Your instax™ camera guide to starting university

Starting uni is exciting from day one: new city, new people, a flat full of strangers who might become your closest mates by Christmas. Somewhere in the middle of all that newness, there's this urge to document it. To hold onto the bit where it all started.

That's where an instax™ camera comes in. Not for the grid. For the wall. For the fridge. For the prints that end up in a frame on someone's desk by week three and stay there until June. The kind of thing you'd never think to take a photo of on your phone, but somehow that's the one you keep. It doesn't need to be a good photo. It just needs to be one that means something.

Making your room feel like yours

Halls of residence usually start out pretty blank: plain walls, standard furniture, an empty noticeboard waiting to be filled. That blank canvas is exactly where prints come in. A few well-placed shots and the room stops feeling like a hotel and starts feeling like yours.

A photo ledge along one wall turns any blank space into something that looks like yours. Add a small frame on the desk, prop a couple of prints against your speaker. Done. You've been in the room less than a week and it already looks like a place that belongs to you.

The instax™ mini format is credit-card sized, which makes it easy to cluster a few together or tuck one into the corner of a mirror. Handy if you've already packed the instax mini 13™, which shoots on instax™ mini film, sold separately in packs of 10. Cameras don't come with film included, so factor that into your packing list.

A few ideas for prints: a shot of your family from before you left, one from summer with your school friends, and a couple from your first week. That mix of before and after gives the wall a kind of story, even when it's still just a handful of prints.

Command strips, magnetic frames, and photo ledges are the easiest ways to display prints in a halls room without marking the walls. A small ledge on the windowsill with three or four prints lined up is enough to make the space feel lived in from day one.

The flat group print

Most flats have a kitchen or living area where everyone ends up at some point. It's the room where you'll get to know each other, usually over bad pasta or someone's questionable cooking experiment at midnight.

One of the best things you can do in freshers week? Get everyone together, switch the instax mini 13™ self-timer to the 10-second option, prop it somewhere stable, and get a group shot. If your flat is a big one, the instax WIDE 400™ is worth considering instead. It uses a wider film format built for exactly this, and its analog self-timer dial lets you set four, six, eight, or ten second increments, so there's plenty of time to squeeze everyone into frame. Print it out. That print goes on the kitchen wall. Week two, it's already become part of the flat.

If you want to go bigger, the instax Link WIDE™ prints at roughly twice the size of a standard mini print. That's genuinely useful for a group shot where you want everyone's faces to show up properly. You print from your phone via the app, so there's no film to load. Take a look at the instax Link WIDE™ printer for a closer look.

Freshers week moments worth printing

Freshers week is chaotic in the best way. You're doing things, meeting people, going places, and an instant camera fits right into the middle of it. There's no editing, no retaking. What comes out is what happened.

A few moments that tend to produce the best prints: your first flat dinner, even if it's toast. The corridor crew the night before your first lecture. The friend you made at the welcome event who stuck around. The print that comes out slightly blurry because someone moved. All of it counts.

The instax mini 13™ self-timer offers two options: 2 seconds, which reduces blur on handheld shots like selfies, or 10 seconds, which gives you time to get into frame for group shots. Close-up mode is worth using for portraits and pairs. For wider groups, step back a bit and let everyone spread out.

Pick up a couple of packs of instax™ film before you go. Film comes in a range of designs, including Rainbow, Monochrome, and Soft Lavender, if you want the frames to suit your room's vibe. A pack of 10 goes fast in a group setting. Two packs is a safer bet for a busy, full-on first week.

A quick kit list

You don't need much. One camera, a pack or two of film, and somewhere to put the prints. Here's a quick breakdown of what to look at:

A camera. The instax mini 13™ is good if you want something compact and colourful. Available in five shades including Dreamy Purple, Frost Blue, and Candy Pink. The instax mini 41™ is a cleaner, more minimal option if that's more your style. Both shoot on the same mini film format.

Film. Always bring more than you think you'll need. Sold separately in packs of 10.

A printer (optional, good for flat life). The instax Link WIDE™ connects to your phone via the app and produces WIDE-format prints that look solid on a wall. It's a printer only and doesn't take photos, so you're working from the photos on your phone.

Somewhere to put the prints. A photo ledge works well for the desk, and command strips handle the fridge. If you're printing WIDE-format shots with the instax Link WIDE™, the instax™ WIDE Photo Magnets and the instax™ WIDE Photo Album are both worth grabbing from the eShop.

Does instax™ offer a student discount?

Yes. instax™ offers a 10% student discount on the instax™ eShop, and the same discount is available in-store at the FUJIFILM House of Photography. Have your student ID or verification ready at checkout so it can be applied. instax™ products are also stocked widely across major UK retailers, both online and on the high street, so it's worth checking with whoever you're already shopping with for any additional term-time offers running alongside the instax™ discount.

Prints for your wall, not just your phone

A photo on your wall is different from a photo on your phone. A print gets looked at. A photo in your camera roll gets scrolled past. Your uni room is the first space that's properly yours, and the prints on the wall are one of the fastest ways to make it feel that way.

By the end of freshers week you'll have more prints than wall space. Decent problem to have. Browse instax™ cameras and instax™ film on the instax™ site, or find them at most major UK retailers.