There’s been a surge in demand for compact cameras in recent years and many younger Gen Z photographers are picking up older point and shoot cameras, so are they on to something?
As smartphones have been around throughout the entire life of teenagers and young adults today it’s entirely possible that they could have never even picked up a point and shoot compact before, and for good reason – some of the best smartphones like the iPhone 16 can pretty much do everything you could ever need all from a convenient smart device that slips right in your pocket.
While smartphones are incredible and we’ve seen many films shot on them, such as the recent 28 Years Later and even Stormzy’s documentary ‘Big Man’, it would appear that younger content creators have seen the benefits of using a separate dedicated compact camera.
This could be for better features, flash, optical zoom, handling and battery life.
While these alone would be brilliant reasons alone to go back to a dedicated point and shoot camera, I prefer the idea that youngsters are going back to them for aesthetic reasons and look to them with their characterful retro charm and early 2000’s lo-fi vintage vibe in a similar way to how many of my generation are reverting back to tape and vinyl over digital albums.
You could argue that in the pursuit of image quality and sharpness that many modern cameras and lenses have images that look overly processed and sterile – in fact it’s one of the reasons I still love to shoot with my old manual Helios 44-2 vintage film lens – it’s not optically perfect by any means but it has buckets of character.
Many youngsters are also looking to reduce their smartphone screentime, so a dedicated vintage compacts from the 2000’s or 2010’s probably doesn’t even have Wi-Fi, so they concentrate on their photography and artistic goals without being distracted by constant notifications.
In fact, much of this was the reason behind Canon releasing its latest PowerShot V1 – quite possibly the best point and shoot compact on the market packing in impressive video capabilities for content creators looking to travel light.
The content creator space is set to double to a projected $480 billion by 2027 and it would seem camera manufacturers are trying to hone in on younger audiences looking for portable and powerful pocket rockets that have more features than a smartphone but are also more affordable and smaller than conventional professional DSLR and mirrorless cameras.
As somebody who adores street photography, I know all too well the importance of bringing a camera with you absolutely everywhere as you never know when that magical moment is going to strike and the perfect lighting is going to fall.
While the saying ‘the best camera is the one you have with you’ is very true, I would prefer to make the camera that I have with me be better quality and have the features I need from a camera. This has made premium compacts like the Ricoh GR III and even the latest Sony RX1R III very appealing.
Related reading:
- Best compact camera – pixel perfect point and shoot cameras
- Best Second-hand Classic Compact Cameras: stylish and enduring
- Vintage digital cameras you should actually buy
The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Amateur Photographer magazine or Kelsey Media Limited. If you have an opinion you’d like to share on this topic, or any other photography related subject, email: ap.ed@kelsey.co.uk
