Canon is renewing its Zoemini camera / printer with a version called S2.
Launched at 169 euros, this new model is evolving especially through its largely expanded application which is inspired by the creative possibilities of Instagram and Snapchat.
Playful and practical, Zoemini S2 nevertheless delivers photos of uneven quality.
“
Big Moments, big stories
”!
To immortalize our best moments and our most beautiful stories, Canon and its Zoemini S2 do not go by four ways.
As the battle for instant cameras and printers rages between Fujifilm, Polaroid and Lomography, Canon wants to distinguish itself with a camera / printer offering a thousand and one creative possibilities.
The manufacturer also claims to have drawn its inspiration from Instagram and Snapchat.
Mirror, my beautiful mirror ...
Zoemini? At the end of 2018, it was first the name of a small printer before the device evolves in spring 2019 towards cameras with built-in printer, the Zoemini S and C. At first glance, Zoemini S2 does not evolve physically. Very compact (121 x 80.3 x 22.4 mm for 188 grams), the device is still distinguished by its large mirror on the front inviting to take selfies. Around, a circle of eight LEDs lights up when shooting in order to avoid the phenomenon of red eyes.
Faced with its competitors, Canon certainly aligns the best solution to properly frame your self-portraits, the one where you can see yourself best and with which the framing will not be too rough.
In the center of the mirror is planted an 8 megapixel photo sensor, the same as that of the Zoemini S. It was not much in the era of smartphones equipped with 108 megapixel sensors ...
With the optical viewfinder on the back of the camera, it is also possible to take traditional shots.
You can choose with a button: in black and white or with a vivid filter.
This is one of the novelties of the S2 compared to the S. The idea is then to launch the printing directly.
For this, Canon uses the Zink process (see box).
Chrono in hand, it takes 50 seconds to retrieve your printed photo.
An app full of creative ideas
But the real interest of the Zoemini S2 lies elsewhere ... on the side of the smartphone to which the camera / printer will be paired using the Canon Mini Print application.
On the one hand, it is possible to print with Zoemini S2 any image contained in its digital terminal.
The user can also draw directly from his Google photo library, on Instagram or Facebook.
In short, something to print at all costs!
On the other hand, Canon had the good idea to create with its application a real lab to personalize its images before their printing: filters (dark, movie, lomo, warm, winter, vintage…), frames (with different borders); numerous stickers (onomatopoeias, animals, icons, clothing and accessories,
food,
flowers, hearts, etc.); possibility of adding text in a thousand and one forms… We are not very close to the spirit of
scrapbooking
and that of
IG or Snap
stories
that we are used to decorating with this type of
stickers
.
Result: we really surprise ourselves by having fun tweaking the photos to offer them, stick them in a notebook, on a piece of furniture, put them together ... Finally, and thanks to the application, it is possible to remotely control the shots views from their smartphone.
Too bad that Zoemini S2 is also devoid of screw thread that would have allowed the camera to be fixed on a tripod to optimize this possibility ...
Reproaches, the same as before ...
At the same time, we regret that it is not possible to wirelessly import a photo taken from Zoemini S2 into your smartphone to retouch and personalize it before printing it.
This is a criticism that had already been formulated for Zoemini S but which Canon does not seem to have paid much attention to.
The device still offers the possibility of recording its own shots on an SD card, but with the constraint of a transfer not always easy to operate to a smartphone, such as an iPhone which will require an adapter.
Photos that see red
What print quality?
At 5 x 7.6 cm format, the photos produced remain the size of a business card.
Canon also offers the principle of two bubble photos on the same specific sheet of paper.
The manufacturer speaks of "circular paper".
On arrival, it is thus possible to produce two small round stickers with different visuals and the result is very nice.
The prints are vivid, but still with a strong red cast due to the Zink printing process.
This systematically spoils any photo printed in black and white.
Which ends up with a pink veil which is not the best effect.
Printed photos also often lack sharpness and detail, but can satiate the urge to share a good moment in the moment.
Per pack of 50 sheets (ref: ZP-2030), the printed photo costs almost 13 euro cents, which is still decent. Count on the other hand 64 cents for two bubble photos (in packs of 20 sheets, ref: ZP-2030-2C-20), which is far too expensive and puts the photo of 3.3 cm in diameter at 0.32 euro l 'unity.
In the end, Canon still succeeds in a fun product (available in green, pink and white) and easy to access.
As for the Canon Mini Print application, it offers enough possibilities to renew oneself in one's creations.
For its part, the competition is not weakening: Polaroid has just launched its Now + instant camera which also works with an application.
As for Fujifilm, the manufacturer unveiled a few days ago its Link Wide, a smartphone printer capable of printing photos in 8.6 x 10.8 cm format, but also
magnets
.
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Zink, kézako?
The Zink thermal printing process (Zink, for "Zero Ink", or "without ink") used by the Zoemini S2 allows to print photos that reveal themselves instantly, unlike Polaroid instant cameras which require a few minutes for the photo appears.
By ejecting the sheet of sticker paper, the camera heats it and thus triggers a chemical reaction that will reveal colored microcrystals.
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