Long before there were digital cameras, even before there were one-hour photomats, families captured their road trips on stylish twin-lens reflex cameras like the old Yashika Mat and the popular Kodak Reflex, the type of cameras that were held at waist level and produced snapshots in a classic, square-frame format.
Such cameras can still be found in working condition at just about any junk shop and can add a terrific vintage twist to a good, old-fashioned road trip. Problem is, most of them take film formats that can be difficult to find and expensive to process.
But now you can get your hands on a nifty retro-style TLR that takes regular 35mm film like you can find just about anywhere. The Blackbird Fly, by designer Superheadz, takes photos in three formats — typical 35mm, full-frame or square — and can be had with a face plate in black, white, teal, orange, yellow or red. It goes for a little over $100.
If you prefer to stick with digital, however, you can get yourself the adorable MiniDigi from Rollei, a miniature version of the incredibly popular Rolleiflex first introduced in the 1920s. It features an LCD viewfinder on top, takes photos in the traditional square format and even incorporates a wonderfully mechanical "frame advance" crank. Plus, it's not much taller than a roll of 120 film, so it's easy to carry on the road. It comes in black or red and can be had for around $300.