Film cameras have made a comeback in the past decade. But today we are not talking about film cameras. Film cameras are here to stay. We are talking about a category of cameras that are in a weird situation. The point and shoot digital camera. The compact digital camera. The cameras have been slowly replaced by smartphones.
Smartphone cameras have come such a long that for the average user, that one camera is enough. Whether it is video or photo, smartphones are good enough. A lot of people’s careers start off on smartphones. While that is great, it is sad for the point and shoots digital cameras. That is the category of cameras people used to have before smartphones became good enough. After the compact film cameras, the next thing people liked was the compact digital cameras. I am talking about the cameras that fall into the sony rx100 series or the Ricoh gr series. These are great compact street cameras. But most people won’t care about this category because they have their smartphones.
For the past 2 days, I have been contemplating grabbing a compact digital camera. I have my pixel 6 which takes great photos but it’s not the best for every situation. Some of the photos look too processed just like every other smartphone. But digital cameras still produce a more natural look. I also don’t like the fact that smartphones have gotten rid of the sd card slot. In a way manufacturers just want us to sign up for their cloud storage. The micro sd card would be a big help for smartphone photographers. Anyways, the main reason I want a compact camera is to capture and document my everyday life through photos. There are multiple situations every day where I want to take a photo but my phone doesn’t cut it. Especially when I have to get a zoom shot. Yes, we have great telephoto features in some smartphone cameras but they are not as good as the optical zoom on compact digital cameras. Also, I prefer the colors of a dedicated camera.
I do have my main big camera. But it’s not possible to carry it around in my pocket. I need a pocket camera, with a good enough zoom and slightly better colors and sharpness than my smartphone. I am currently looking at the RX100 V. Let’s see if I can get a good deal.
I forgot to address the title of the blog. Do I think these cameras will make a comeback? I don’t think so. Smartphone cameras will keep on getting better and when they get better sensors these compact ones will be longer needed. But I still hope some manufacturers still make them for camera enthusiasts. I think whatever compact cameras come out, they will be more like the Sony ZV-1. They will be more video focused.