Tech Tuesday: Two Portable Mini Printers To Get Cozy With

Before smartphones, apps and social media, wedding photographers were hauling inkjet printers to weddings so they could give the bride and groom a small album to take with them on their honeymoon. These days, the couple only needs a mobile device to see their images.

But in this age of digital, there’s a nostalgia in print, and clients are often delighted to take home a few small prints after the wedding.

A couple of interesting printers at CES in January might motivate photographers to go analogue at weddings—or even during family and senior portrait sessions.

While visiting the Fuji booth, I ran across a demo of Fuji’s new SP-1 instax SHARE smartphone printer. It’s a tiny little device that measures 4 x 1.6 x 4.8 inches, weighs a mere 8.9 ounces (without battery or film)  that outputs even tinier, 2.4 x 1.8-inch prints using Fuji’s instax instant print film. Images are sent to the printer via smart device (iOS or Android) using a Fuji proprietary app and pop out of the printer looking pretty good. Templates can be used to jazz up images (or “frame” them for posting on social media) and there’s a reprint button if you want to make additional prints. The printer runs on two CR2/DL CR2 lithium batteries; an optional AC adapter is also available. Price: $200

At 7 x 5 x 2.4 inches and weighing 1.8 pounds, Canon’s little SELPHY CP910 dye sub printer isn’t quite as small as the Fuji SP-1, but the printer offers more versatility.
In addition to printing images remotely (either from your smart device or, with its new Access Point mode, compatible wireless camera), the CP910 is equipped with USB and PicBridge ports as well as a card slot for SD/SDHC/SDXC cards. (Micro and mini SD cards can be used with an adapter.) The CP910 is also equipped with a 2.7-inch tilt LCD and the output—postcard prints at 4 x 6 inches—is quite good. There’s also an optional rechargeable battery that makes it even more portable. Price: $100

Just imagine how easy it will be to send images from your smartphone or camera, and give clients an on-site proof to take with them. An added level of customer server in an adorably compact package.