Two weeks into the new year, the biggest launches of 2026 are so far are rather unusual. This week brought the debut of the Instax Mini Evo Cinema and the Ricoh GR IV Monochrome. The two cameras are wildly different from each other, except for one thing: both are arguably more about what they can’t do than what they can.
The 1/5-inch sensor on the Evo Cinema and the APS-C sensor on the GR IV Monochrome are opposites. Yet both cameras feel a bit like the antithesis of modern technology – they are simpler cameras, the former designed for the joy of capturing retro images and the latter for the experience of shooting exclusively in black and white.
The Evo Cinema is a strange-looking camera that looks like a miniaturized, modern Super 8 – despite also spitting out instant film prints. The 5MP sensor and 600 x 800 resolution feels like the opposite of modern tech that’s trending towards 50MP+ and 8K video.
But it’s the decade dial that’s going to sell the Evo Cinema. With a turn of the dial, creators can emulate the look of a specific decade, with optional overlays and a dial to control the intensity of each retro look.
Like the Evo Cinema, the newly announced GR IV Monochrome is a creativity-focused camera. But the spec sheet between them couldn’t be more different. The Monochrome crams a 25.7MP APS-C sensor into a pocketable design, though video tops out at FullHD.
Where the Ricoh reminds me of the Instax is that it’s a camera whose limitations are as important as its capabilities. The GR IV Mono can’t shoot in color. Eliminating the color filter array on the sensor helps create more clarity, tonal separation and microcontrast than a color camera sensor image converted to black-and-white.
I can’t help but look at cameras like the Evo Cinema and the GR IV Mono and think of Marie Kondo going through a closet and saying, “This brings me joy.” Only instead of tidying the sock drawer, we’re tidying up camera tech.
There are plenty of fantastic high-tech cameras out there – and, I must add, I don’t think those pro cameras are going anywhere. But, it feels as if there’s a new category of cameras emerging that’s not about what the camera can do but about what it can’t.
Earlier camera launches like the Fujifilm X Half, which has a film mode that won’t let you see your photos until you finish a roll, and the incredibly minimalistic Sigma BF also come to mind.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that simplified cameras and retro cameras are trending at a time when AI is capable of creating a "perfect" image. As the resurgence of the 2000s-era digicams illustrates, there’s a lot to love about simple cameras that are as imperfect as our memories.
A key part of the resurgence of the retro compact camera is that I think the general consumer is once again buying cameras. For a while, the smartphone camera meant that mainstream customers didn’t really need or want a separate camera – unlike serious photographers who have continued to buy dedicated cameras.
Now, even non-photographers are finding joy in taking photographs on a camera separate from the devices that can send emails, make phone calls and generate deepfakes.
Are two weeks enough to predict the biggest photography trends of the whole year? Of course not. But as a photographer and a tech journalist, I find it interesting that the first major launches of the year are a 5MP retro time-traveling camera and a compact camera embracing the simplicity and joy of seeing in black-and-white.
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