TikTok has brought back 2000s-era digital cameras — and it’s worth the hype

polygon.com:

In a narrow hallway that divides the dance floor and the bathrooms at a local club, I saw some girls snapping photos. Instead of an iPhone, one of them held a retro digital camera above the group’s heads at an angle. The flash went off and I squeezed past them as they looked at the screen and giggled. It’s a small moment, but it’s also part of a much larger consumer trend. Now — thanks to TikTok — ’90s- and 2000s-era handheld digital cameras are making a massive comeback, and I can say it’s one of the trends that’s actually well worth the hype.

Affectionately dubbed “digi cams” online, point-and-shoot cameras have become the new darling technology of Instagram girlies everywhere. This is in large part due to TikTok, where content about digital cameras has turned into a major trend. There, a simple photo slideshow showing off a person’s favorite cameras can garner more than 2.4 million views. People share tips for getting into digital cameras. Others talk about the best settings to take the perfect glamour shot. Many people rate the cameras in their collections. Even the cameras themselves are fun, since people decorate their cameras with sparkly stickers and beaded wrist straps.

Nostalgia definitely plays a role in the hype. While some people are buying cheap (but new) cameras on the TikTok shop or choosing to shell out for more impressive new models, many of the videos emphasize that digital cameras imbue the photos with that “vintage” mom-and-dad vibe from the 1990s and 2000s (if that’s when your parents grew up, that is). Digital cameras have this nice in-between status where the pictures feel a little bit more retro and novel, but they don’t require the hassle or expertise of using film. But this is not just some sort of lo-fi trend — many of the photos do actually just look better than phone photos, thanks to a proper flash and the mechanical advantages of using a camera with a bigger lens. Of course, when browsing online, you can never be sure of how a photo