Polaroid instant cameras are back (for real): Introducing the Polaroid 300

Polaroid fans have been through the wringer. First the company went bankrupt, then it got acquired. Then came the devastating news that it would stop making instant cameras and film. Then the Impossible Project provided a glimmer of hope. Then came the devastating news that Lady Gaga was hired. Now, after promising to do so earlier in the year at CES, Polaroid (or the resurrected version of the company anyway) has finally released a new instant film camera, the Polaroid 300.

Though it's not the retro-cool PIC 1000 that was shown off at CES, the Polaroid 300 does indeed shoot actual instant film, albeit in the less-traditional 1.8x2.4-inch size. The new camera looks a lot like the old Polaroid Mio from 2001 (of which I'm a proud owner), which used similar-size film. It's a little fancier than the Mio, though: In addition to the automatic flash, it offers four scene settings to help you capture shots in various lighting conditions. Pricing of $89.99 for the camera and $9.99 for 10-packs of film seems a bit steep for a limited-use camera that is banking on pure nostalgia, but considering the company seems to have more lives than a cat, I'm not writing them off yet.

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