On the way to work and on the way home. We unpack various issues generating buzz online and offline. Beyond delivering facts, we also capture economic value and social significance. All the world's issues, unpacked by Juri!
South Korea's MZ generation, weary of smartphone cameras, is turning its attention to digital cameras. Once nearly driven to extinction by smartphones, digital cameras are making a comeback on the strength of their "vintage sensibility."
Digital Camera Rebound Led by MZ Generation… 46% Aged Under 39
According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and Japanese electronics retailer Bic Camera on Thursday, cameras accounted for 12.8% of duty-free sales from September last year through February this year. That was the second-largest share after beauty appliances. With the weak yen easing price pressures, travel to Japan has become a practical channel for digital camera purchases.
According to the Asahi Shimbun and the Camera & Imaging Products Association of Japan on the same day, digital camera shipments in Japan shrank to 910,000 units in 2023 — less than one-tenth of the peak 11.11 million units recorded in 2008 — before rebounding to 1.01 million units in 2024, the first increase in seven years. Buyers aged 39 and under drove the market recovery, accounting for 46% of the total in 2024.
Fatigue with smartphone cameras lies behind the MZ generation's shift to digital cameras. The iPhone 17's rear camera boasts 48 megapixels and the Galaxy S25's wide-angle camera 50 megapixels, but the perception that excessively sharp photos lack character is spreading.
By contrast, elements distinctive to digital cameras — noise, color bleeding and overexposed flash — are being re-evaluated as emotional strengths for delivering a "natural blurriness."
"It can't be called high-performance, but it matches perfectly with the Pinterest aesthetic typical of Y2K, and the camera's design itself is cute," said A, a 29-year-old female office worker who favors Nikon's Coolpix. "Being able to photograph myself holding a digital camera with my smartphone is part of the appeal. Ultimately, I think I put up with the inconvenience of using a digital camera because of that sensibility."
NewJeans' 'Ditto' Sparked the Trend… Used Model Prices Jump Tenfold
The 2023 music video "Ditto" by K-pop group NewJeans fueled the digital camera craze. As the video, imbued with retro digital camera aesthetics, resonated widely, a culture of posting digital camera photos on social media spread among K-pop stars.
A growing number of people are also pulling out older devices that had been tucked away in drawers for 20 to 30 years. The barrier to entry is low. Budget products can be found for 20,000 to 50,000 won ($14 to $36), and some buyers deliberately seek out lower-performance models, saying they maximize the vintage feel. Searching "vintage digital camera" on secondhand trading platforms turns up listings ranging from the high 100,000-won range to the high 400,000-won range, with rare models or items used by celebrities sometimes trading above their original retail prices.
"Honestly, smartphones are much better in terms of portability and being lightweight," said B, a 28-year-old male graduate student. "But when the battery drains quickly from using navigation while traveling, shooting with a digital camera saves phone battery. Transferring photos from a digital camera to a phone has become easy these days, so it's not as inconvenient as you'd think."
Stickers, Straps and More… Craze Extends to 'Digi-Deco'
The digital camera craze is also spilling over into decoration culture. Attaching bead stickers or masking tape to camera bodies and adding straps — known as "digi-kku" (digital camera decorating) or "ka-kku" (camera decorating) — has taken root as a new hobby.
On X (formerly Twitter), posts such as "I stopped by a stationery store on my way and they were selling stickers, so I decorated my digital camera" (JU*) and "I bought a model that can be decorated, and after some trouble I changed the skin to light pink polka dots — I really love it" (bu*) are appearing one after another.
"At first I bought it to take photos, but I fell for the fun of decorating it," said C, a 22-year-old female university student. "After attaching stickers and changing the strap, it feels like a one-of-a-kind camera in the world that's only mine."
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