My favorite Classic DigiCam is the Samsung ST76. Its tiny size—my smallest camera—makes it especially great for travel, as it never gets in the way, and fits into any pocket. What I appreciate most about it, though, is the Retro Style Smart Filter, which gives pictures a vintage aesthetic as if they were captured in the 1960’s or ’70’s or even early ’80’s. These could be prints in an old picture album, except that I captured them last month while along California’s central coast. No editing, the images look great straight-out-of-camera.

The Samsung ST76 is an underrated Classic DigiCam that I enjoyed using while traveling. In fact, it’s the only one I brought with me on this trip.

Automobile photography is popular and fun. See an interesting vehicle parked along the street or in a lot? Snap some images of the details! There’s a lot of artistry in the design of a car, especially classic cars. The colors and reflections and even the wear can be fascinating.

Classic DigiCams are great for car photography because you can carry them with you in your pocket, and when you stumble upon an interesting car while going about your everyday life, you can take a few casual pictures. The DigiCam aesthetic lends itself well to this type of photography, too.

I’m not a car photographer, but I do like to capture them when I see one that’s interesting. It could be a classic car, a modern vehicle, or a delivery truck—whatever seems fascinating to me in the moment. And because there’s a DigiCam in my pocket, I’m able to photograph it.

Classic DigiCams are great for travel photography because they’re compact and versatile. I take one or more with me whenever I hop in the car.

You won’t get that high-end mirrorless quality, but that’s not the point of DigiCams—these small cameras have their own aesthetic. You wouldn’t expect a Polaroid to have the same look as an SLR, and one shouldn’t expect an old digital point-and-shoot to produce the same aesthetic as modern high-end gear. This is LoFi photography—more like the Polaroid—yet it can be surprisingly good, and its unique images are currently desirable.

When I travel with Classic DigiCams, I use an Evergreen 57 Waterproof Dry Box Protective Case, which fits six of my cameras plus all of the charges and spare batteries and such. It makes it convenient for a roadtrip, and also keeps everything safe, even if I happen to encounter rough conditions. I cannot recommend the Evergreen case enough! Another essential tool is an SD Card reader for my iPhone.

While traveling to southern Arizona, I brought all of my Classic Digicams, and of course my favorite: the Samsung ST76. Four of my six cameras were used at least once, but the Samsung ST76 and Nikon CoolPix S7c were by far the two most used. I love the Samsung ST76 because of its super compact size and for its retro 1960’s and 1970’s colors that make pictures look like they’re from an old photo album. I love the Nikon CoolPix S7c because it’s a cool-looking camera with an Art Deco design and it produces colorful pictures that have a slide-film aesthetic maybe somewhat similar to Kodak Elite Chrome. The images from these two cameras couldn’t be further apart, but I really like them for their own uniqueness.

A roadtrip to southern Arizona is something every photographer should do if they have the chance. Northern Arizona—with the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Flagstaff, Sedona, and Route 66—is way more popular, but there’s a lot going on in southern AZ. Tall mountains with snow and even skiing. Deserts with old saguaro cacti. Historical landmarks and iconic western towns. My trip was much too short, and I barely scratched the surface. I’m going to have to go back probably several more times to feel as though I’ve really experienced it. Even if you’re not a photographer but just enjoy adventures, make a special effort to get to the southern section of the state!

In this post are 10 pictures from my Samsung ST76 and 10 pictures from my Nikon CoolPix S7c cameras captured on that roadtrip. Enjoy!

Samsung ST76:

Nikon CoolPix S7c:

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I have a handful of Classic Digicams, and I found a great way to store them and travel with them. It was an accidental discovery, and I can’t believe how well it works. What is it?

Meet the Evergreen 57 Waterproof Dry Box Protective Case!

I already had this case to store film, but didn’t need it for that purpose anymore. As I was contemplating how to store all of my DigiCams, I noticed that the cameras were a similar width to the inside width of the Evergreen case. So I put one in as a test, and sure enough it was a perfect fit. I then put the other five in, and they all fit. Plus the charging cords. The box sits nicely on a shelf, with the cameras neatly tucked inside. Prior to this, the cameras were just stored haphazardly in a drawer.

The best part is that this case is travel friendly. I can grab the case and stuff it in a bag or backpack or the middle console of my car. When I’m heading out on a roadtrip, instead of picking one or two cameras to bring along, it’s easy to take all of them!

