- Kodak PixPro FZ45 and FZ55 top best-seller charts in multiple regions
- They are currently the most popular models on Amazon US and elsewhere.
- Prices start from just $100 / £90 / AU$145
Camera fans can expect Sony or Canon to top the best-seller lists, but to achieve outright popularity beyond several high-end categories, they’ll have to set their sights a little lower, on humble point-and-shoots.
In recent years, two particularly cheap compact digital cameras have been flying off the shelves of Amazon in the US and other retailers around the world, such as Yodobashi Camera in Japan. They are the Kodak PixPro FZ55 (pictured above) and the PixPro FZ45. Other models like the waterproof PixPro WPZ2 also appear in the image.
The main reason these PixPro models are so popular is pretty obvious: you’ll be hard-pressed to find another digital camera with a genuine 4x optical zoom for less than the PixPro FZ45’s approximate price of $100 / £90 / AU$145. Or one with 5x optical zoom and built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery that costs less than the PixPro FZ55.
Both pocket models take 16MP photos and HD video on an SD card and come in a variety of color combinations, including black, white, blue, and pink.
These cameras aren’t just a trend: They’ve dominated the best-seller lists month after month, year after year, just when we thought those cheap cameras had been replaced by camera phones. So what’s really going on here?
In addition to the low price and immediate availability of these PixPro models, confidence in the Kodak name has to be a factor for casual buyers. After all, Kodak is one of he the most recognizable names in photography, from their roots in making popular camera films to pioneering digital camera technology.
However, there’s something you might not know about Kodak today. The original Kodak, Eastman Kodak, which dates back 138 years, stopped its consumer digital camera production lines long ago and, due to crippling debt, may not survive at all.
Today, Kodak is one of a number of legendary photography brands (along with Yashica, Rollei, Agfa, Minolta, and more) that have licensed their names to third parties that largely make low-cost digital cameras. The team that makes the PixPro FZ45 and FZ55 is actually JK Imaging Ltd, which sounds less so.
There’s something else going on here, too: an overall rise in camera sales led by compact cameras, a pushback against always-on technology, and growing concerns about privacy.
A camera like the PixPro FZ55 shoots directly to local storage, an SD card. It is not connected to the cloud. It’s simple, it’s lo-fi and the kind of technology that Generation Z embraces.
Will you get better quality photos using these compact Kodak point-and-shoot cameras on your phone? At all. Even a basic mid-range phone will take better photos.
However, what you will get is the simple, nostalgic pleasure of simply taking everyday photos, the data of which you completely control.
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