This is the most common question we're asked in our photography courses - here are our answers.
In July 2021, camera prices are soaring - it's not a good time to get a new beginner's camera. You'll get much better value by getting an older model or second-hand. But if you are set on updating, newer "mirrorless" cameras are a better bet than the older style SLRs - their lenses are more future-proof.
Taking all this into account, here are our recommendations today. They're based on how well we see cameras performing on our photography courses. Think of them as safe bets - great cameras with room to grow.
Canon Ixus 185, $170 (up $40 from Dec). A versatile little camera with a modest 8x zoom range. It's not really fast enough for action shooting - that's where bigger cameras shine. But it's good at landscapes and travel photos. Note that you need to turn off the "Easy Auto" mode (hold the up arrow) to be able to use any of its good features. If getting it for a child, consider spending an extra $50 for the Ixus 190 with a bigger zoom range and wifi for putting photos straight onto your phone.
A endangered species of camera, almost killed by phones. Models with big zooms are the only survivors today. Great for travel without the pantomime of changing lenses on a bigger camera.
Panasonic TZ90, $385. Packs a huge zoom, good viewfinder and great night shooting into a small, easy-to-use package with a touch screen and wifi. Great 4k video, and an amazing mode that lets you focus after shooting (it really works!), and extremely fast shooting. A huge step forward from phone shooting without lugging a big camera. Battery life is its Achille's heel, so get a spare before you go on holiday.
The main reason to consider a bigger compact camera is for its extra zoom range with the convenience of not carrying extra lenses. But you pay a lot for the convenience: small mirrorless cameras now out-shoot them in every way and cost about the same, and even modern phones out-shoot them at night - just without the zoom.
Panasonic FZ300, $750 (up $150 from Dec). If you don't want to go the extra step to an SLR with its interchangeable lenses and low-light shooting ability, consider this 2015 grandad of a camera instead, with its great zoom range. It's showing its age, but the competitors are nearly twice the price. The heavier, more expensive FZ1000ii ($1200) trades off some zoom reach for better overall picture quality and is a worthwhile upgrade. Or the Sony RX10 IV is the best "superzoom", but at $2000 it should be... yet it's still outclassed by mirrorless cameras.
Olympus TG-6 - $520. Pricey, but worth it. It just works and gives great results. Quick, easy to use, with a reasonable zoom for a 15m waterproof camera, and niceties like an anti-fog lens so you can forget about treating it nicely. There are heaps of accessories to keep enthusiasts happy too, including compatibility with Olympus' off-camera flashes. You really can just PLAY with this camera. Great for worry-free holidays.
If you can spend $600 or more on a camera and don't mind the size, think about getting a cheap digital Single Lens Reflex (SLR) or "mirrorless" camera instead of a compact camera. What you lose in compactness you get back in speed, clearer pictures, and much better quality photos in poor light. They also let you put the background totally out-of-focus if you want to, and you can change their flash and lenses for different effects.
Mirrorless cameras offer a Goldilocks mix of SLR quality, changeable lenses and quietness without the bulk. They're slowly replacing SLRs. Until recently, they were too slow to shoot action and had poor battery life. But the latest are now competitive with SLRs... only smaller.
I'd suggest getting the cheapest camera body you can get away with, and the best (yup, read “most expensive”) lenses you can. This combination will give you the best long-term investment. Your camera is going to be comprehensively superseded by a new model in 18 months, but your lenses won't be. You might already have some lenses from a film SLR camera that you can use. The article linked in the button below explains which lenses might work with a modern digital SLR or mirrorless.
Many people ask which brand is the best. Unlike cars, there's little difference between any of the major camera brands. See which brand your friends use so you can swap lenses between you.
First, some second-hand options. A Canon EOS 750D, 70D, a semi professional 7D or a Nikon D7000 are now bargains at between $400 and $800 for extremely competent cameras. If you don't need a warranty, second hand offers much better value than new. Ask the seller how many photos it's taken - it's like the mileage of a car, and these cameras are rated for 50,000+ photos. Check that the sensor is clean, as it's about $100 for a professional to swish away the dust, check that the flash does pop up, and budget for a new battery as the existing one will be tired by now. If it's expensive enough that you'd consider getting it repaired if damaged, ask to see the Australian warranty documents (even if it's expired) to prove that it was bought in Australia. Manufacturers will only repair items bought in Oz.
