{"id":547501,"date":"2026-07-18T11:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T11:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/547501\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T11:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T11:00:15","slug":"the-2000s-called-they-want-their-digital-camera-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/547501\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2000s called. They want their digital camera back"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Digicams have flooded bars and concert venues, festivals and family gatherings. Here’s why. Image: urbancow\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The 2000s called. They want their digital camera back<\/p>\n

A couple of years ago, as summer camps began to ban screens, a company called Camp Snap began to sell a screen-free camera that children could take along. The point-and-shoot had the vibes of a 1990s Kodak: just a viewfinder, a flash and no way to see the photos until the camera was hooked up to a computer.<\/p>\n

What the company didn’t see coming was the demand from adults.<\/p>\n

“All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a lot of Gen Z, millennial demographic started buying them,” says Camp Snap President Trevor George. “We realized very quickly that, OK, this is way beyond kids at summer camp.”<\/p>\n

\"Camp<\/a><\/p>\n

Camp Snap made a screen-free camera for kids to take to summer camps, but adults are now nearly just as big an audience. Image: Camp Snap\/<\/p>\n

Perhaps it was only a matter of time after the cool kids put on low-rise jeans like Britney Spears that photo trends would cycle around too. But they come also as a whiplash \u2014against the era of the smartphone.<\/p>\n

Digicams have flooded bars, music venues, festivals and family gatherings. Canon told NPR that sales of the PowerShot, its renowned point-and-shoot, jumped nearly sevenfold from 2022 to 2025. Camp Snap says its sales more than doubled in the past year.<\/p>\n

Last year, Camp Snap launched a screen-free retro camcorder too, and it showed up in the hands of celebrities including Selena Gomez and Joe Jonas. One was spotted at Taylor Swift’s wedding.<\/p>\n

A fresh look in the sea of smartphone photos<\/p>\n

Jaden Williams, 16, first picked up a point-and-shoot in his yearbook class. The photos “felt more genuine,” he says. Soon enough, he was noticing digicams all over TikTok and among friends. Last month, he requested \u2014 and received \u2014 one for his birthday. He uses it alongside his phone.<\/p>\n

\"Jaden<\/a><\/p>\n

Jaden Williams says these are some of his favorite photos that he has taken with his new digicam lately: a selfie and a sunny snap of his dog, Chase. Image: Jaden Williams\/<\/p>\n

“If I’m about to take pictures of food or something, then I might use my phone,” says Williams, from North Carolina. “But if I’m out with friends or at a party, I might use the camera for a more, like, warm vibe.”<\/p>\n

The turn-of-the-millennium digital photo is hard to mistake: a bit grainy, sometimes fuzzy, overexposed in the center with a blinding flash, often date-stamped in red or orange. A nostalgic haze gives photos the feel of an instant memory.<\/p>\n

“The brightness and also the crispness of the photo \u2014 but having that blur and grain somehow added in as well \u2014 makes the photos look very flattering,” says Katie Coyne, 24, from New York.<\/p>\n

She’d bought a digital camera for a safari vacation but lately has lent it to her younger sister, Gwen Coyne, who lives in Philadelphia. They both find the vintage blur refreshing in the sea of hyper-sharp smartphone photos.<\/p>\n

\"Katie<\/a><\/p>\n

Katie and Gwen Coyne love the wistful, hazy aesthetic of digicam images. These show palm trees in the Dominican Republic, Gwen out with friends and a wine tasting in South Africa. Image: Katie Coyne\/<\/p>\n

“I feel like iPhone cameras look just so … sometimes it looks a little too real,” says Gwen. She recently brought the digicam on a trip, where she photographed palm trees against the sky and the ocean. “And I don’t really know how to put it into words, but it gave such a vacation vibe.”<\/p>\n

The sisters think that for the vast majority of people on social media, the digicam is purely a trendy aesthetic. First came the 1970s-style Instagram filters, then the revival of Polaroid-style photos, now this.<\/p>\n

But for many people, it’s also a rebellion against their smartphones.<\/p>\n

Part of the great disconnection<\/p>\n

Christina Berkett, 34, has been carrying her point-and-shoot to avoid her phone.<\/p>\n

“I think you get caught up in the digital world, where \u2014 OK, I’m pulling out my phone to take a photo and then I see a notification or I’m checking my email,” says Berkett, from New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\"Wedding<\/a><\/p>\n

Wedding photographer Christina Berkett is filming more ceremonies using an old-school camcorder, though she often holds it sideways for the smartphone-friendly vertical view. Image: Christina Berkett\/<\/p>\n

And with a digital camera? “You put it in your bag, you don’t think about it, and then at the end of the night, you go through all the photos and kind of relive that moment.”<\/p>\n

This makes the digicam trend a small part of a growing movement of people un-phoning or de-phoning their lives. Camp Snap’s George sees it as an analog reboot after decades of internet-connected everything, from watches to washing machines. eBay told NPR that it’s seeing a surge of searches for old-school tech like iPods, CDs and Walkmans.<\/p>\n

Berkett, who’s a wedding photographer, says couples are printing real-world photo albums. They still request iPhone video footage for social media content, but many also pay extra for her to film ceremonies or speeches with an old-school camcorder \u2014 like she’s someone’s aunt, just a guest.<\/p>\n

