I'm with Teflon Mike on this. Can't see any digital cameras being collectible in the future.
OH! I think that there may actually be quite a LOT of 'collectible' digital cameras... I just don't think that there will be the same enthusiasm (or even possibility) for USING them.
There are people who collect Bakelite Brownies, or novelty 110 cartridge cameras; I even recall a magazine article concerning the merits of the obsolete Disc-Camera as a collectible classic.
Thing is, that the features that are deemed to be important, to a collector in such situations where the camera has no intrinsic value left as a picture-maker, is often little more than asthetic; what it looks like; whether its a rare white Bakalite Brownie, or a pink special addition Barbi Disc Camera or an Action Man 'Spy' 110 cartridge. Whether it has distinct defining 'fasion features' like an old bellows camera or a chrome and leatherette Cannon.
These sort of things will be more important, than whether the camera was the first to offer a 100x zoom range, or inbuilt filters feature, or was the first interchangeable lens mirrorless Full-Frame digi, etc etc etc.
Saturation marketing, now; the number of 'toy' cameras, from My Little Pony movie studio, through, Finding Nemo underwater compact; ASDA has a huge display of 'Special Eddition; I think it was Nikon compacts a while back, celerbrating different charecters from unheard of UK Soap-Opera!
These sort of 'special eddition' and novelty cameras, are the ones that are more likely, I think, to have future collector appeal, and the more valuable ones, will be that unpopular charecter from that short-lived soap's camera, that no-one bought, to make up the 'set', like Pokemon cards!
Look at film era cameras, (as in when there was no alternative to it, clarification for Steve!) 'Classics', tend to be the cameras that still have functional value; that can still be used to take pictures; 35mm & 120 roll film, and as often as not, the ones that offer something functionally worth-while, and intrinsically 'better' than you'd get in a new camera.
I mean; Entry Level digital crop sensor SLR, now, what £300? You can pick up a high-end old 35mm SLR that has full-frame resolution, for £50 or so. Yup; films expensive, but, £250 saving buys a lot of the stuff. And you can go use it, and potentially get high end quality pics.
I have a couple of 35mm compacts; sort of thing you could probably pick up for £2 in a charity shop. My XA2, an acknowledged classic, twenty years ago; high quality lens and good metering system, took SLR quality rivaling pictures in a lot of situations, but tiny and unobtrusive brilliant for candids. Camera I could still load with film, and exploit to get FF-Digital quality pics from something barely the size of a fag-packet!
These are 'Drivers' cameras; they joy in them coming from them doing something well, and being a joy to use.
You can still get 110 cartridges... if you hunt hard enough; and I believe that there are still a couple of stockists of APS, but you cant get disc film (AFAIK) and 120 rolls have to be trimmed in a changing bag to go into 127 cameras.
These MIGHT still be used, with greater or lesser degrees of success or convenience; but significantly remain the preserve of display cabinet collector, rather than 'classic' camera user, as they don't have that same intrinsic functional value, or any particular 'advantage' over something contemporary. The appeal is mostly novelty and asthetic.
This is the way I see 'collectible' cameras going, more and more towards display cabinet novelties, and away from in the hand used picture takers.
