In 1982 the Soviet government created a camera called Lomo (an acronym for the factory where it's made) for citizens to use in capturing daily Communist life.

Today, long after the fall of Communism, these ultra-simple, plastic cameras and their strange, dreamy, saturated images have a devoted fan base: the Lomographic Society, a group of enthusiasts on par with those who love the original VW Beetle.

Purists stand by the almost brutally basic original model, but the latest products from Lomo come with sexy low-tech bells and whistles, including lenses for motion-delayed arrays of images and flash gels for seeing the world through a rose-colored filter - or blue, or yellow, or green.

Cameras start at $30. And no, they don't do digital, so don't even bother going there.