I take a lot of photos, and while some of those come from my collection of Polaroid cameras, many more exist only as digital files. That's something I'd like to change – this year, I want to sort myself out a home photo printing setup to enjoy my images in the physical realm.
Prior to the Black Friday sales, I'd whittled it down to two different models. The Canon Selphy CP1500 is a much more traditional printer setup, with proprietary paper and ink cartridges. By contrast, the Fujifilm Instax Wide Link Printer uses instant film, but achieves a comparable result.
My plan was simple. Either of these will do the job, and I can't really split them, so I had planned to wait for the sales to see which was a better deal and take the plunge.
There's just one problem – both of them have been discounted to roughly the same price, so I need to base it on something else once again. Let's jump in to compare some of the key differences.
Canon Selphy CP1500 vs Fujifilm Instax Wide Link Printer: image size
Fujifilm's Instax Wide film features an image size of 99 x 62mm. By comparison, the Canon uses a postcard-sized print, which is 148 x 100mm. Plus one for the Canon there, as that's a markedly bigger surface to play with.
Canon Selphy CP1500 vs Fujifilm Instax Wide Link Printer: film/paper availability
This one is a plus for the Fujifilm system. Fujifilm's Instax film range is really widespread and can commonly be found in all sorts of stores, making it easy to get hold of in a pinch.
Canon's Selphy paper and ink combos are much less common, and will almost certainly need to be ordered from somewhere like Amazon. And while there's no word of this yet, I'd feel less certain about the future of a proprietary system like Canon's, where a sudden decision to end production could ruin my photo printing abilities overnight.
Canon Selphy CP1500 vs Fujifilm Instax Wide Link Printer: printing cost
Fujifilm's Instax Wide film can be picked up £16.99 for 20 shots. That equates to around 85p per print, assuming a 100% hit rate.
By contrast, enough paper and ink for 108 shots on the Canon system can be had for £30.99 right now (usually retails for £39.99). That's the equivalent of about 29p per print – much more cost effective over the long term.
Canon Selphy CP1500 vs Fujifilm Instax Wide Link Printer: verdict
Reading through this page seems like a 2-1 victory for the Canon Selphy CP1500 system. It's cheaper per print and gives a larger image overall, so what's not to love?
Well, I can't really tell you, but there's something which is holding me back. Maybe it's because the Fujifilm output would blend in better with my boxes of instant film. Maybe it's because it seems a little more idiot proof, or maybe it's because the smaller size makes it easier to take on the go.
Whatever it is, I'm leaning towards to the Fujifilm setup at the moment. I'll be keeping a very close eye on the price of each model over the next few days, as any slight wiggle in price would take the decision out of my hands.+
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