When Brooklyn-based filmmaker Eric Schleicher realized he needed a way to take personal photos in his spare time, rather than his iPhone, he bought a 1990s Contax G2. “I was born in the 1980s,” he says, “so I grew up with movies. I wanted a camera that could use the same Kodak tripod that I use for some of my 16mm and 35mm features and commercial work because I know how it reacts to light in any situation. Also, I wanted to shoot in a different way. When you shoot with a DSLR, you take 100 frames just to get the right shot for the client. Shooting with my Contax is special. I take one picture because the frame costs about $1.”

Schleicher is part of a generation that embraces the anachronism of all things analog. Compact and rangefinder cameras which you can load with silver halide drums rather than memory cards, are among the most romanticized totems of their type. Some buy them purely as an idea. Leica 0-series #105 sold for €14.4 million at the 40th Leitz Photographica auction in June; arguably the holy grail of compacts (the prototype for the world’s first commercially produced 35mm camera), it is unlikely that film will ever be exposed through its lens again.

But at the other end of the spectrum is the iconic Olympus Trip, which first appeared in 1968. Andy Cook, manager of the London Camera Exchange’s Strand branch, says the various Trip models make up the bulk of the compacts they sell. . “It’s a great camera and you can pick it up for around £85,” he says. But to combine usability and collectability: “I would say the best vintage compact is the Leica M6, which has an interchangeable lens. The lens is so sharp. It has full manual control. This is the crème de la crème. They can cost between £2,500 and £3,000. The Contax T2, which first came out in the early 90s, is also excellent and sells for around £1,000.’

Contax G2 rangefinder 35mm

Leica Leitz M6 RF Rangefinder, from £2,500

The Olympus XA2 is small enough to fit in your shirt pocket, but with excellent optics

Cook says most vintage compact car buyers are “for lack of a better word, hipsters – people in their 20s.” Alex Falk, who opened his first Mr CAD Photographic shop 60 years ago in Croydon, adds that many of his customers are overseas: “Most of our new, younger customers have never owned a film camera. Residents of rapidly developing foreign countries could not afford film cameras 30 years ago, but now they can.’ Falk’s top three recommendations are the Canon Canonet rangefinder (about £159) for its high-quality exposure meter; Olympus XA2 with detachable flash (“small enough to put in a shirt pocket but with great optics”) and, again, the Olympus Trip.

Schleicher’s partner, makeup artist Regina de Lemos, poses with Olympus Trip, purchased for £130 at London’s Spitalfields Market. “It runs on solar energy,” she says. “They are quite rare because you have to be careful not to leave it out in the sun. I really like the design; I could never figure out why I was so drawn to it, but then I went home to Puerto Rico and my mother pulled out a big Tupperware box that had a bunch of old Olympus Trips that my grandfather used. So it’s a good family bond.” De Lemos and Schleicher use Photodom in New York to process their film. The boutique lab is open 24 hours a day and sends digital files via email. “We don’t really print that much [pictures]”- says Schleicher. “The main dynamic of shooting, the final image remains digital. Although we print a few things for the family and to put on the refrigerator door.’

Alexander Sedlyak, general director Leica camera Classics points to rising prices for individual models as evidence of increased interest in premium compacts. In 2019, Leitz Photographica (which holds two auctions a year) sold a Leica Minilux Titan for €320; this year, the same model was sold in the store for 990 euros. Some areas of the auction market are particularly dynamic – a black Leica MP sold under the hammer for €220,000 in 2015 and €1m last year.

Leica Minilux Zoom 18036 sold at Leitz Photographica auction for €320 in 2019

Canon Canonet QL19 MKIII Rangefinder, from about £159, mrcad.co.uk

British filmmaker Toby Amis is obsessed with his three vintage Yashica cameras, which were originally marketed by the company as a budget option, but now cost between £120 and £1,000 online. “They have a nice little Tessar lens at the heart of the design,” he says. “The flash is fast, the lens is sharp, and with the right film it does a great job of stopping time and giving a sense of the moment. Obviously, with its increased value, there’s more at stake if it goes missing, but I try to be judicious in how I use it.”

Some expensive vintage models are also used to capture modern moments – even if it’s not the €14.4 million Leica prototype. “It often comes down to whether the camera works and personal preference photographer“- says Sedlak. “Like a beautiful vintage Patek Philippe or Rolex, these objects are investment-grade assets, but they are also capable of bringing great joy to their owners, even if only on special occasions.”