'It's a gen Z thing': Why young people are obsessed with digital cameras

Australia Broadcast Center

17-06-2025

It is a Friday night in Perth, and Lia and her friends are out at a bar.
The group is setting up to take photos, but with a twist: instead of using their phones, one of the friends pulls out a small point-and-shoot digital camera.
It is the kind of compact camera that first came about in the early 2000s, and which many assumed had died out with the invention of the phone camera and smartphone.
That is, until a resurgence in interest in the aesthetics and pop culture of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
"When you see a photo on Instagram, you can definitely tell if it's a digital camera," Lia told triple j Hack.
"It's a lot sharper, with a really strong flash, and even without the flash it is a different kind of vibe.
Lia, who is in her mid 20s and lives in Perth, sells second-hand digital cameras online.
She says people are always messaging her trying to get their hands on the old school tech.
"I think, especially for gen Zs, they get more motivated when they have a new toy to play with compared to your phone — it's definitely a different experience."
Digital cameras have been trending on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram over the past year or so, with countless videos from young influencers showing off the best in old tech.
It has resulted in young people seeking out these older models, according to Dylan Boxwell, who works at an Australia-wide camera franchise and who says his store has about 80 backorders of a specific camera which is popular online.
"People are trying to get that look, back from when they were kids," Dylan told Hack.
"They want that nostalgic aspect, they want something easy to carry around in their pocket — it looks a lot better than a phone sometimes."
Dylan, who is also a freelance photographer and cinematographer, thinks digital cameras are also a way for people to look back to a time which was a bit simpler.
"I kind of like the whole thing of, 'let's use media that we had in the past … let's slow it down, let's go back to what we all know,'" he said.
"Everyone has a nostalgic hit when you see a VHS tape … using that sort of media just brings people in, and brings people together."
University of Tasmania senior media lecturer Kathleen Williams said it was not surprising that younger Australians were gravitating towards digital cameras.
"I think the way it looks makes it look more like a memory, because it's also pulling on the shared media past that we have."
Dr Williams said that cultural trends typically move in 20-year cycles.
She said this latest move towards Y2K fashion and photography was a way for younger people to be a part of a time and culture they have seen on the screen, even if they were too young to appreciate it at the time.
"You have these cultural memories that belong to something bigger than you, and things you've engaged with your entire life," Dr Williams said.
Lia, who loves her digital cameras so much she packed three in her luggage for a recent European holiday, agrees.
"It's the same reason as why Y2K is a thing now," Lia said.
"After a while people just look back and find something fun from the past, and they start using that as the new trend."