Retro isn’t just for still cameras anymore. I’ve tried both the Camp Snap CS-8 and Instax Evo Cinema, and they’re really geared towards one type of clip

The retro trend has surged among still cameras for years – but in recent months, it seems as if that trend is finally expanding beyond still cameras. The newest retro tech trend? Camcorders. If the Camp Snap video camera, dubbed the CS-8, and the Instax Mini Evo Cinema are any indication, the retro tech trend has finally arrived for camcorders.

I’ve now tried both the Camp Snap CS-8 and Instax Mini Evo Cinema, and the retro-inspired cameras have more in common than just the unusual Super-8-inspired design. In fact, I think both speak towards a shift in how we want our memories delivered: as short-form, easily digestible videos.

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I’ve used both the CS-8 and the Evo Cinema, and both cameras are wildly different from traditional camcorders in that they’re really meant more for short clips. The Evo Cinema won’t even record beyond 15 seconds. The CS-8 can record until the battery runs out – which means up to around 30 to 45 minutes, but holding down that trigger for a long time isn’t exactly ergonomic.

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That makes the footage that I shot with the CS-8 and the Evo Cinema feel more like moving pictures than full videos. They aren’t the sort of camcorder that you can mount on a tripod and record your kids’ entire band concert or t-ball game with.

While traditional camcorders certainly have their place, I’m a bit charmed by the short-form videos. With a retro filter applied, they come out of the camera already feeling a bit like a memory.

Yes, long videos have their place, but I love the bite-sized memories coming from this new style of retro-inspired digital camcorders. An hour-long video is time-consuming to digest – not to mention we’re in the midst of a data storage crisis – but the short video clips feel far easier to revisit.

Perhaps the CS-8 and Evo Cinema aren’t just proof of the retro trend arriving in camcorders, but a shift towards recording memories as shorter video clips. Undoubtedly, short-form vertical video plays a role in this. TikTok and Reels make short-form video feel more commonplace, proving that being entertained by a video doesn’t require sitting still for an hour and a half.

But I think the short-form videos also speak to the fact that everyday moments are memories too. Yes, it’s worth having big memories in long-form video, like weddings and even kids sports games and concerts. But the older that my kids get, the more I miss the little everyday things like footie pajamas and toddler talk, and wish that I had more videos of those everyday moments, even at just a few seconds long.

I’m not the only one charmed with the resurgence of Super 8 style cameras – Taylor Swift was spotted at a football game using the CS-8, and the Instax Mini Evo Cinema’s decade dial generated a bit of buzz (and put the camera on some bestseller lists).

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