Students share what makes digital cameras special and why they have made a comeback
By GRACIELA TIU — features@theaggie.org
If you’ve gone out with your friends, seen people taking photos on the street or even been to a party, chances are you’ve also seen a good amount of digital cameras. For the past couple of years, more and more people, primarily in the younger generations, have been purchasing and using these cameras. Once a ’90s item but now a Gen Z staple, digital cameras have significantly grown in popularity. UC Davis students describe some of their first experiences using them, as well as recommending them to others.
“The first time I was exposed to a digital camera was probably for my friend’s birthday,” Salma Ahmed, a fourth-year animal science major, said. “My other friend bought one, and we used it as a surprise birthday photoshoot with a bunch of Christmas lights because her birthday is in December. It was just really cute, because the camera photos turned out more aesthetic than a phone camera.”
Many current digital camera users first learned about them through their friends or people they know. Joya Chahine, a second-year global disease biology major, also recounted her earliest digital camera memories and explained what inspired her to purchase one.
“In my junior year of high school, one of my hometown best friends was the dedicated photo taker for the group; she was the one that always brought her digital camera everywhere,” Chahine said. “Then I went and bought one for college, and I became the dedicated person to take the photos, so I think it was her that made me want to get one for college.”
Digital camera users also prefer the quality of a digital camera over that of a phone.
“I like the way that they look more,” Sara Pimenta, a fourth-year managerial economics major, said. “It’s not necessarily that the quality is better, but the photos are more visually appealing than they are on a phone. Sometimes iPhones put their own filters on the photo, which I don’t love, whereas digital cameras look more vintage and authentic.”
Chahine also noted how digital cameras can enhance the overall effect of the photo.
“I think iPhone photos are just too perfect,” Chahine said. “The actual photo quality itself just doesn’t look, like, in the moment — it looks like you’re taking the photo to save it for later. I feel like digital cameras take photos that are somewhat blurry, somewhat old school, and I feel like it captures the friend aspect, just being around other people’s presence, which I really like.”
Not only do people notice a visual difference in digital camera photos, but they also feel a difference in the photo-taking experience.
“There’s a sense of community; when someone has a digital camera, everybody wants to take photos,” Chahine said. “I feel like clicking and actually holding a camera makes it fun. And you can always look back and see how they turned out, adjust people’s poses, the settings and everything.”
If digital cameras have existed since the ‘90s, why are they suddenly coming back now? One big reason for this seems to be the excitement they bring to young people.
“For us, it’s something new,” Pimenta said. “We were kids when our parents would use them, and then we grew up using cell phones. It’s kind of like record players — we didn’t grow up with them, so now we think they’re cool. I think it has to do with that; we just didn’t grow up using it.”
The return of digital cameras also mirrors larger trends that have been coming back in recent years.
“I think it’s also just a trend in a way, where older stuff is coming back,” Ahmed said. “With the whole re-emergence of Y2K and ‘90s fashion style, I feel like digital cameras are also coming back.”
Although most trends inevitably become obsolete or shift in nature, for the time being digital cameras are making photo taking a more enjoyable activity for many. Chahine also shared her favorite times to use them.
“The most important use is just for taking photos [of your] friends and everything,” Chahine said. “But also, vacation is a big one; vacation ‘digis’ are a lot of fun. Also if someone is dressed up and they just want a cute photo of themselves, I feel like digital cameras just give that aesthetic — it’s fun, you know?”
Written by: Graciela Tiu — features@theaggie.org
