Pictures are vibrant, with some hues like blues and greens having more punch than others in the default "Instax-Rich" mode. You can swap this for "Instax-Natural" in the app's settings, which creates a more muted look we typically associate with the early instant film of the 1970s. We preferred the Rich mode, which really helps each print stand out.

instax Colour Film WIDE Twin Pack (20 Shots) - Fujifilm X series

Instax film is developed, rather than printed, which creates a signature look that's consistent between sizes. The Instax Link Wide's photos are similar to Instax Mini in terms of colour, contrast and exposure – only they have more impact because they are twice the size.A simple plastic foot lets you stand it upright on a desk while printing at home, while the wrist strap comes in handy when heading outdoors. Here there’s just the one main shutter release button, whether we’re shooting with the camera in portrait or landscape mode. Like with a DSLR, it is set at an angle on the forward slope of the handgrip, whereby it automatically falls under the forefinger. This same button is simply encircled by an on/off power lever, so we can activate the camera and soon be up and shooting in very few moves. For such a bulky camera the optical viewfinder provided is surprisingly small, yet the built-in flash, set somewhat forward of the faceplate to avoid fingertips getting in the way, is large and prominent. Pairing the printer with your phone is as easy as powering on the former, and opening the app on the latter. It will automatically search for any nearby Instax printers, and connect with a few taps. You can also pair to a handful of Fuji digital cameras and print directly from them, but the list of compatible models is currently rather small. Putting practicality before style, the Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 looks like it fell out of the ugly tree and hit a couple of branches on the way down. If we were being kind, we would describe its hot-potch design, which resembles a camera drawn with a crayon by a five-year-old child, as a nod towards retro futurism; one for the hipsters perhaps. The original Polaroids were clunky and bulky too – but so was everything else in the 1970s/80s, and that was part of the charm. The film's 3:2 aspect ratio is a closer match to the typical ratio of a digital camera or smartphone than Polaroid's square crop, meaning you don't need to think so much about how you frame your subject.

Film Printers - INSTAX by Fujifilm (UK) Instant Film Printers - INSTAX by Fujifilm (UK)

Picture clarity is rather impressive, with an impressive level of clarity even in wide landscape shots. Only the brightest images show signs of exposure blowout, and are largely consistent with the digital originals rather than affected by the printing process. The Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 has been on the market for a while now and won’t be the instant print camera of choice for everyone. Yes, we love the larger prints but would happily forgo the larger camera size if we could achieve them. One might imagine that a larger print size might show up the inadequacies of a plastic construction instant print camera – otherwise hidden by smaller, credit card sized prints – all the more. But we have to say that in outdoor lighting conditions we managed to achieve some very pleasant results, free of the usual bleached look of most instant prints.

Business card sized prints not good enough for you? Then it might be worth considering this chunky beast of an analogue camera…