· culture  · 7 min read

The Retro Revolution: Why 35mm Cameras are the New Hipster Trend

Why are a growing number of twenty- and thirty-somethings carrying battered rangefinders and waxing poetic about grain? This piece traces the nostalgia economy, the aesthetic politics of slowness, and the measurable comeback of 35mm film - using search-trend data, social media hashtag metrics, and industry reporting to show that analog photography is less a fad and more a social signal.

Why are a growing number of twenty- and thirty-somethings carrying battered rangefinders and waxing poetic about grain? This piece traces the nostalgia economy, the aesthetic politics of slowness, and the measurable comeback of 35mm film - using search-trend data, social media hashtag metrics, and industry reporting to show that analog photography is less a fad and more a social signal.

I bought my first 35mm camera at a flea market because the seller looked like he knew how to live. He died at 28. The camera lived on.

That flea-market moment - the purchase as existential assertion - captures the emotional logic of the current 35mm renaissance. People are not simply buying cameras; they are buying an identity: deliberate, analog, aesthetically allergic to auto-everything. Let’s unpack why.

The pitch: nostalgia as a form of conspicuous interiority

Nostalgia used to be gentle. Now it’s a performance. We live in an era where curated imperfection is a status symbol: thrift-store sweaters, hand-poured candles, and Instagram grids that look like they were shot with a carefully selected imperfection. A 35mm camera is the perfect accessory for this aesthetic - it promises anachronistic authenticity.

Analogy: if modern life is a high-resolution, endlessly rendered wallpaper, 35mm film is the tasteful tear in the wallpaper. It reveals texture, history and - crucially - intent.

Why 35mm, specifically?

  • Portability and romance - 35mm is small, mechanical, and tactile. It makes photography behave like a craft again.
  • Delayed gratification - the inability to instantly review every frame forces intention; every click is a commitment.
  • Aesthetic distinctiveness - grain, light leaks, and the color chemistry of film produce looks software struggles to replicate faithfully.

Those are the subjective reasons. The objective ones are found in the numbers.

Below are the measurable signs the movement is more than affectation.

  • Search interest - Google Trends shows sustained, cyclical increases in search interest for terms like “film photography” and “35mm camera” over the past decade, with notable spikes coinciding with retro-hype cycles and product reissues. See the trend comparison on Google Trends:

  • Hashtag volume (social signal) - platforms like Instagram remain a primary public airing ground for the film community. As of June 2024, Instagram tag pages indicate millions of posts under film-related tags - public hubs where users share scans, darkroom shots and camera collections:

    These hashtag volumes function like Yelp reviews for the culture: large, active, and visually persuasive.

  • Industry signals - big analog players have reacted. Over the 2010s and into the 2020s Kodak, Fujifilm and specialty makers (and labs like The Impossible Project / Polaroid-revival efforts and Ilford/Harman) publicly acknowledged resurgent demand and in several cases reintroduced or ramped up production lines and reissues. Reporting on this revival has appeared in mainstream outlets documenting both supply-side increases and persistent shortages for some emulsions. For representative reporting see coverage in The Guardian and photography trade sites:

  • Market context - the absolute market for new point-and-shoot and interchangeable-lens cameras has shrunk from its peak in the early 2010s (smartphone cannibalization), but within that smaller market niche demand for analog products and vintage gear has risen. Industry shipment reports such as those from the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) illustrate the long-term decline of mass-market camera shipments while independent market reports and vendor anecdotes document the growth of the second-hand and film-supply markets (see CIPA reports and press coverage for details):

Important caveat: the film resurgence exists inside a much smaller overall market. Film is niche again - but a very visible, culturally amplified niche.

Who’s buying and why: the cultural anatomy of the hipster camera

Let’s be blunt. The 35mm camera is a signifier. Several overlapping constituencies power this revival:

  • The aesthetically motivated - photographers who prize the film look and the process. They are attracted to the optical and chemical unpredictability.
  • The anti‑feeders - people rebelling against the feed - those who want to slow down and curate fewer images more thoughtfully.
  • The collectible crowd - vintage Leica, Minolta and Nikon bodies function as wearable investment pieces - a way of signaling refined taste.
  • The community-seekers - darkrooms, meetups, and film-swap groups offer analog-era rituals missing from many digital-only spaces.

