The compact camera started making a slow return around the turn of the new decade – but 2025 saw the portable camera format grow so much that the small form factor now encompasses everything from tiny keychains to medium format powerhouses.
From new budget point-and-shoots to luxury models, compact cameras drove several key trends in 2025. As a photographer and journalist, I’ve watched the rise of the point-and-shoot with a mixture of fascination and bewilderment, but I’ve spotted a few notable trends this year, all centered around the compact camera.
The compact camera is bleeding into mirrorless and lenses
While 2024 showed significant growth for the compact camera category, in 2025, shipments for fixed lens cameras have continued to climb. In October – the most recent data available from CIPA – the compact camera outsold DSLRs by more than five times. Mirrorless cameras are still the dominant format, but data suggests the compact camera is a trend with staying power.
Compact cameras seem to be so popular, in fact, that the trend appears to even be influencing mirrorless cameras and lenses. While compact mirrorless cameras certainly existed before the resurgence of the point-and-shoot, portable designs were a key trend among launches like the Fujifilm X-E5 and OM System OM-3.
But compact designs were also a key trend among lenses for 2025 as well, with Google indicating that the number of searches for “pancake lens” climbed dramatically this year.
The luxury compact camera returned in a big way in 2025
As compact cameras declined in popularity, brands diverted focus to mirrorless, leaving relatively few new launches. But in 2025, brands are catching up with the trend, starting with the launch of some iconic luxury compact cameras.
The Fujifilm GFX100RF, announced in March of 2025, is the first fixed-lens compact camera to house a medium format sensor – and a 102MP one at that. The GFX100RF is remarkably small for the tech that’s inside, and while it lacks stabilization and the aperture maxes out at f/4, the medium format sensor delivers phenomenal images for such a small camera.
While the GFX100RF is entirely new, 2025 also brought the surprise successor to a longtime luxury compact camera favorite: The Sony RX1R III, which integrates a full-frame 61MP sensor into a remarkably small body.
Shrinking the sensor a bit from the GFX100RF and the RX1R III, another notable launch for 2025 is the Ricoh GR IV. While the APS-C sensor may be smaller than the RX1R III, so is the price and the body. The GR IV is a large-sensor compact camera that still looks about the size of a basic budget point-and-shoot.
Cheap compact cameras proved megapixels aren’t all that matter
While 2025 brought advanced tech in amazingly small cameras, the compact camera’s popularity is not exclusive to cameras that outperform a smartphone. In fact, a number of compact cameras feel almost intentionally terrible.
For starters, there’s the Kodak Charmera, which has less than two megapixels, yet has proven to be immensely popular and even TIME’s Invention of the Year list. Cameras like the Camp Snap CS-Pro and the Flashback One V2 embraced nostalgia over resolution.
Of course, there are a number of cameras that sit in between the cheap point-and-shoots and the luxury options. 2025 saw Canon increase production of compact cameras and launch new options like the PowerShot V1.
Retro compacts went next-level nostalgia
Retro designs have been trending right alongside the compact camera, but in 2025, retro compact cameras felt more risky, more unafraid to be wildly different. Yes, I’m talking about the Fujifilm X Half.
The X Half is built around the concept of “digital film.” There’s a film mode that won’t let you see your photos or change the film simulation until you’ve finished a “roll.” The X Half even has a “film” advance dial. The X Half is missing a few settings, such as RAW capability, but Fujifilm’s teasers for the camera all focused on the joy of photography rather than the specs. That’s a risk that seems to be paying off.
Based on the compact camera numbers for 2025, I’m expecting this trend to continue into 2026. But what I love about the return of the point-and-shoot is that there are high-spec options, cheap digital minimalist choices, and experimental retro cameras. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that compact cameras are trending at a time when smartphones are leaning more into computational photography and AI – I think the compact camera trend is about craving something real, something that puts nostalgia before perfection.
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