# South Bay teens are choosing digital cameras over phones > Source: > Published: 2026-07-07 17:30:57+00:00 **Getting your** [Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...*Editor’s note: This story is part of the annual Mosaic Journalism Program for Bay Area high school students, an intensive course in journalism. Students in the program report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.* In a world full of constantly updated smartphone cameras and rapid-fire phone photography, some teenagers are taking a nostalgic detour to the digital camera. “It allows for a more timeless piece of memory that you have in your collection,” said Isha Goel, 15, who loves taking her camera out with friends. The Camera & Imaging Products Association, which tracks global camera shipments, has reported that the shipment of cameras with built-in lenses increased from 2024 to 2025 by almost 30%. Some teens say they like the grainy, high-contrast pictures of a digital camera, as opposed to high-resolution smartphone photos. “More people prefer it because it seems more genuine,” said Goel, who attends Foothill High School in Pleasanton. Joseph Manjaly, 14, owns three cameras that he regularly uses for events. “Digicam pictures dominate now because everyone’s used to seeing these high-quality images, but when people see digicam pictures, it just catches their attention, because it’s a different quality,” said Manjaly, a student at Mountain House High School in San Joaquin County. Some teens say they also prefer the point-and-shoot approach of the digicam, because it eliminates conflicting distractions and focuses on capturing the memory. “There are other apps on the phone, and you get notifications that just distract you from the main event and you don’t pay attention,” Manjaly said. “But if you just brought a camera for the sole purpose of taking a picture, you’d actually only take photos and videos. You wouldn’t have any other distractions.” Despite its perceived advantages, the digital camera can frustrate users, because they have to manually upload photos to another device to post or edit them. “I don’t necessarily think people appreciate the delay. People regularly put digicam-like filters on their photos. I think it’s more about the effect they bring,” said Milo Takemoto, a student photographer at Foothill. However, some teens say the wait makes the photos more valuable. “It’s worth the wait because on a smartphone, you can just click the photo and get it immediately,” said Goel. “But on a digicam, you only see the preview, so you get more excited for the photos.” This pattern is evident not only in camera technology, but in the resurgence of record players and older fashion trends. Some teens now find themselves chasing a certain feeling of nostalgia for an era in which they never lived. “Digicam photos feel nostalgic,” Takemoto said. “As teenagers we constantly want to grow up, and I think reminiscing is a good way to bring in a sense of maturity.” The nostalgia of the digital camera is a key factor in the widespread attraction to the device. “As 2010 and 2011 kids, we were raised with the uprising of technology,” said Goel, who is very familiar with smartphones, tablets and streaming services. “But with digicams, it’s a piece of technology that allows us to capture memories but doesn’t directly involve AI or phones or screens.” *Anya Joseph is a member of the class of 2028 at Foothill High School in Pleasanton. Claire Dong is a member of the class of 2027 at Aragon High School in San Mateo.*