Coolpix, Cyber-shot, PowerShot, Exilim; these compact digital camera sub-brands all now sound like they’re from a bygone period. And their demise has been all-but-confirmed by a brand new report from Japan that almost all main digital camera producers, together with Nikon, Sony, and Canon, at the moment are dramatically scaling again their point-and-shoot digital camera choices, if not abandoning them solely.

The Japanese enterprise newspaper Nikkei (opens in new tab) spoke to all the former giants of pocketable cameras for its report, picked up by Petapixel (opens in new tab), which concludes that the “main digital camera firms” have “stopped creating new compact digital cameras” as a way to consider “mirrorless cameras with excessive unit costs.”

Until you’ve got simply woken up from a cryogenic sleep that began in 2006, this may not come as surprising information. Smartphones have develop into so good, and so a lot better than most compact cameras, that for a lot of the thought of proudly owning a separate photographic software now appears about as quaint as carrying a Walkman.

However regardless of the emphatic conclusions of the CIPA (Digicam Imaging & Merchandise Affiliation) knowledge in Nikkei’s report, which reveals that compact digital digital camera shipments have fallen 97% since 2008, there may be proof that the point-and-shoot digital camera continues to be very a lot alive and even evolving. It simply will not have a Nikon Coolpix or Sony Cyber-shot badge on the entrance. 

Level of no return

The shocking factor about CIPA’s knowledge (opens in new tab) is that compact digital cameras nonetheless accounted for 36% of world digital camera shipments final yr. So the place will all these folks go if the digital camera giants do cease creating new compact fashions?

To be truthful, not all the firms Nikkei spoke to stated they had been instantly ejecting from the point-and-shoot cockpit. Canon stated that “though we’re shifting to higher-end fashions, we’ve got sturdy help for lower-end fashions, and can proceed to develop and produce them so long as there may be demand.” Nikon added vaguely that “future manufacturing quantity might be decided by paying shut consideration to market developments”.

However studying between these carefully-worded traces reveals the truth. Solely three Nikon Coolpix cameras are nonetheless on sale, and the final of these arrived in 2020. Neither Canon nor Sony has launched a brand new compact digital camera for 3 years. Panasonic was extra blunt, telling Nikkei “we’ve got stopped creating new fashions that may be changed by smartphones”. Ouch. Identical to DSLRs, the point-and-shoot gross sales graph will solely be going in a single route, and fairly quickly.

And but those that benefit from the point-and-shoot expertise aren’t all sticking to smartphones. Actually, a big quantity are, due to the ability of the very best digital camera apps and the arrival of equipment like Shiftcam SnapGrip (opens in new tab) and Fjorden, which flip your cellphone right into a compact digital camera. However an growing quantity are additionally embracing a brand new form of point-and-shoot.

Little wonders

It is no secret that movie cameras have seen a resurgence in recent times, and never simply amongst nerdy nostalgics. The Reto Extremely Extensive and Slim (opens in new tab), for instance, is an inexpensive point-and-shoot that launched this yr and is available in 5 colours, weighing solely 68g. This well-liked starter mannequin takes 35mm movie and has a large 22mm lens that can assist you get extra in a shot than a typical compact.

There’s additionally been a flurry of recent compact ‘half-frame’ cameras this yr, just like the Kodak Ektar (opens in new tab), which enable you to beat rising movie prices by letting you shoot twice as many exposures on a roll of movie (for instance, 76 snaps on a 36-exposure movie). A brand new UK startup referred to as Alfie Cameras (opens in new tab) can be on the lookout for beta testers for its new half-frame Tych digital camera, which has a smartphone-style collection of totally different lenses.

Elsewhere, even Canon has been secretly dipping its toes into new sorts of point-and-shoot digital camera with crowdfunded fashions just like the (barely disappointing) Canon PowerShot Zoom and Canon Ivy Rec. And whereas it is slightly extra superior than your common compact, the Alice Digicam can be making an attempt to do the factor that is proved past the Cyber-shots of this world – meld smartphone-style computational energy with conventional digital camera {hardware}.   

Elsewhere, the very best prompt cameras have additionally channelled among the point-and-shoot enthusiasm that was beforehand vacuumed up compacts, with MarketWatch (opens in new tab) predicting a gradual 4% progress fee per yr for the sector. There’s additionally a wholesome second-hand marketplace for movie point-and-shoots, with fashions just like the Olympus XA2 and Minolta Riva Zoom 130 proving well-liked amongst those that desire a sure shock ingredient that smartphones lack as a result of their ruthless effectivity.

Lengthy photographs

There’s nonetheless very a lot a spot for robust point-and-shoots just like the Olympus TG-6 or GoPro Hero 10 Black, given our smartphones nonetheless want stunt doubles in additional excessive conditions. 

However as Nikkei’s report factors out, the digital compact digital camera as we knew it within the 2000s has now mainly disappeared.

This implies we’re more likely to see some large modifications on the planet of the very best point-and-shoot cameras over the following few years. They will not die, although; simply evolve and develop into slightly extra eccentric, as we discover new kinds of fuss-free snapping.

If the return of movie cameras tells us something, although, it is that photographic developments work in cycles. They may be unloved now, however at some point the Sony Cyber-shots, Casio Exilims, Nikon Coolpixes and Fujifilm Finepixes of this world will get their cultural resurgence. And after they do, you may most likely need to keep in mind which drawer you left them in.