Point-and-Shoot Camera Sales Rise Among Young Adults, Though Smartphones Remain Dominant

NPR reported that sales of screen-free point-and-shoot digital cameras have risen sharply as adults seek alternatives to smartphone photography. Camp Snap began selling the devices a couple of years ago for children at summer camps. Camp Snap President Trevor George stated that a lot of Gen Z and millennial customers started buying the cameras unexpectedly.

Canon told NPR that sales of the PowerShot 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 that appeared in the hands of celebrities including Selena Gomez and Joe Jonas.

One was spotted at Taylor Swift's wedding. Jaden Williams, 16, from North Carolina, first picked up a point-and-shoot camera in his yearbook class. Last month he requested and received a digital camera for his birthday.

He uses it alongside his phone for a warmer vibe at parties. Katie Coyne, 24, from New York, bought a digital camera for a safari vacation and has lent it to her younger sister Gwen Coyne in Philadelphia. Gwen recently used the camera on a trip to photograph palm trees against the sky and ocean.

Christina Berkett, 34, from New Jersey, carries a point-and-shoot camera to avoid using her phone during events. eBay told NPR that it is seeing a surge of searches for old-school tech like iPods, CDs and Walkmans. Berkett, a wedding photographer, says couples are printing real-world photo albums and paying extra for her to film with an old-school camcorder.

She holds the device vertically so the footage suits smartphone viewing.