Here are the best new options:
Canon EOS 3000D - $590 with an 18-55 lens. The entry-point to Canon's dazzling array of interchangeable lens cameras. It's a jump up in performance from all the compact cameras above for image quality when the light gets dim. Shop around, as prices vary on these cheaper DSLRs. If you can stretch to it, the Nikon below is convincingly better.
Olympus E-M10 MkIII - $800 with lens. Our top recommendation for beginners. If size is a consideration and you shoot anything except sports, try this camera. Almost full SLR quality at about the size and price of a compact camera. Shoot on auto or take full manual control, including advanced stuff like using flash off the camera, and the lenses are small enough to fit in your pocket. Taking pictures becomes fun again, especially with the app that lets you shoot wirelessly through your phone. The 14-42 lens isn't the best quality, but there are good alternative 'micro four-thirds' lenses available - you get what you pay for with lenses.
Nikon D5600 - $900ish with 18-55 lens. If you want a traditional digital SLR, this offers good focus, good image quality, hugely editable pictures, and also adds great battery life in a mature body with access to Nikon's huge range of accessories. It was our runner-up camera of the year for 2017, and prices are currently bouncing around (we've seen it for $620 and for $1,100 in a short space of time). A great camera if you want a traditional DSLR - probably the last of its kind before mirrorless cameras take over.
The cameras above all give outstanding results, and few people will need more. But what changes if you do spend more?
The cameras below offer faster shooting, faster autofocus, better build quality, more weatherproofing and a microphone input for professional video sound. To a lesser extent, they will offer better image quality when shooting in the darkest conditions. If you are beginning in photography, I'd suggest getting one of the SLRs above, and spend the extra money on lenses, rather on one of the cameras below.
Fuji X-S10 - $1,200 without a lens. Small, light, fast, silent and with a full system of professional lenses and a separate range of more affordable lenses. Put everything on Auto and shoot away or experiment and grow into it. It has a fabulous stabiliser making it feasible to leave the tripod at home for some types of photo. The focus is great for photographing people. Good - but not great - at sports and wildlife, but for everything else this is an affordable gem.
Sony a7 III - shop around - it has bounced between $1,850 and $2,700 in June and July 2021 - possibly because a replacement is rumoured to be coming soon. The a7 MkIII is small, full-frame mirrorless camera that beats all similarly-priced DSLR cameras in almost every way. Fabulous focus that locks onto faces instantly, silent (if you wish), outstanding quality, reasonable battery life, and quick. Drawbacks? The lenses are almost as large as normal DSLR lenses, it takes a bit of learning to get around the menus, and anecdotally it's not as robust as similarly-priced DSLRs. Works well with ALL your old film lenses too with an adaptor, so our top pick for using old lenses.
Canon EOS M6 MkII - $1,450 with lens and viewfinder. Skip the Canon EOS 90D while it's an eye-watering $1,700 and go for the mirrorless EOS M6 MkII. It's everything from the EOS 90D, but much smaller, lighter, cheaper and without the mirror. Frankly, it's better. Excellent quality pictures, super-fast, great focus for photos and video. Lovely flipping screen and access to Canon's huge range of EF lenses, or newer, smaller EF-M lenses.
Size is everything when you’re carrying a camera all day. From biggest to smallest, we recommend these cameras for holidays:
Sony a7rIII, $3,600 (down $1300 as the new $4,700 a7rIV is out) outstanding picture quality from a camera that isn't enormous. Overkill for 99% of people. Save $1.4k and get the a7III instead.
Olympus OMD E-M1 MkIII, $2,250 or Panasonic G9, $1,550 - small, professional, tough, weatherproof and two of only a handful of cameras I’d take without a tripod - with the right lenses, their stabilisers are incredible.
Fuji X-S10 $1,200 - pair it with a 16-80 lens and an Instax instant printer (see below) and you'll have an almost perfect travel tool. Has good stabilisation so you can get away without a tripod for some (but not all) shots.
