Low-rise jeans, flip phones, wired earbuds. Gen Z is careening us all over the cliff of Y2K revivalism — and as it turns out, they’re coming for the cameras, too. A certain breed of 2000s-era point-and-shoots are trending these days ... but unlike the denim, this might be a welcome return.
Early aughts point-and-shoots have an aesthetic that balances film-like feel and charmingly crappy detail. They’ve got soft, blooming highlights, minimal resolution and distinct color casts and tonality that come from that era’s charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors. To be sure, they also have 2000s-era foibles. They’re slow, the autofocus is hit-or-miss, they use memory formats that will have you diving into Wikipedia — but isn’t that part of the fun?
But the best thing that Y2K point-and-shoots have going for them? They’re cheap. At least for now.
Good vintage digital cameras of 2000s provenance can be purchased for less than $50. Great ones can be had for less than $150. But be careful: they don’t have quite the same value proposition as some of the legendary film cameras. They’re nearly impossible to repair and early-2000s CCD sensors have a tendency to corrode over time, so try to avoid convincing yourself to shell out $800 for that mint Panasonic Lumix and instead treat these as a wonderful, low-cost way to have a little bit more fun with photography.
What the hell is a CCD?
CCD sensors predated modern CMOS image sensors. CMOS sensors are better at battery life, dynamic range, and low-light performance. However, good CCD sensors (all the cameras on this list except the Sigma) at low ISOs tend to produce more 'filmic" images, with more pleasing colors, highlight transitions and tonality.
Ricoh Caplio GX100
- Price: ~$150
If you’re less into the flippant, fun "digicam lifestyle" and go on about the beauty
and irreplaceability of CCD sensors, the Caplio GX100 is for you. It packs a 10.1-megapixel CCD, an uncommonly wide 24-70 equivalent lens, raw image capture, lots of physical controls and really really good-looking photos.
Canon Powershot G2
- Price: ~$100
Four megapixels, Compact Flash cards, a battery the size of a small house. The Canon G2 is chock-full of reminders that it debuted in the summer of 2001. Look past all those, though, and you’re confronted with gorgeous (and plenty big for Instagram) images coming off the CCD sensor, a fast lens and a proper optical viewfinder.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300
- Price: ~$40
The Sony W300 is probably what you think of when you think mid-’00s digicam. It’s small, completely automated, and churns out delightfully retro images. The W300 is a later model so it boasts a (relatively) massive 13.6-megapixel CCD sensor and an intuitive user interface that just gets out of the way.
Sigma DP2
- Price: ~$250
The Sigma DP2 is a bit younger and a bit more expensive than the rest of this list, but it’s an absolute charmer if you’ve caught the retro-compact bug. It’s got a ton of knocks against it (a paltry 4.6megapixels, battery life measured in minutes rather than hours) but produces stunningly gorgeous, film-like images thanks to its unique Foveon sensor tech.
