The compact camera, also known colloquially as the point-and-shoot camera, has been a staple of the photography world for over a century. Perhaps the first mass-market compact camera was introduced in 1900 by Eastman Kodak, costing a mere one dollar (about $36 today).
Sony’s ZV-1 “vlog” centric camera arrived in 2020 and was met with some divided opinions about the direction Sony was taking with this new video-first camera. At its launch, I was the Vice President at the public relations company working with Sony’s camera division, and I recall how some of the briefings were met with more enthusiasm than others.