Instax mini 90 Neo Classic – Bulb Mode

Today I am Going to talk about the very first Classical look Instax/Polaroid Neo Classic Camera. Instax mini 90 is named with Neo Classic Because of is classical look. With the Awesome look, It has Come with multiple crazy feature that might not you get with another one.

Why not try entertaining features offered by the bulb mode shooting ?

The instax mini 90 is also equipped with new functions and features such as macro mode and high performance flash, making this an instant camera for every photographer developed under the concept “NEO CLASSIC.”

Designed with a classic look, the instax mini 90 offers advanced features, such as bulb and double exposures,that are attractions of traditional analog cameras and offer an enhanced capability to capture light creatively.

One of the most popular mode of this Polaroid Camera is Bulb Exposure Mode and Double Exposure Mode. If you want to Know the exciting feature of Double Exposure Mode, You can read My Another article about this.

But In this Article, I am going to talk about the Bulb Exposure Mode with tiny details. So let’s get dive into to photography adventure.

What is bulb mode on a Instax Camera?

Bulb mode is a feature of instant camera that allows the photographer to have a picture for as long as the shutter is depressed that’s mean You can enable the shutter to be kept open for an extended time in this case of Instax 90 Neo classic till 10 seconds.

By using this mode, you can have beautiful night view or painting Photos as well as Fascinating photos of  colorful lights.

The Bulb mode is mostly used for night with long exposure to capture the colour variant. The exciting part of this mode is that it about the photographer to hold the shutter speed till 10 seconds that is allowed in the instax Mini 90 camera.

so you can use it write an adventure of every second with define color painting however you want.

why the bulb mode is special for instax mini 90 camera ?

It is the new feature of instax Mini 90 camera of the instax series. in this mood, when you hold the shutter,It will start pouring the colour into the camera surrounding by the environment on lights.

that’s mean whenever you keep hold the shutter button, It will start capturing by grabbing The colour using the light till the shutter is held. so that is why You can play with the light  and people also now calling it’s night painting image.

How to change into Bulb Mode ?

In the instax Mini 90, there are many different modes you can play with, you can use them and be creative all you want.

The available mode are…

                                                     party mode

                                                     Kids mode

                                                    Landscape mode

                                                    Double exposure mode

                                                    Bulb Mode

One of my favorite Mode is, I am going to discuss about the Bulb mode. That is one right at the end is Bulb Mode with B sign.

In the instax Mini 90, there are two ways if you want to change your mode, the button on the back or using the dial the in Front.

What the bulb mode do is that it will leave the shutter open for as long as you were holding down the shutter release button for up to 10 seconds. Then the flash will fire or you can release the shutter whenever you want.  

This Mode is just going to let you take a longer exposure and you are allowing the more light to come into the camera. You can get really cool results.

Let’s now start review this picture was shot in Bulb Mode.

How to use Bulb Mode Instax mini 90 Neo Classic ?

It’s very easy to use bulb mode in Neo Classic Instax Camera. First, What you are gonna do ? You are Gonna Turn the on. Cycle through the mode until you get to the B. The B stands for Bulb Mode.

So You will just see flashing once you select it. If the flash will automatically turn off because flash does not work well with bulb mode. You should make sure the flash is off.

So what happened with this is that while Experimenting tested on power mode,The first image came out very blurry. Because of the camera is moved and the images came out blurred.

So, the second shot of instax camera with the same style was made sure hold the camera steady And it was ok with underexposed.

And the third shot was taken with the flashlight. look at this different of colour,How much more vibrant the colour are.

I think you got some real example of different kind of shot. And of course wine you will experimenting with different shot, you will find out the magic of the Bulb Exposure Mode.

What bulb mode does, when you shot polaroid, you press the shutter button and the lens will open and it will stay as long as you or someone holding the shutter button until 10 seconds.

So if you are taking a light painting photo with yourself or a long exposure photo. Then Bulb Mode is the best option.

What Light painting mean is that it will paint your photo like a portrait that will definitely look great.

What you are gonna need a light source of some kind. You can get anywhere in the night or I can recommend using your cell phone’s flashlight app. The Flashlight app work really well if you shot with Bulb Mode with Instax mini 90 Neo Classic.

So any kind of light source even a real flashlight will work perfect. You can also do this instax photography with Different kind of colours Of light.  

You can flash in your face or room whatever you want. It depend what sort of result you do really like into your Polaroid or Instax.

You can Hold down the shutter open for so long till I guess 10 seconds. Within this moment or  seconds, you can get define kind of images with bulb mode which is more exciting in this feature.

That’s mean,  you will get different shot in every second if you want or you can fix what kind of result you need.

No 1 : Use Long exposure

you can capture the night views and light using long exposure feature by holding the shutter button. If you want best picture Polaroid of night photography, you can hold it until 10 seconds.

You can take awesome beautiful night photos and interior rooms photos by using bulb mode, which are hard to get with other models.

No 2 : Use Tripod for Bulb Mode shooting to get perfect capturing

In the bulb mode, since the shuttle will remain open for 10 seconds, it might occurs shaking the camera while taking photos.  that is why, I highly recommend it use of a tripod for getting perfect photos. In result, the images will not be blurred and you get nice shot of one.

Just attach the tripod to the screw hole on the bottom of the instax camera and your are ready to take shot.

No 3 : Control the exposure time in the bulb mode

At first instax Mini 90 camera has 10 second exposure length. so you can take advantage of the feature I mean length of exposure time.

