Canon just revived a pocket camera that, on paper, loses to your smartphone in almost every technical category. The Elph 360 HS A costs $379 and leans into a look phones avoid: tiny sensor grit, hard-edged xenon flash, and zero computational magic. That mismatch is exactly the point—and it’s why this camera might be the right tool for a generation chasing a different aesthetic and a different way to shoot.
Why Canon Brought Back a 2016 Pocket Camera
Demand. The used market has been buzzing for compact “digicams” with the classic point-and-shoot vibe. Completed listings on eBay show Elph 360 units fetching roughly $300 to $600 depending on condition and color, a wild turn for a once-forgotten category. When a seven-year-old design starts commanding that kind of money, a manufacturer notices.
This is also about taste cycles. The Camera & Imaging Products Association has documented a long, steep decline in compact camera shipments—down more than 90% from the early-2010s peak—but the floor looks firmer now as creators rediscover pocket cams for their look and feel. You can see it across TikTok and Instagram: the “deer-in-the-headlights” flash, the crunchy shadows, and the throwback colors that aren’t trying to be perfect.
Where It Trails Your Phone
Let’s be blunt. The Elph 360 HS A uses a small 1/2.3-inch 20MP sensor paired with a slow f/3.6–7 lens. Low-light performance falls off quickly, dynamic range is limited, and there’s no Raw capture. Expect standard JPGs, not HDR wizardry. Video tops out at 1080p. Meanwhile, modern phones deliver 4K or better, stabilized footage, multi-frame night modes, and computational portrait blur that mimics fast glass.
Ergonomics are unapologetically retro, too. There’s Wi-Fi, but no touch screen. The data port is miniUSB. Storage moves to microSD. It doesn’t charge via USB-C—though it uses a removable battery, so the EU’s charging mandate doesn’t apply. Compared to the frictionless camera apps in your pocket, this is stubbornly old-school.
Where It Surprisingly Wins
The look. The xenon flash fires a short, powerful burst that freezes motion and produces that direct, glossy “party snapshot” aesthetic. LED phone flashes simply aren’t built for that punch or that character. If you want the club-photo vibe or early-2000s energy, this is the tool.
The zoom. The Elph’s 12x optical range (about 25–300mm equivalent) gives you honest reach without digital mush. Phones increasingly rely on computational zoom or crop tricks. An inexpensive, real optical telephoto is useful for concerts, travel, or candid street moments.
The mindset. A dedicated camera interrupts you less. No messages, no doomscroll detours. You frame, you shoot, you move on. Many creators say that separation helps them see differently. It’s a creative constraint that increases intention—something algorithms can’t automate.
The battery. Swappable cells mean you don’t torch your phone’s power while shooting all day. For festivals, vacations, or long nights out, that matters more than a spec sheet.
The Market Is Voting With Cash
Used-camera specialists have reported sustained interest in compacts, and resale prices reflect it. MPB’s periodic insights have flagged strong demand for certain discontinued pocket models, and eBay data shows transactions clearing at levels no one would have predicted a few years ago. Reviewers may roll their eyes—PetaPixel has pointed out how dated the internals are—but the economics are clear: a new, warrantied unit at $379 undercuts inflated secondhand prices and removes the “hope it’s not a lemon” gamble.
It’s also a pragmatic portfolio move for Canon. Enthusiast compacts like the G7 X Mark III are scarce and pricey on the used market. Reissuing an entry-level digicam meets today’s vibe-led demand without retooling for a high-spec segment that would require far more R&D and supply-chain complexity.
Who Should—and Shouldn’t—Buy It
Buy it if you want the unmistakable xenon-flash look, prefer the discipline of a dedicated camera, and value a real optical zoom for social, travel, or nightlife content. If you’re sharing quickly to social, the Elph’s Wi-Fi handoff is fine—and the files are light, which makes edits fast on mobile.
Skip it if you live on 4K video, love night-mode magic, or need Raw files for heavy color work. A recent smartphone, or a larger-sensor compact or mirrorless body, will deliver cleaner images, more dynamic range, and advanced features like Log video or 10-bit capture.
Worse Than Your Phone—and That’s the Advantage
The Elph 360 HS A isn’t here to win lab tests. It’s here to deliver an aesthetic and a shooting experience phones intentionally avoid. That makes it a niche product with a very clear purpose. If you’re chasing clinical perfection, your phone still wins. If you’re chasing a feeling—and a look you can’t fake—this imperfect little camera hits the mark.