Point and Shoot cameras

[FowlersFreeTime]

I got a little sidetracked in yesterday's thread about APSC rumors https://www.alphashooters.com/community/threads/sony-apsc-rumors-may-2022.4258/
It got me thinking about the topic of point-and-shoot cameras. Do they still have a place in a world saturated with smartphones?
I feel like only specialized point-and-shoot cameras have any semblance of a future. Here is a good example: https://petapixel.com/2022/05/18/th...-rugged-point-and-shoot-with-built-in-lights/

What do you all think about the cheaper point-and-shoot category? Going extinct, or still has value?

 

[MrFotoFool]

I use a point-and-shoot when I travel, mostly for snapshots (either to share online or to print a 4x6 for my photo album). It is a Fuji XF10 with an APS-C sensor, a small command dial with the usual modes (Aperture Priority, etc), RAW plus JPEG capability, and a fixed f2.8 wide angle lens. What is does not have is image stabilization or a built-in flash (I do wish it had stabilization).

I use it in the same way most people use a smart phone, but I don't use my phone to the extent most people do. (I also didn't pay a thousand bucks for an Apple Iphone, something I still can't grasp that people do). I only replaced my land line with a smart phone a few years ago and still don't feel that comfortable navigating it. I freely admit that I am not like most Americans in this regard and am part of a small group who prefer to use a pocket camera for snapshots. The point-and-shoot camera market is definitely a niche these days with increasingly less offerings, but I suppose there will always be a few available for old timers like me. For the younger crowd (or older but hip crowd), I think retro style small cameras have appeal. Look at Fuji's success with this (or the surprising success of Nikon's ZFC). Even most of the people I see shooting film these days (both 35mm and 120) are in their twenties or thirties because it's hip.