Sentimental longing for things in photography is no new thing. I suspect that people in the wet-plate era often looked back with affection to daguerreotypes. There was something about boiling mercury that just tugged at your heartstrings.
Likewise now we can be nostalgic about film days - and do something about it, if we wish. We are still close enough to the vast - if receding - sea of analogue photography to be able to rush for the shoreline and paddle in the developer. There are simple reusable film cameras made, brand new Leica M's, and markets of secondhand goods still capable of working for years to come.
Our chance to work with chemistry is diminishing, but will probably never go entirely - someone will be able to develop negatives in the bathroom as long as there are bathrooms. Nostalgia in the dark and a big water bill. But what of later, rather than earlier, nostalgia.
Is there someone sighing for the 1990's compact digital camera? Will there be a rising trade in 3 megapixel things with retractable lenses and Game Boy graphics? Is there a collection building as we read this, and how long will it be before someone makes a digital retro replica?
I've tried selling older digital compacts at the Photo Markets. To no success, and I didn't see anyone else do any better. Either these 90's cameras are completely dead - as some Kodak offerings of the period have proved to be - or the nostalgia has not set in. Let's do the maths - if a 20-year-old had a <3 Mpx compact in 1995, they would be 48 now. Not quite the nostalgia belt yet...that starts when you turn 55...but close enough that there may be a rise in interest in the next few years.
I am not suggesting that you go out and corner the market in old compacts, or even in not-quite-so-old starter DSLR cameras. You must make your own plans. But if you have an older device you might like to see if there is a battery still left, charge it up, and try it out. The old cards that went in them are rarer these days but you can still find them on-line. Maybe lay in a battery and a card and await the day.
Note: Art seeps in whenever someone leaves the back door open. Someone will seize upon the 90's compact camera as an instrument for creation, you can be sure. If you have one ready you can join in the new retro trend before it is Instagrammed out. You might have to work fast, as these sorts of fads do not last all that long, but you might be able to pull off a camera club success in the meantime - or even a retro exhibition. If you try it, serve good quality wine and cheese.