“They want it to feel like it’s a home video,” Berkett says. “I don’t think they want something that’s grainy. I think they want something to feel real.”<\/p>\n

She does hold the camcorder differently from how her parents once did when they made home videos. The device sits on her palm flipped to its side, so that the video Berkett films is vertical rather than horizontal \u2014 because most people will still watch it on their smartphone.<\/p>\n

Audio transcript<\/p>\n

SCOTT DETROW, HOST: <\/p>\n

Every generation rediscovers old things. And today, that’s happening with the old-school digital camera. Is it a whiplash from the smartphone age? NPR’s Alina Selyukh reports.<\/p>\n

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE: A couple of years ago, summer camps began to ban children from bringing devices. No smartphones, no iPads, no screens. And a company called Camp Snap decided to make a special camera.<\/p>\n

TREVOR GEORGE: It was originally for kids.<\/p>\n

SELYUKH: Trevor George is the president at Camp Snap. Its cameras are screen-free. It’s a point-and-shoot that looks like an old Kodak from the ’90s – just a viewfinder, a flash and no way to see the photos until you hook it up to a computer later.<\/p>\n

GEORGE: And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a lot of Gen Z, millennial demographics started buying them for music festivals and going out.<\/p>\n

SELYUKH: And now adults are almost as big a customer as kids. Last year, Camp Snap launched a camcorder that’s even more retro, and it showed up in the hands of celebrities like Selena Gomez and Joe Jonas. One was even spotted at Taylor Swift’s wedding. It’s a nostalgia trend that’s been building on social media for years.<\/p>\n

JADEN WILLIAMS: I used to see a bunch of TikToks with people having digital cameras.<\/p>\n

SELYUKH: Jaden Williams is 16 from North Carolina. He asked for a digicam for his birthday last month. He tried one in his yearbook class and really liked the photos.<\/p>\n

JADEN: It felt more, like, genuine. Like, felt like, still in the moment of the picture, like, it felt warm.<\/p>\n

SELYUKH: Warm and a bit grainy, a bit hazy, somehow both dim and overexposed. The date stamp is on the bottom. It’s the trendy ’90s, 2000s vibe. Probably it was only a matter of time once the cool people put on the low-rise jeans – like peak Britney Spears – that the photo trends would also cycle around.<\/p>\n

KATIE COYNE: I think for a majority of people on social media, it’s just an aesthetic.<\/p>\n

GWEN COYNE: Yeah, like a retro aesthetic.<\/p>\n

SELYUKH: Sisters Katie and Gwen Coyne, are 24 and 22. They live in New York and Philadelphia. They like the vintage blur – flattering and refreshing in the sea of hypersharp smartphone photos.<\/p>\n

G COYNE: I feel like iPhone cameras look just so – sometimes it looks a little too real.<\/p>\n

SELYUKH: The older sister, Katie, bought the camera, but the younger sister, Gwen, is now borrowing it, and she took it on a recent trip.<\/p>\n

G COYNE: I took some photos by, like, the pool, and you could just see, like, all the trees and the ocean in the background. I don’t really know how to put it into words, but it gave such, like, a vacation vibe.<\/p>\n

SELYUKH: Almost like an instant memory. Demand for digital cameras has skyrocketed. Canon, which makes the popular point-and-shoot called the PowerShot, told NPR sales of it jumped nearly sevenfold from 2022 to 2025. Camp Snap says sales more than doubled in the past year. And for many people, it is a rebellion against their smartphones. Here’s Christina Berkett from New Jersey.<\/p>\n

CHRISTINA BERKETT: I think you get caught up in that – like, the digital world where, OK, I’m pulling out my phone to take a photo, and then I see a notification. You know, I’m checking my email.<\/p>\n

SELYUKH: And with a digital camera…<\/p>\n

BERKETT: You put it in your bag. You don’t think about it. And then at the end of the night, you go through all the photos and you kind of, like, relive that moment.<\/p>\n

SELYUKH: This makes the camera trend a small part of a growing digital movement where people are unphoning or dephoning their lives, disconnecting from the algorithm. EBay says it’s seeing a surge in searches for iPods, CDs and Walkmans. Berkett is a wedding photographer, and she’s seeing couples printing physical photo albums. And they pay extra for her to film ceremonies and speeches, not with a fancy camera, but with an old-school camcorder like she’s just a guest, like someone’s aunt.<\/p>\n

BERKETT: Like, when you see a home video, I think that’s what they’re targeting. I don’t think they want something that’s grainy. I think they want something to feel real.<\/p>\n

SELYUKH: Maybe searching for the comfort of a childhood memory or maybe just jumping on a trend. Berkett says she does hold the camcorder differently now – flipped to its side so the video she films is vertical rather than horizontal – because most people will still watch it on their smartphone.<\/p>\n

Alina Selyukh, NPR News.<\/p>\n

(SOUNDBITE OF CHARLI XCX SONG, “360”)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Digicams have flooded bars and concert venues, festivals and family gatherings. Here’s why. Image: urbancow\/Getty Images The 2000s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[85,46,125],"class_list":["post-547501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}