Photo Creator Retro Instant Camera Review

Fun instant print digital camera for kids

Retro Instant Camera

Photography has long held a unique allure: it’s the art of capturing fleeting moments, documenting life’s beauty, and creating something memorable and personal with just a simple click. When I was growing up we didn’t have phones glued to our hands to be able to snap away at any given moment and our cameras required the loading of film and then sending it off for processing – that meant sometimes waiting weeks to see the captured images. Unless of course you had a Polaroid camera – it still required film, just of a different sort and you could have a photo printed in minutes. Then came along digital cameras and of course those smartphones and selfie sticks that we all love and can’t seem to do without. Now for children and budding photographers, there is a fun entry level camera that combines the joy of those old instant cameras with the benefits of digital photography and a bit of creativity in the form of special effects and fun thrown in; the Photo Creator Retro Instant Camera from Canal Toys.

  • 12mp Instant Camera
  • USB-C Charging Cable
  • 3 Thermal Paper Rolls
  • 1 Sticker Roll
  • 4 Pens (different colours)
  • Sticker Sheet
  • Instructions

This fun instant camera lets you take selfies, instant pictures and video while letting you add funny effects and printing instantly so that you can customise the printed image with stickers and marker pens. It doesn’t require film, it saves images to a memory card (not supplied with the camera) but the beauty of this camera is that you can have instant prints direct from the camera without hooking it up to an external printer – it prints monochrome images directly onto a roll of thermal paper!

The camera is nice and compact, easy to handle, so is perfect for small hands. It has been designed to be simple enough for young children to navigate but still engaging for slightly older kids who want to try new photography techniques.

This fun camera allows you to create fun photos as well as video content. You can print and personalise 250+ instant prints with its 20+ fun photo filters and effects. It features a 3” digital screen so you can see the image before taking the picture and you can easily overlay a filter and frame your picture perfectly. Want a picture of a family member on a Wanted Poster? This camera has an overlay for that, and many others, and is so easy to add.

It is a 12 megapixel digital camera so the image quality is very good, not as good as some phones, but still good quality. It features a flash, shutter, shutter timer, video recording, a rechargeable built-in battery, plus a selfie lens for easy selfie-snaps! You can even plug it into your laptop and download your photos.

And once you have taken your photos and printed them, you can customise them further using the fun stickers that are supplied or by using the 4 colourful marker pens to add colour to your printed black and white images.

Overall, the Photo Creator Retro Instant Camera is an excellent camera to get kids interested in photography while having fun. It is so easy to use, even an adult can use it without help from the kids!

The image quality of the photos and videos is very good. The printed images (200dpi) are better than I expected with the printed images measuring approx. 10 x 5.5cm and they print quite fast.

While you can print your photos, the printed images do not come out on stiff photo paper, they are printed on floppy paper – just like a till receipt. For a kids camera, I think that this is excellent as the rolls of paper are not expensive and kids can snap and print as much as they want without costing you a fortune (you get about 250 prints from a roll of paper). And as there is no ink, no mess and no ink refill costs either!

Its lightweight design makes it easy for children to easily carry around for on-the-go snapshots. It has very simplified functions with an easy to use interface and menu so younger children can start taking photos right away without feeling overwhelmed by complex settings.

The only real downside is that is only has a 1000mAh rechargeable battery so does need charging quite often, especially with snap happy kids that love to print but it is also quick to charge.

A fun camera to easily take photos, edit and customise them, and print on the go with its built-in printer. Ideal for sparking creative curiosity, giving children an easy way to explore photography. The printed photos aren’t the largest but are a good size for scrapbooks, journals and just having some photo fun with friends.

Rating: 4.5/5

RRP: £69.99

Available to buy from Amazon here.

DISCLOSURE: We received this product for free for the purpose of writing an honest and impartial review. All thoughts and opinions are our own. This review uses an affiliate link which we may receive a small commission from if you purchase through the Amazon link.