This camera is so easy to operate that anyone can load and use it. It works with Polaroid 500 (formerly known as Captiva) film and produces wallet-size pictures. To advance your film, you simply pull a plastic ring on the side of the camera. The JoyCam also features a manually selected built-in flash.

What we found most pleasing about the updated design is that it is noticeably less cumbersome than traditional instant cameras. While still much larger than a 35mm point-and-shoot, the JoyCam is small enough to throw into a backpack and bring along. Also, because the film ejection mechanism is manual in this updated design, Polaroid no longer has to build a battery cell into each film cartridge--so film costs less.

In redesigning the body of the JoyCam, however, Polaroid has done little to improve the actual picture-taking mechanism or picture quality. In our tests, this camera was incapable of taking a decent indoor picture without using the flash. When we did use the flash, it distorted colors and produced washed-out images of the subjects in our photos. However, if picture quality and stunning portraits are what you are after, you'd be silly to buy an instant camera of any sort, much less a Polaroid JoyCam. The Polaroid JoyCam is designed for impulsiveness and fun, and it serves those purposes well.

Pros:

• Light and portable body
• Simple operation
• More economical film

Cons:

• Flash causes color distortion
• Grainy picture quality

You can e-mail your photos to friends and family, enlarge prints, remove red-eye, zoom and crop, and print copies of your photos right at home. Best of all, the Kodak PlusDigital gives you traditional prints as well.

Simply drop off the Kodak PlusDigital camera at your photo retailer offering Kodak Premium Processing services. At the time of developing, you pay for your prints at regular prices. You'll also automatically receive your digital photos on a Kodak Picture CD at no additional cost if you check the box marked Kodak Picture CD + Prints.