I wrote off the digicam as a temporary trend, but three years later, "crappy cameras" have only become more popular

Vendors display a vast collection of vintage digital point-and-shoot cameras for sale at street market on April 30, 2026 in Hong Kong, China. (Photo by Sawayasu Tsuji/Getty Images).

I can still remember clutching my beloved mirrorless camera while reading the headlines a few years back: Digicams, the so-called crappy cameras of the Y2K era, have surged in trends. As a photographer, I initially wrote off the trend as temporary, but more than three years after the digicam started making a comeback, the nostalgic point-and-shoot has only gained in popularity.

According to data from Google searches, the terms “digicam” and “digi cam” both have continued to climb in popularity in 2026, bringing searches to a ten-year high.