These groups overlap. What unites them is that possessing a 35mm camera performs a kind of moralized leisure: you have time, taste and depth even if you don’t.

Economics of authenticity: the scarcity play

There’s a perverse economics at work. Scarcity makes authenticity more plausible. When certain emulsions sell out or when a favorite lab closes temporarily, the community amplifies the scarcity as proof of authenticity. Vendors oblige:

  • Reissues and boutique runs - companies announce limited runs of films and reissued bodies, which both satisfy demand and stoke desirability.
  • Aftermarket premium - clean, working 35mm bodies from the 1960s–1980s fetch healthy prices on secondhand marketplaces. The camera becomes both social signal and collector asset.

In short: scarcity turns function into fetish.

The Instagram paradox: authenticity performed online

It’s deliciously ironic that the most public performance of analog authenticity happens on the most relentlessly digital of platforms. Film photographers scan photos, post them to Instagram, then badge them with #filmphotography - a loop that turns analog labor into social currency.

This paradox doesn’t negate the movement’s sincerity. Rather, it reveals how cultural capital is now synthesized: craft plus broadcast equals status.

A few concrete implications

  • Brand strategy - camera makers and film companies can profit by selling not just consumables but rituals - workshops, labs, film-swap events, and curated film subscription services.
  • Urban culture - city neighborhoods with a concentration of analog labs and indie stores become micro-clusters of identity - a new kind of cultural amenity.
  • Sustainability questions - film is chemical-intensive and creates waste; the romantic gloss sometimes obscures environmental costs. That tension matters as the movement grows.

Counterarguments (and counters to the counterarguments)

  • “It’s just nostalgia; it’ll pass.” Maybe. But nostalgia has become a permanent industrial vector - retro is now a product strategy across fashion, music, and tech. Once a cultural form is monetized and institutionalized (workshops, courses, brands), it tends to persist.

  • “You can fake film with filters.” You can approximate the look. You can’t replicate the constraints, the ritual, the risk of every shot. For many participants, the point is the constraint.

  • “It’s elitist.” It can be. But there are also accessible entry points - disposables, community labs, and free online tutorials. The movement’s social texture is not monolithic.

Where this trend might go next

  • Hybridization - more creative crossovers between analog processes and computational tools - scanning + AI restoration, curated film LUTs, nostalgia-aware software.
  • Institutionalization - photography programs and museums increasingly teach film processes alongside digital workflows; the craft becomes formally recognized again.
  • Fragmentation - the film community will continue to split into purists (darkroom-only), pragmatic hobbyists (scan and post), and fashion adopters (camera-as-accessory).

Final verdict: is 35mm a fad or a social recalibration?

It is both. Aesthetic and identity fads flare, but the 35mm comeback is anchored in deeper cultural currents: a yearning for slowness, a hunger for craft, and an economy that rewards the visible signifiers of curated life. The camera is a small, mechanical talisman - one that says, in the language of the present: I resist immediacy, I choose texture over perfection, and I am willing to wait.

If that sounds precious, remember: none of the people who line up for reissued film have worse taste than the rest of us - they just confess their taste loudly and photographically.

Sources and further reading

(Note: hashtag volumes and manufactured supply figures are dynamic; the links above point to live trackers and reporting hubs where up-to-date counts and press releases can be found.)

Share:
Back to Blog

Related Posts

View All Posts »
The Rise of 35mm Point-and-Shoot: A Love Letter to Analog Nostalgia

The Rise of 35mm Point-and-Shoot: A Love Letter to Analog Nostalgia

Why are young people embracing tiny, plastic-bodied 35mm point-and-shoot cameras in a 4K smartphone era? This long-form exploration looks at the aesthetic, cultural, and practical reasons behind the film revival, with candid interviews from influencers and enthusiasts who share how these small cameras reshaped their creative lives.

Newton Nostalgia: Why This Obsolete Device Still Matters

Newton Nostalgia: Why This Obsolete Device Still Matters

The Apple Newton-deeply mocked, quietly mourned-wasn't merely an expensive paperweight. Its pen-first UI, tolerance for messy input, and insistence on being a personal information manager prefigured many modern ideas. Here's why designers should still study its failures and borrow its principles.