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.What the company didn't see coming was the demand from adults."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."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 —against the era of the smartphone.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.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.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 — and received — one for his birthday.
He uses it alongside his phone."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."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."The brightness and also ...