According to those who're paid to have their  finger on the pulse of the  Zeitgeist there is  a trend emerging in western culture of people returning to using analogue point and shoot cameras and film. The reasons given for this step back from digital  vary: nostalgia for grainy film quality, full of charm and imperfections;  mental health in that film helps them slow down (mindfulness);  and more trust in photographs taken with a film camera more than a digital photo. with its increasing incorporation of AI. 

Eliza Williams, the editor of Creative Review, says that  people ( ie., gen Z ) "are  looking for some release from the pressures of daily life and the addictive qualities of screens, cameras and taking photographs offers a sense of nostalgic pleasure, which feels wholesome and arty while also making you look cool”.

This  is my  recent embrace of  nostalgic pleasure:

The details are:  walking along Halls Creek Rd, Waitpinga on a  late  afternoon in winter, expired Fuji Velvia 50  film exposed at 20 ASA, a hand held  Zeiss-Ikon Contaflex Super SLR with its inbuilt light meter from the 1960s,  and  film processed in E-6 chemistry by a lab.  The process involves a  detachment of the process of taking a photo and the actual photo itself. 

My first attempt at using  expired  Velvia 50 film  was  in February (2024)  when I used a Leica M4-P rangefinder. The results   and experience  can be viewed  here on the Leica poetics  blog. I mucked up the next attempt with Velvia 50  when I started  to use the  newly acquired  Zeiss-Ikon Contaflex Super SLR.  I took me a while  to use this rather idiosyncratic SLR camera  and I made  a number of mistakes  along the way. 

A return  to West Terrace Cemetery, an old Adelaide haunt.

Will  the effect of AI increasing,  and  becoming ever more  incorporated into digital camera systems  as  photo-taking enhancements with the increasing  automation in cameras  fixed on the outcome,  deepen the recent ‘step-back’ in digital cameras and  its  return to film. Will the return to film go  beyond the trendsetters  and those who aspire to be cool?  Will there be a step back for   the joy of  the experience of making an analogue photo?

I wasn't able to look cool as there was no one around when I made the photos. Only Maleko, our standard poodle. 

Update

Is the  world of film still headed for extinction? The consensus is that the  writing is on the wall for film photography. 

 From what I can ascertain Fuji is still making  Velvia 50 in 35mm format  However  manufacturing production is currently on hold due  to a shortage of materials caused by the Covid pandemic.The history is that slide photographic film  (positive film, reversal film, or transparency film ) has stepped away from everyday use. It is currently  dam expensive in terms of the cost of both the film  and its E-6 processing.