The year I turned 13, the only thing I wanted for my birthday was a digital camera.

Digital cameras were a hot commodity in the late 2000s, and all the cool kids in school had point-and-shoots that they’d pull out in the cafeteria, giggling as they took candids that they later uploaded to Facebook. I wanted one so badly that I’d leave clippings of Best Buy ads around the house, hoping my mom would pick up on my not-so-subtle hints.

She did, and I still remember the overwhelming feeling of joy buzzing in my veins as I ripped through the wrapping paper to find my very first point-and-shoot digital camera. I used it religiously throughout high school, snapping silly photos of my friends at pep rallies and documenting every sleepover in great detail.

Eventually, camera phones rendered that compact point-and-shoot redundant, but for a while it was the most important accessory in my backpack.

Now, nearly 20 years later, Gen Z has resuscitated the digital camera craze. My Wirecutter colleagues covered the renewed interest in “vintage” cameras last year, and if the TikToks are to be believed, the college crowd still considers the point-and-shoot a must-have “going out” essential.

The very same item that topped my wish list in 2007 is still calling out to the youth, which makes a digital camera a great gift for the tweens, teens, and young adults in your life.

But if you really want to impress them, you should give them a phone-compatible memory card reader, too.

Last summer, when my TikTok algorithm surfaced videos of teens calling the kind of camera I’ve had since high school “vintage,” I was compelled to pull it out from the back of my closet and start using it again.


This SD card reader allows me to instantly move photos from my camera to my phone. Elissa Sanci/NYT Wirecutter

I brought it with me on a trip to see a friend in St. Louis and used it to document a road trip up to Wyoming. Dusting off my old camera again was a nostalgic rush, but without a memory card reader — or any desire on my part to tediously transfer the photos from my camera to my computer to my phone — they sat forgotten on my camera.

Then I came across yet another teen on TikTok with a digital camera who was using an adapter to plug an SD card reader directly into her iPhone. I bought the $8 card reader immediately, and I haven’t looked back since.


The card adapter plugs into your phone’s charging port. Elissa Sanci/NYT Wirecutter

Using the adapter to move photos and videos from your camera to your phone is fairly straightforward. The adapter has two different-size slots (for SD and microSD memory cards), along with both Lightning and USB-C connectors, so it’s compatible with both Apple and Android devices.

After removing the memory card from your camera, simply slide the card into the appropriate slot and then plug the adapter into your phone. Navigate to your photo app, scroll to the end of your camera roll, and select the device that appears before your album collection. (Depending on your operating system, you may have to navigate to the Files app on your phone instead, where you’ll see the folder holding your media.)

This opens another window that displays all the files on the memory card. From there, you can select the photos and videos you want to import to your camera roll. Depending on how many files you’re transferring, the import can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.

This card reader supports standard photo and video formats, and the photos I’ve transferred to my iPhone look crisp yet delightfully retro.


The view from Mauna Kea, the tallest mountain in the world when measured from its base (on the ocean floor) to its peak, taken on a recent trip to Hawaii. Elissa Sanci/NYT Wirecutter

Since picking up this adapter, I’ve been using my digital camera more often than ever. I’ve even started carrying around both the cherry-red Nikon Coolpix L32 (a point-and-shoot I bought in 2015 to replace my original) and the adapter in my purse, so they’re always within reach to capture memories in the making.


The shadow of my hand in this selfie makes me laugh every time I see it. Elissa Sanci/NYT Wirecutter

Using this adapter over the past six months has been a surprisingly seamless and headache-free experience. It doesn’t require you to download a separate app, it’s fast and efficient, and I’ve never experienced a glitch while moving my files. For something so inexpensive, this tech accessory is remarkably effective.

Curious to see how the card reader would fare for an Android user, I sent one to my Wirecutter colleague (and resident photography expert) Ben Keough to test. Though the packaging gave only Apple/iOS instructions, Ben was still able to use the adapter to seamlessly transfer photos onto his Google Pixel 9 Pro.

Snapshots from a summer trip to Fairplay, Colorado, with my hometown friends. Elissa Sanci/NYT Wirecutter

If you have a digital camera languishing in the back of a desk drawer, this little adapter might convince you to use it more often. And if you’re shopping for a new digital camera for yourself or to give as a gift this holiday season, this adapter is an inexpensive but essential add-on.

Over the summer, when my hometown friends came out to Colorado for a weekend in the mountains, I documented the entire reunion with my camera, which was a very surreal experience, considering that these were the same friends I was taking snapshots of back in high school.

Everyone delighted in passing around the point-and-shoot throughout our trip, and when the weekend came to a close, I was able to upload the photos into a shared album before dropping everyone off at the airport. It’s no Facebook album, but it’ll do.

This article was edited by Megan Beauchamp and Maxine Builder.