2 days Ago By Geoffrey Morrison
OM System TG-7 : The TG-7 from the company formerly known as Olympus is a step up from the Pentax WG-8 we recommend above. It has slightly better image quality, especially underwater, and has a variety of accessories available to make it far more capable in a wider range of situations. It can also shoot raw images, so if you're editing photos in Lightroom/Photoshop you'll have more range to make changes.
The only reason it's not the main pick is its price, 30% more than the Pentax. The savings seem logical for most people for something designed to be abused. For anyone who knows they want more than the Pentax can offer, the TG-7 is a superior camera.
Nikon CoolPix P1100 : The P1100 is a recent refresh of the popular P1000 superzoom. It's essentially unchanged, adding USB-C and Bluetooth. Its headline feature is a massive 125x optical zoom, reaching 3,000mm (35mm equivalent).
I'm testing it and will have that review soon. What is a point-and-shoot camera? A point-and-shoot camera has a fixed lens, i.e.
, it can't be removed. And the camera is typically small and easily portable. Compare this to DSLR and most mirrorless cameras, which are usually much larger and have interchangeable lenses.
In their heyday, most point-and-shoots had 3x or longer zoom lenses. However, with many people using their phones as their main camera, the category has shifted to lenses with a single focal length, called a prime lens. Will a point-and-shoot camera let me take better photos? Possibly.
A point-and-shoot camera, in itself, won't necessarily take "better" photos. In the hands of a skilled photographer, even a phone camera can take remarkable shots. The camera doesn't matter nearly as much as the photographer's skill (which anyone can learn, if interested).
That said, the lenses and large image sensors in many point-and-shoots can definitely help you take different photos than what's possible with a phone. (Plus, it's distraction-free.) If your interest grows and you learn more about photography, these cameras can offer additional tools to get the photos you want.
Should I get a mirrorless or DSLR instead? It depends. The same caveats in the above question apply here. Getting a better camera doesn't automatically mean you'll take better photos.
You should learn all you can with the camera you have -- phone or otherwise -- and "grow into" a more expensive camera once you know what you're looking for. If you know why you'd want a prime lens over a zoom, why you'd want f2 over f4, what aperture priority is and why you'd like to use it, then perhaps a mirrorless or DSLR is right for you. Is a point-and-shoot camera good for beginners? Generally, yes, given the caveats listed in the above two questions.
Be sure the camera has manual modes to adjust the aperture and shutter speed. Learning how those, along with ISO, will change how an image looks is the foundation of all photography. Should I buy used instead? Maybe.
There's a strong resurgence in the popularity of older point-and-shoot cameras, sometimes called "digicams" on social media. These cameras, with their, let's be honest, ancient tech, often have a unique look that's hard to mimic with postprocessing and filters. If that's what you're going for, and not the ultimate in picture quality, but a specific aesthetic, sometimes an inexpensive used camera can do that without any editing.
However, many of these popular cameras are upward of 20 years old. That's multiple lifetimes in tech. Not being able to find a battery, not being able to find a memory card (remember MemoryStick? No? There's a reason), and definitely not being able to wirelessly connect to your phone, all present significant challenges, especially for anyone not super techy.
As long as you keep all that in mind, you can definitely save money getting used. I've bought used camera gear on KEH , and a similar company is MPB . Both offer used gear that's been checked out by experts to ensure it actually works.
What you find there might cost a little more money, but it offers peace of mind that you'll get a working camera. There's also Adorama, B&H Photo, local stores (if you're lucky) and, of course, there's Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist and eBay. What about this Canon/Sony/Nikon/etc.
camera I heard about? There are several popular cameras we haven't covered in this guide, including models from Sony, Canon, Nikon, Panasonic and others. These cameras often appear on these company's websites with a cryptic "out of stock" message. Does this mean they might someday be in stock? Maybe, maybe not.
In several cases, in my initial research for this guide, I was told by representatives that the company was "de-prioritizing" a camera and wanted to focus on another model. This is almost always company-speak for "if there's any left in some random warehouse, we're selling them, but we're not making more." If a camera is a few years old, especially pre-2020, used is probably the only option, as it's doubtful it's coming back.
What is happening is that companies are refreshing older models, usually adding USB-C so they can be sold in Europe, and Bluetooth 5.x for easier connectivity with modern phones. That's something we'll likely see more of in the future.
Beyond megapixels and sensor sizes, the main question is how you plan on using the camera. We've set up our recommendations based on that idea. Are you looking for something with a greater zoom than your phone, for wildlife photos? Do you want something that lets you capture better images than your phone? How about something small and discrete for travel and street photography? All the cameras on our list can take "good" photos, some better than others, but as the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you.
One that fits your needs is more important than its raw specs. Sensor sizes Broadly speaking, a larger sensor can absorb more light. This improves image quality in low light and also makes better bokeh possible, which is the soft, pleasing, out-of-focus background common with close-up and portrait photography.
So, all else being equal, a larger image sensor makes better photos possible. This isn't an absolute, carved-in-stone rule, however. In most situations, many people would have a hard time telling the difference between the APS-C sensor in the Ricoh GR III and the smaller Micro Four Thirds sensor in the Leica.
Lenses matter, processing matters, the specific sensor matters and more than all that, the photographer's skill matters. An experienced photographer with a high-end phone could easily take "better" pictures than someone with a huge, full-frame mirrorless camera who doesn't know how to use it. Learning to use whatever camera you have will result in better photos, not just buying a more expensive camera.
In terms of what we've reviewed here, these are sensor sizes from smallest to largest: 1/2.3-inch: Panasonic ZS99, Ricoh WG-8, many phones 1-inch: Sony ZV-1 II Micro 4/3: Leica D-Lux 8 APS-C: Fujifilm X100VI, Ricoh GR III Full-frame (no cameras in this guide): The same size as a 35mm negative used in many mid- and higher-end mirrorless and DSLR cameras. Megapixels All modern cameras can take extremely high-resolution images.
You can print these images, and all will look fine on social media. Most point-and-shoot cameras are usually in the 20-25 megapixel range. This allows for a fair amount of cropping and you'll still have a detailed image.
The Fujifilm X100VI is an exception, with a 40-megapixel sensor. You can zoom in on the images from this camera or print larger images that still look sharp. Higher megapixel numbers don't reflect overall image quality.
Resolution is merely one aspect of an image's appearance, and many other factors are more important. A camera with a big 2-megapixel full-frame sensor will be able to produce a better-looking image than a tiny 50-megapixel 1/2.6-inch sensor in a phone.
After checking settings and features, I spent several days, often more, with each camera, taking photos and videos in a variety of situations. This included day and night, inside and out, and a variety of subjects, including animals, people, landscapes and more. In the case of this guide, most of the cameras were available at the same time, allowing for the comparison of nearly exact subjects and lighting conditions.
The results are then scrutinized and pixel-peeped on a QD-OLED monitor and compared side by side. In addition to covering audio and display tech, Geoff does photo tours of cool museums and locations around the world, including nuclear submarines , aircraft carriers , medieval castles , epic 10,000-mile road trips and more. Also, check out Budget Travel for Dummies , his travel book, and his bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines.
You can follow him on Instagram and YouTube ..
