format itself had only existed since 2017.

The image area is roughly 62 by 62 millimeters, sitting between Mini and Wide both visually and physically. It is the closest instant format to a vintage SX-70 print in proportion, which is part of why photographers who came up on Polaroid square gravitate toward it. The ten-sheet cartridge is the standard Instax SQ shape and fits every SQ-series body Fuji has made.

The emulsion is rated at ISO 800 with Hi-Speed labeling. Tonality runs neutral gray, slightly warm under flash, a touch cooler in shade. Grain is finer than Mini Monochrome because the per-frame area is larger and you are not cropping an 800-speed stock into a postage stamp. Don't expect Tri-X gradation. Expect five or six clean stops with bright whites and deep grays.

Operating range is listed as 5 to 40 degrees Celsius, more honest than most instant specs. Below freezing the pod will not activate fully and you get patchy whites. Above 40 the developer rolls unevenly across the sheet. The closest peer is Polaroid B and W i-Type, which has more visible grain and a wider tonal range but worse pack-to-pack consistency.

For a hybrid SQ camera with manual exposure, rate it at 800 and let auto handle the rest. For an SQ1 in low light, the flash is what holds the exposure together.

Reciprocity exponent is 1.0. No correction needed past one second. Zone Light Meter treats the metered time as the actual exposure time, which matches Fuji's documentation. You will rarely meter past a second on Instax anyway. Available in 10-sheet packs only.