The Evergreen 57 Waterproof Dry Box Protective Case is about $35 on Amazon, and well worth the investment, especially if you have four, five, six, or seven Classic DigiCams in your collection.

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Blurry pictures are cool.

With Classic DigiCams, it’s not uncommon to get blurry photos. These old digital models just aren’t as quick as modern digital cameras. With ridiculous frames-per-second rates and subject-tracking continuous autofocus, it’s possible to get a whole bunch of nearly identical tack-sharp pictures within the time that a Classic DigiCam captures just one—and that one picture might be blurry.

That might sound bad, but it’s not. Blurry photos are in. Why? Because there is more authenticity in it—they’re more real… not in the sense that we experience life through blur (although maybe sometimes we do or it feels like we do), but in the sense that it happened naturally (less augmented and manipulated). It’s more intimate, and maybe a little more as we actually remember it—our memories are often a bit abstract, as are blurry pictures. Perhaps there is a bit of nostalgia to it, too, since blurry pictures were common before advanced technologies made them less so. Whatever the reason, blurry images are popular right now.

How do you get blurry pictures on your DigiCam? Most often they come naturally. The camera misses focus or uses too slow of a shutter speed in dim light. Those that happen naturally tend to look better than those that are forced; however, sometimes forcing a blurry picture can be good, too. You can make a blurry picture by locking focus (pressing the shutter halfway down), then moving forwards or backwards a little before taking the picture. Or, if the light is dim, move the camera around while pressing the shutter release button to streak the scene.

Blurry photos are a part of the Classic DigiCam aesthetic. It’s a part of the experience. Don’t delete your blurry images or get upset when they happen; instead, embrace the blur, because blurry pictures are cool.

This unassuming little pocket point-and-shoot from 2012 has a unique picture aesthetic that I absolutely love! The Samsung ST76 is incredibly tiny! It’s my smallest DigiCam, measuring about 3.5″ wide, 2″ tall, and 3/4″ thick. Fits easily into almost any pocket, so I can carry it everywhere and it never gets in the way. It has a small 1/2.3″ 16-megapxiel CCD sensor and a f/2.5-6.3 25mm-125mm (equivalent) 5x zoom lens.

What makes the ST76 unique is Samsung’s Retro Style Smart Filter, which produces a 1960’s and 1970’s color film vibe—sometimes similar to some American New Color photographs—and not the quintessential DigiCam aesthetic. I love the vintage-film-like pictures that this camera captures—it may be a one-trick-pony, but it does that one trick very well!

I found my Samsung ST76 at Goodwill for about $18 after tax, which is considerably less than the original $130 price-tag. It was in nearly mint condition. The camera uses a Micro-SD card, and I use an adapter so I can transfer the files to my phone. Definitely worth buying if you can find it.

This page contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Welcome to Classic DigiCam!

This website celebrates the nostalgia of retro digital photography. Specifically, we’re talking about classic point-and-shoot DigiCams. These cameras were particularly popular between 2006 and 2012, and are now being rediscovered—click here if you want to learn more about this! Be sure to check out my DigiCams and view my gallery.

My hope for the Classic DigiCam Blog is to publish weekly articles about DigiCams—showcase pictures, talk gear, share techniques, and things like that. It should be pretty low-key. Hopefully you’ll find it interesting and inspiring.

Let me give you a quick little backstory of where this journey began for me. You see, I run a popular photography blog for Fujifilm cameras called Fuji X Weekly. I also have a website for Ricoh GR cameras called Ritchie’s Ricoh Recipes. Oh, and I have an iPhone camera app called RitchieCam. Overwhelmed by these projects and many more, I found myself in a creative slump. I needed an outlet that would bring back the simple joy of photography. It was at that time I learned DigiCams were becoming trendy again. So I gave it a shot, dusting off a Fujifilm FinePix AX350 that I already owned.

It turned out that shooting with Classic DigiCams is exactly what I needed. I was able to break free of my rut, rediscover fulfillment in photography, and complete some overdue tasks that I had been procrastinating on due to lack of inspiration and motivation. I think it was because DigiCams offer a simplicity, serendipity, and authenticity that is sometimes missing in modern camera technology. Using lofi gear can be a refreshing approach.

While it would be easy to say that I fulfilled my journey—and once again focus all of my attention on “real” cameras—I do believe this is the very beginning of an adventure and not the end. There are so many more pictures to capture with my DigiCams, and places to travel with them. I hope you’ll join me on this journey!