The Unlikely Renaissance of the Point-and-Shoot Camera
From left, top row: Leica C-Lux, Panasonic Lumix ZS200, Fuji FinePix XP140, Ricoh GR III. Bottom row: Contax T3, Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-RX100.
Photographer: Jessica Pettway for Bloomberg Businessweek
With the advent of the smartphone, the point-and-shoot camera would seem redundant. The whole idea, after all, is a device that’s small enough to fit in a pocket and requires you only to “point and shoot.” The category is nonetheless having a creative renaissance after years of declining sales. At the two most recent Met Galas, musician Frank Ocean and model Kendall Jenner brought along their ’90s-era Contax T3s to document the festivities.
Think of the new point-and-shoot as Gen Z’s version of the vintage Polaroid, but one that’s lighter, can take high-definition video, and elevates the quality of your images in the quickest and most space-effective way. Many new models can even be paired with phones, so you can have your shot and Instagram it, too.