Yashica’s new Crew is a pocket-sized digital compact with a 6x optical zoom and a flip-around screen, aimed squarely at the Y2K point-and-shoot revival.

The cheap digital compact camera is having a moment, and Yashica wants in. The new Yashica Crew is designed to recall the excitement of carrying a compact around in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and it comes in black or silver.

Inside is a 1/3.06-inch 13MP sensor, with JPEGs output at up to 36MP through interpolation. More unusually for a camera at this price, it has a 6x retractable optical zoom, backed up by a 3x digital zoom. Many of the budget retro compacts flooding the market rely on digital zoom alone, so a proper optical zoom is a genuine point in the Crew’s favour.

On the back is a 3-inch 16:9 LCD that flips through 180 degrees, so it works for selfies and vlogging. Yashica says the camera can output video up to 4K, although, native capture tops out at 2.7K at 60p, with 4K produced by interpolation.

Controls are kept simple, with exposure compensation and seven built-in colour filters. The camera weighs just 126g, is 25.7mm thick when switched off, and runs on a removable 700mAh battery that charges over USB-C.

Our take

With a 1/3.06-inch sensor, nobody should expect the Crew to compete with a smartphone on image quality, and that isn’t really the point. Cameras like this sell on the fun of carrying a separate device and the lo-fi look of the results. The optical zoom and flip screen make it more versatile than most of its rivals, and the removable battery is a sensible touch. We’d like to see how the interpolated 36MP and 4K modes hold up before getting too excited.

Yashica Crew specifications

Yashica Crew price and availability

The Yashica Crew is available to pre-order now from the Yashica online store at HK$1,320, with shipping scheduled from the week of 26 October 2026. Amateur Photographer reports a suggested price of $168, which works out at around £127. [UK RRP TBC.]