The rise of the compact camera has created a long list of trendy cameras that are hard to find in stock. One app for buying the hardest-to-find gear in Japan has found that the most popular cameras in the last seven months are almost exclusively fixed lens compacts – with only one mirrorless in the top ten.
The insight comes from Minna Camera, a popular app in Japan for buying and selling camera gear. For the research, Minna only looked at cameras that were sold as new-in-box, omitting the used sales on the platform, tallying sales between November 6, 2025, and June 13, 2026.
The popular Ricoh GR series takes three of the top five spots, while the viral Fujifilm X100VI and older but still trendy Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III also slide into the top five. The bottom half of the list has more budget-friendly point-and-shoots, including two budget Kodak-branded cameras, the superzoom Panasonic Lumix TZ99 / ZS99 and the Canon IXY 650 (named the Ixus 285 HS / PowerShot ELPH 360 outside Japan).
The only mirrorless camera on the list? The Sony A7 V, a full-frame camera that has also topped several retailers’ sales charts since launching late in 2025. The camera’s mirrorless status makes it the most expensive option on the list, bringing an autofocus upgrade and 30fps shooting over Sony’s earlier options in the series.
Minna Camera says that the sales data suggests “that the popularity of compact digital cameras is not merely a passing trend, but is reflected in the fact that compact digital cameras are actually being sought after and traded.”
While that list doesn’t match up exactly with the recent rankings from retailers in Japan, Minna Camera’s marketplace app format means its shoppers are often looking for a camera that’s harder to find in stores.
The full list of trending new cameras from Minna over the last seven months includes:
- Ricoh GR IV
- Ricoh GR IIIx
- Fujifilm X100VI
- Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III
- Ricoh GR IV Monochrome
- Kodak PixPro FZ55
- Panasonic Lumix TZ99 / ZS99
- Kodak PixPro C1
- Sony A7 V
- Canon PowerShot IXY 650 / PowerShot ELPH 360 / Ixus 285 HS
The new-in-box cameras that are sold from person-to-person rather than through a major retailer hint at the cameras that are hardest to find, as shoppers look outside traditional stores and into peer-to-peer sales.
The top camera, the Ricoh GR IV, launched with production in limited batches. The camera series uses a larger APS-C sensor and hides it in a body that looks like a basic pocketable point-and-shoot, making the camera popular for street photography and travel.
While the GR IV replaces the GR III, the GR IIIx, second on the list, remains available as Ricoh has yet to update the compact that uses a longer 40mm lens rather than the wide 28mm. Ricoh’s black-and-white photography tool from the same series, the GR IV Monochrome, also makes the list.
The Fujifilm X100VI remains hard to find even now, more than two years after its launch, thanks to the viral success of the series. The older 2019 Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III, which has faced stock shortages since going viral for its mix of zoom with a one-inch sensor, is also regularly sold on the Minna Camera app.
Interestingly, while the more advanced viral compact cameras make up the top ten, the list also has plenty of budget point-and-shoots. The price difference between the Kodak PixPro C1, the cheapest compact on the list, and the Fujifilm X100VI, the most expensive, was about 20x, Minna Camera noted.
The Kodak PixPro FZ55 is a basic point-and-shoot that typically sells for $160 / £130 / AU$250 / CA$250, while the PixPro C1 sells for even less and takes on a more retro look.
The Canon PowerShot ELPH 360 / IXY650 sits above those Kodak models in price, mixing a 20.2MP sensor with a 12x optical zoom lens.
The Lumix TZ99 / ZS99 price sits more in the middle ground between the ELPH 360 and the PowerShot G7 X Mark III, but its popularity likely stems from the pocketable camera’s 30x optical zoom.
You may also like...
Want a pocketable camera that's not a smartphone? These are the best compact cameras, according to our expert photographers.
