Canon Ivy Cliq, Cliq Plus instant camera printers join a familiar club
Canon faces Fujifilm, Polaroid and Kodak with its Zink-printer digital cameras in bold colors.
While the Canon Cliq doesn't have any flash controls on top, it does have a little selfie mirror.
Canon's launching two instant camera printers into the territory currently occupied by Fujifilm's Instax line, the recent Polaroid Mint and others. The Ivy Cliq and Ivy Cliq Plus join the company's Ivy mini printer, using the same Zink technology, as Canon steadfastly sticks with its better-very-very-late-than-never product strategy.
Both cameras will ship in April, with the Cliq priced at $100 and the Cliq Plus at $160. They each come with a 10-sheet starter pack of 2 by 3 Zink paper. A 50-pack of Canon's Zink paper runs $25 on Amazon, 50 cents per photo, and they have peel-and-stick backs to make stickers.
Canon's Cliqs have similar features to the rest of the competition. Both have microSD slots for saving their 5- and 8-megapixel pictures, respectively, as well as an optical viewfinder and a USB port for charging the internal battery.
In addition to basic flash controls, the Cliq Plus has a ring light around the lens for better illumination.
The Plus can reprint the last photo. The cheaper Cliq has a fully automatic flash and a small selfie mirror for framing, while the Clip Plus has a ring light around the lens and the ability to turn flash off, force it on or leave it in auto.
With the phone app connected to the camera via Bluetooth, you can add filters, frames and text overlays.
