- Kodak PixPro FZ45 and FZ55 top bestseller lists in several regions
- These are currently the most popular models on Amazon US and elsewhere.
- Prices start from just $100 / £90 / AU$145
Camera fans might expect Sony or Canon to top the bestseller charts, but for full popularity beyond the various high-end categories, you’ll have to aim a little lower, to humbly point and shoot.
In recent years, two particularly inexpensive compact digital cameras have been sold on Amazon shelves in the United States and at other retailers around the world, such as Yodobashi Camera in Japan. These are the Kodak PixPro FZ55 (pictured above) and the PixPro FZ45. Other models like the waterproof PixPro WPZ2 are also present in the photo.
The main reason these PixPro models are so popular is pretty obvious: you’ll be hard-pressed to find another digital camera with a true 4x optical zoom for less than the PixPro FZ45’s approximate price of $100 / £90 / AU$145. Or one with 5x optical zoom and a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery that costs less than the PixPro FZ55.
Both pocket models take 16MP photos and HD videos to an SD card and are available in a range of colors including black, white, blue and pink.
These cameras aren’t just a trend: they’ve dominated bestseller lists month after month, year after year, just when we thought those cheap cameras had been replaced by camera phones. So what is really going on here?
Besides the low price and ready availability of these PixPro models, trust in the Kodak name should be a factor for casual buyers. After all, Kodak is one of THE most recognizable names in photography, from its roots in popular photographic film making to pioneering digital camera technology.
However, there is something you may not know about Kodak today. The original Kodak – Eastman Kodak, which dates back 138 years – shut down its consumer digital camera production lines a long time ago and, because of crushing debts, may not survive at all.
Today, Kodak is instead one of a series of legendary photography brands (alongside Yashica, Rollei, Agfa, Minolta and many others), which have licensed their names to third parties, who largely make low-cost digital cameras. The company that makes the PixPro FZ45 and FZ55 is actually JK Imaging Ltd, which sounds worse.
There’s something else going on, too: a general increase in camera sales, led by compact cameras, a revolt against always-connected technology, and growing privacy concerns.
A camera such as the PixPro FZ55 films directly to local storage, an SD card. It is not connected to the cloud. It’s simple, it’s lo-fi and it’s the kind of technology Gen Z is embracing.
Will you get better quality photos using these Kodak compact cameras on your phone? Absolutely not. Even a basic mid-range phone will take better photos.
What you will get, however, is the simple nostalgic pleasure of simply taking everyday shots, the data of which you are in complete control of.
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