A new compact camera has been launched more than 50 years after the original device, recreating the iconic old model in a modern style.
The new camera comes amid a renaissance in retro technology and the appeal of an increasingly digital age for authenticity, real-life experiences and simpler times.
The Camp Snap 110 D is a pocket-sized camera that embodies the look and feel of Kodak’s 1972 110 camera, which used a cartridge-based analog film format.
The camera is digital and rechargeable, so you don’t need film to take pictures, and it has no screen, which won’t “distract your attention from what you’re actually taking a picture of,” says the company behind it.
It only has a status display indicating battery life and the number of photos taken.
The company explains: “In 1972, the iconic 110 silhouette made the camera simple and pocket-friendly… 50 years later, we redesigned it for a digital and screen-free design. We retained the unmistakable elongated shape of the original 110 camera and redesigned everything inside today.”
This means you can’t view the photos like you would on a camera with a digital screen while shooting. The images can only be viewed after being transferred to another device, which helps recreate the anticipation of waiting for film to be developed to see how the photo will turn out.
Longing for a more digital, simpler era
According to Market Reports World, the global film photography camera market is expected to nearly double from US$36.84 million in 2026 to US$52 million in 2035. The study found that “consumers are increasingly looking for creative activities that are more personal, hands-on and less automated than smartphone photography.”
Teemu Suviala, global chief creative officer of global brand and design consultancy Landor & Fitch and former global head of brand design at Meta’s Reality Labs, tells us newsweek: “Old-school digital cameras are all the rage right now for good reason. Smartphone photography has become so good, so immediate, so familiar that our photos feel interchangeable and mostly boring. Point-and-shoot cameras give you something different — the unpredictability of life images and the softness of real, slightly faded memories.”
Suviara said the latest camera remake offers more than just a retro aesthetic and sets a small line between taking photos and other things you use your phone for. With a screenless camera, instead of reviewing every photo as you go, you can “just take a photo, put the camera away, and leave it at the party” and reminisce about the night while seeing all the images at once.
“Waiting has become part of the appeal, a function of the product,” Suviara noted. “What’s really important is to fully enjoy the moment and not be distracted by social feeds, messages and lost calls.”
Harpal Singh, an AI SEO and GEO consultant and founder of blimpp, which analyzes consumer search behavior, agrees that more and more consumers are paying attention to intent. he told newsweek: “Public affection and appreciation for products that promote a more meaningful life and a greater sense of control continues to grow.”
Digital burnout and “always available”
A July 2026 study by market research firm YPulse found that about two-thirds of Gen Z and younger millennials use analog technology such as digital cameras, instant film and film cameras, as well as other retro products such as flip phones and vinyl records.
YPulse found that this old tech trend among younger generations is primarily driven by digital burnout. A December 2025 study by web browser Shift found that 62% of users experienced digital burnout, with 34% of Gen Z respondents saying they experienced burnout regularly.
Kate Trey is the co-founder of lifestyle brand Coilie and the maker of The Modern Landline, a wall-mounted phone holder that comes with a coiled USB-C charging cable.
Trey told newsweek Millennials and Gen Z are “definitely” resisting digital overload. She noted that The Modern Landline has a waiting list of 20,000 people and has pre-sold more than 1,300 products in two months.
“Gen Z made film cameras and flip phones cool again,” she said, and both Gen Z and Millennials buy retro tech because “it really gives you relief when your device can’t connect to you.”
“It’s not that people are rejecting technology, it’s that they’re rejecting ever-availability,” Trey said, noting that “the more technologically capable we are, the more we crave slowing down.” Old formats like film cameras and reels, she explained, “have a natural pause in the experience, and pause is what defines it.”
Trey believes that the sense of nostalgia that comes with retro gear is an out-of-reach feeling. She explains, “Waiting for a movie to be developed, waiting for someone to call home on a landline—the anticipation was once part of life, and it makes the rewards better. Products like this allow people to get that feeling back without asking them to give up modern life.”
The meaning and power of nostalgia
Craig Reynolds is the co-founder of Locomotive, a global live event experience studio known for Bingo Loco, where hundreds of people gather to sing and dance to 90s/2000s pop and hip-hop songs. Reynolds told Newsweek: “The real power of retro is to use something familiar to unleash a feeling,” noting that nostalgia is “disarming.”
“A familiar song or a camera that reminds you of your childhood can break down the guardrails we build for ourselves as adults, making it easier for us to be silly, spontaneous and live in the moment,” Reynolds explains.
“Nostalgia works when it can reconnect people to meaningful actions or feelings, rather than simply borrowing a look,” Suviara said. The power of nostalgia, he noted, lies in looking at what technology has removed from an experience and whether putting it back can make the experience and its memories richer.
Please contact the Newsweek editor regarding this story: Sirena Bergman and Tony Phillips.
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