Fujifilm's Instax Mini 99 takes retro cool and adds Instagram-style filters for the ultimate instant camera

Fujifilm's Instax range of cameras have proved excellent for those looking to go old school with instant photography. Unlike the best compact cameras, there's no digital display, no saving to social media or the cloud, and the only copy of a photograph you get is a one-off.

They are fun, friendly and ideal for creating instant memories – much like the instant cams of the 80s and 90s.

Many of them are simple affairs though, that are more in the point, shoot and what you see is essentially what you get. Now there's a premium model that does so much more.

The Instax Mini 99 is effectively a replacement for the Mini 90, first released more than a decade ago.

It shares many of the features – plus those that have appeared on later models – while also bringing a few new ones to the table.

The biggest is a new dial of Instagram-style colour effects, that can alter your instant snaps with filters. There are several on offer, including a green tint, blue, a wamer shot, or even a light bleed mode that uses internal LEDs to present the sort of image many used to dread seeing when they picked up their pics from Boots.

We tried several of them during a launch event in London and each has great charm and retro cool. It's a fun way of mixing up instant pics to give you something different each time.

Also on board for the first time is a vignette switch that creates darkened edges to photographs, plus new brightness and focus modes to give owners more flexibility.

The camera takes the same Instax film as its stablemates, with around 10 to 20 shots in each pack – so you need to be sparing. However, from our brief play so far, we found we could take some excellent images after a bit of a play of the different options.

The Instax Mini 99 is equally as capable in profile and landscape modes, with two shutter buttons to help out. And there are three focal lengths – one for selfies, another for mid-range and a final one for distant photography. There's a flash on board too.

We'll be testing the camera more thoroughly in the coming days and will bring you a more in-depth opinion soon.

It will be available in stores from 4 April priced at £174.99. A new Instax Mini Photo Slide film set has also been launched for £8.99 per pack.