Skip to content
Shake & Print

Every top pick, on one page

35 roundups on this site, 35 number-one picks. Here they all are, with what each one costs to feed.

By Selena H.Last checked How we pick

Every entry below is the number-one pick of one of our roundups, shown with that roundup’s own award and the verified cost per shot of the film or paper it eats. Nothing here is a separate recommendation — open the roundup to see what the winner beat, and who we said should not buy it.

Instant cameras, film packs and a pocket photo printer laid out together on a kraft paper surface

How this page is funded. Shake & Print earns a commission when you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It does not change which products we pick or the order we rank them in, and we do not state prices we have not verified — the buy buttons send you to the current listing instead. Full disclosure.

How to read this page

A roundup’s winner is not the best camera in the category. It is the best answer to that roundup’s question — the best camera for a teenager, the best printer under $100, the best thing to leave on a table at a wedding. The same camera can win one list and be the wrong call on the next one, and several below do exactly that.

So read the question in the heading, not the ranking. If none of them is your question, the gift finder starts from the recipient and the budget instead.

The cost-per-shot figure on each card is the part most gift guides leave out. It is the pack price divided by the number of exposures in the pack, from prices we checked on October 13, 2026, and it is what decides whether a gift gets used all year or stops after the first pack. The method is set out on how we pick, and every format’s price, pack size and source is listed in the film and paper price index.

We have not handled these products, and we say so on every page. Each pick is built from manufacturer specifications, retail prices we checked ourselves, and published reviews by outlets that do test hardware, attributed by name where we rely on them.

Gifts

12 roundups in this section

Hands holding a small instant camera, framing a shot

Best gift if you are not sure

The best instant camera gifts

The hardest instant camera in the world to get wrong, on the cheapest film.

Winner: Fujifilm instax mini 12 · $0.85 a shot on instax mini

Check price
Hands holding a small instant camera, framing a shot

Best for a child

Instant cameras for kids

Two controls and 85-cent mistakes — the right combination for a young photographer.

Winner: Fujifilm instax mini 12 · $0.85 a shot on instax mini

Check price
A compact desktop photo printer producing a postcard-size print

Best gift for grandparents

Photo gifts for grandparents

Plug the phone in, press print, get a 4 x 6 photograph. No pairing, no app dance.

Winner: Kodak Dock Plus Retro · $0.40 a shot on Kodak 4PASS 4 x 6

Check price

Instant Cameras

7 roundups in this section

Photo Printers

4 roundups in this section

A pocket photo printer feeding out a small print next to a phone

Best for iPhone overall

The best photo printers for iPhone

Cheapest prints, and the only one here with a wired Lightning option as well as Bluetooth.

Winner: Kodak Mini 2 Retro · $0.42 a shot on Kodak 4PASS 2.1 x 3.4

Check price

Film & Running Costs

2 roundups in this section

Hands holding a small instant camera, framing a shot

Easiest film to buy anywhere

Where to buy instant film

The only instant film you can reliably pick up with the groceries.

Winner: Fujifilm instax mini 12 · $0.85 a shot on instax mini

Check price

Occasions

4 roundups in this section

Albums & Accessories

6 roundups in this section

An open photo album with instant prints slotted into pocket pages

Best bound book from a manufacturer

Pocket photo books

$34.99, and designed to be read on a table rather than stored on a shelf.

Winner: Polaroid Coffee Table Photo Album

Check price

If you want the whole picture