While using the bulb mode, the photo stays open till the button is held down, allowing you To change the brightness of a photo depending on the length of exposure as you like.  it difficult to adjust the brightness for the first time, but You will get a satisfaction after achieving the optimal finish.

Here are the simple photos below taken in a dark room. The photos are taken in different shutter speed which is 1 second is the first one, 4 seconds is the seconds one or middle one and the last was 8 seconds.

Among the three photos, Here are the middle one is taken at the shutter speed of 4 seconds shows The furniture clearly maintaining The dark atmosphere of the room.

No 4 : Placed the Instax mini 90 camera on a Stable Surface

If you don’t have tripod, then you can use surplace place in case The camera can prevent the shake. you can take awesome pic with bulb mode outside on the street, Sky, Hotel, Cafe, club, I mean all kind of lighting effect  perfectly.

No 5 : Depict ( to get same nature) room interiors in a natural color tone

The flash feature of Instax models always light in dark places to get the definite photo. but in the bulb mode of Instax mini 90,The camera turn off the flash Automatically, Focusing on the incandescent light as it is. It will capture the moment of light as you can see within your eyes.

No 6 : Prevent Bright spot in the photo by using Bulb Mode.

It is common problem especially on digital camera while taking photo on party, club, wedding or any kind of night photography. During the fun moment of party, people are not aware of light or any effect.

Then what happen is people find out different kind of blurry photo with disgusting bright spot on the photo.

Actually it cause of reflection of object like glass or bright watch or can be anything. The reflection back into the lens, causing a bright spot in the photo.

What bulb mode do is came up with this solution. Bulb Mode can prevent this Bright spot problem.

No 7 : Mesmerizing night views sparkling like jewelry

During using normal mode, Maximum shutter speed of instax mini 90 is 1.8 seconds to take a Polaroid photo, which is not long enough to capture a glittering like night view, or special event like New Year festive or any cultural event based on light in the night.

On the picture, the light reflected on the river is also beautifully expressed. With the Bulb Mode it can be possible capture sufficient light and perfect night scene shooting.

No 8 : Use 1 or 2 seconds to get Portrait images

If Is there is so many people and you want to take photo alone or you want a polaroid image like a portrait, then it is a perfect method to capture the moment.

The normal shutter speed is 1.8 seconds, but you should hold the shutter button like 1 to 2 seconds. Then what would happen is that when you focus on the object other moving objects will not disappear but blurred.

Moving object will then get paint on the Polaroid. It would be better if you get more variant light.

Actually it will paint the light and it will take awesome photo as you can say A Portrait. it would be more fun when the vehicles with light pass by.

Here on the instax photo used the bulb mode to take and interesting photo of a person standing still amidst blurred images of passers-by. You can see other people are not showing on the photo but they are painted. The photo was taken on Shopping area at night. Passers-by appear like blurred streaks.

In this case the shutter speed should be 1 to 2 seconds. If it is slower than that, the passers-by will completely invisible in the photo.

No 9 : Trick with a penlight

One of the best way and my favourite to enjoy bulb mode shooting is playing with lights.Draw text or shapes with a penlight while shutter is open. The light trail will appear in the photo. You can take any light movement of colors  to get the shapes by open the shutter until 10 seconds.

This Penlight photo was taken with the shutter kept open for 10 seconds, it is the longest time of Instax mini 90 for the bulb mode, allowing the heart-shaped light trail to be completed.

What the bulb mode did is absorbing the light surrounding the area till 10 seconds and did its great job. Eventually it makes photography more exciting using penlight.  

No 10 : Blurry trail of Movement

You can take a photo of a object movement or a person movement like a person moving from one position to another in the Bulb Mode and capture a blurry trail of that movement.

Here is a sample photo, it was taken when the subject moved to a new position every 2 seconds four times and got this. This is the interesting because here is the four images of the same person captured in one.

You can move the Camera also using the tripod to get better shot. Like this flower taken by a YouTube guy.

Tips, Before You Take Any Images | Instax Mini 90 Neo Classic 

If you don’t use steady off the camera like tripod or standing on the plane surface, you will notice some glossy effect most probably in the corner of the picture. so I recommend you to use  plane surface or tripod to take or use Bulb mode.

Sometimes pictures will get blurry if it is not in a steady position, so always keep in mind to put the camera in steady position when using bulb mode.

you can short you images in the cafe or like a coffee shop to get so very light.

sometimes, keeping the shutter open for the maximum 10 seconds is not good. Because it could make the picture so bright, there will be a lot of exposure once it developed.

This Polaroid picture was taken at the coffee shop, with instax mini 90 Neo classic, and in the picture you can see the nice lighting the shop has. the camera just absorbed the perfect amount of light at the coffee shop in just 5 seconds.

Things to keep in my mind when shooting in bulb mode:

1:  use either a tripod or place the camera on something steady like a table or a bench.

2:  experiment, play with it, you can control on how long the exposure you want on your      picture.

So, the bulb mode here is another awesome feature one to definitely experiment with. There is so much fun you can do especially with instant film or Polaroid camera. Have fun with light painting, movement and nightlife photography.

Click here……….Top tips & Tricks of Instax mini 90 Neo Classic

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Click Here……… to Get More Details Use of Light Dark and how to use them with all mode

Click Here ………….to know If you want to avoid blurred photo, then 

Click here………….. Why You are about to love this New Kids Mode 

Click Here ………to Get Details – How Landscape Mode Work with 5 TEST

Click Here……….. to Get More Details Crazy to Use of Double Exposure Mode

Click here……….Understanding 5 shooting Modes Mini 90 | Advanced Guide