Fix Your Stuff Community Store

Free Shipping on Domestic Orders $75+

Repair guides for cameras by the Japanese manufacturer Fujifilm.

654 Questions View all

Options

Instax Mini Evo doesn't develop pictures

I received my instax Mini EVO about a year ago as a gift and up until today it has been working perfectly fine (with both taking pictures and printing them). Admittedly I use it most often by taking pictures only, so i rarely print pictures and have never replaced the first film cartridge i put inside (had two prints left, but the film was still not expired).

Today I tried to print from the app and the pucture came out completely black.

To troubleshoot I updated the app and firmware to their latest versions (ver. 1.09), and yet another picture came out completely black too. My next guess was to change the film cartridge (both old one and new one aren't expired), but nothing came out of that too, only another completely black polaroid.

I don't understand what could be wrong? I have taken good care of the camera and never dropped it or mishandled it, and the last time I tried to print something a couple months ago it worked completely fine, both via the camera itself and the app.

Could someone point me to a possible solution?

Thank you for your help

Answer this question I have this problem too

Is this a good question?

Yes No
Score 1
Add a comment

1 Answer

Filter by:
Most Helpful Newest Oldest

Options

A completely black print means that the film is not being exposed to light, which most likely means it is a mechanical issue. The way your camera "prints" images is by using an LED array to expose the film. Dirt or dust might be obstructing the array, thus meaning it cannot expose the image. Even though you haven't used the printing portion of the camera for a while, dust can still build up over time.

Open the film door and gently clean the interior area with a DRY, lint-free cloth or compressed air. Make sure to get all the corners as well, since dust can sometimes shake off the corners onto the LEDs.

If that doesn't fix it, try factory resetting the camera, as sometimes glitches can cause the LED array to not turn on at all. Hope it works!

Was this answer helpful?

Yes No
Score 0

4 Comments:

Thank you for your answer:) I did clean it a little when I replaced the cartridge but I guess I should try do it more thoroughly. Do you have a piece of advice on how to remove the cartridge without compromising the film? It's basically new so I'd like for it not to go completely to waste.

Is removing it in a pitch black room a viable possibility? (Thats what came to mind)

by

@aurorafusina Yes, a completely pitch-black room should do the trick. Just make sure to find a bag that no light can get through, and put the film in there for now. You can double-check that the bag works by shining a flashlight on it and looking inside the bag to see how much light comes through.

by

@somerandomguy_1 i followed your advice and cleaned thoroughly the inside of the camera. Unfortunately it didn't do much, and the pictures still don't develop and turn out completely black.

I reached out to instax technical assistance but I had tried already all their fixes, so that proved unsuccessful too.

Maybe it's a problem with the led itself, but it still bugs me that I have no idea of what caused it. Worst case scenario I'll use the mini evo as a digital camera only. Nobody else online seemed to have had this problem before

Thank you though!

by

@aurorafusina Hmm... it could be the ribbon cable connecting the LED array, but I doubt it if you didn't use the printing feature that often. If you feel comfortable, maybe open it up and check if the ribbon cable is still attached, and clean it as well. But first, is there any way you can get it to print a photo without film inside, and with the film door open? If you can, then try and look inside while it is "printing" the photo and see if the LED array fires at all.

by

Add a comment

Add your answer

Aurora Fusina will be eternally grateful.
View Statistics:

Past 24 Hours: 0

Past 7 Days: 35

Past 30 Days: 35

All Time: 35