Panasonic TZ220 $900. The best affordable, quality camera that fits in a pocket. Based on the TZ90 from the "$150-$500" section above, but with a bigger sensor giving better all-round quality at the expense of zoom reach. If you want the absolute best, the $1,600 Sony RX100 MkVII is a faster, luxury version that is a joy to use.
Any good phone. Phones excel at travel photography... their cameras are built for landscapes and storytelling photos. Small, discreet, light, and good enough quality - even for night photos with the right apps or the latest phones like the Samsung Galaxy S20 or iPhone 12. If you don't need to sell the photos and can put up with the lack of a meaningful zoom, consider travelling just with the phone camera and a battery pack. It's liberating compared to lugging a big camera.
FujiFilm Instax SP-2 Printer. $120 (down $100) and $1/print. Think seriously about bringing this pocketable instant printer, especially if you don’t speak the local language. It’s a fabulous way to give photos, not just take them, and lets you have fun with people everywhere. The Fuji Instax SP-2 works with any smartphone or Fuji camera, and the delight of watching the picture appear in front of you (Polaroid-style) is pure magic. I won’t leave the country without one.
Why these cameras? The most common regret we hear from travellers is taking too much heavy gear. The second most common is wishing they’d taken a better camera. So we’ve recommended small cameras that are good quality, light and easy to use. They all happen to be mirrorless cameras which eat batteries, so bring a few batteries if you’re going to be away from power for a day or more. Many people want a big zoom for travel… they’re fun and good at picking out details and patterns. But they struggle in low light, they’re heavy, and give a flat style of picture. Consider if the tradeoffs are worth it for you, and if so, have a look at “superzoom” cameras like the Panasonic FZ1000.
From budget to splurge:
Second-hand Canon EOS 70D or Nikon D7000 with a 50mm f/1.8 lens - $400-700. Tough, weatherproof, fast, built to use one-handed, huge battery life and way better than any new camera at the price. Leave it switched on somewhere quick to grab, and you're all set to capture the joy in your house.
50mm f/1.4 lens ($500 new, $300 second hand). Upgrade your lens to the f/1.4 version from Nikon, Canon or Sigma before you upgrade the camera. It's quicker to focus, lets you shoot in almost darkness, blurs the background beautifully, and resists ghosting from bright lights. The ultimate indoor lens to shoot children.
Nikon D7500 with 50mm f/1.4 lens, $1,700. Quicker and better than the second-hand options above, especially in dim light, and connects to your phone for remote shooting or sharing photos instantly. But still not silent, and can't automatically focus on eyes.
Sony a6400 with 50mm f/1.8 ($1,700) - like the Nikon above, but smaller, lighter, with fabulous autofocus on eyes, and the ability to shoot completely silently. It also connects wirelessly to your phone for instant sharing.
Fuji X-T4 with 50mm f/2 ($2,300) or blow the budget with a Sony a7III with 85mm f/1.4 ($4000). Silent, quick, small, wireless and great at focusing on eyes.
Why these cameras? 90% of the priceless family memories happen at home. This is your home camera. It has to shoot a moving target instantly in dim light without flash and without changing settings, all one-handed. It has to blur the background, so you don't feel you have to tidy up before taking a picture. You don’t need a zoom as much as you need low-light ability, and you can’t have both affordably. Small size is an expensive luxury for this camera.
Can your phone do it?
Only for the first 9 months of a baby's life. Once your baby is mobile, even the best smartphone can’t come close to an SLR for these pictures, and that includes the latest triple-camera phones. You’ll miss too much. Phones CAN shoot in low light, zoom, blur the background and shoot quickly, but not all four at once. These cameras can.
These may be the most precious photos you take, and you’ll only get one chance. Your grandkids will want to see these pictures. Don’t mess around here - get the right tool for the job.
I've put this here purely so that you know what the state-of-the-art is. Anyone buying one of these will be doing some serious research into their business plan first.
Nikon D6, $9,000 without lens or flash, Canon EOS 1DXIII ($9,000), or mirrorless Sony a9 II ($6,000). The current state of the art for fast, robust cameras. Weaknesses? The Canon and Nikon weigh 3kg each with a professional lens, and they're so big that they cut you off from anyone you're photographing. So I often start a session with smaller cameras (by Fuji) that aren't a barrier.
For the ultimate in picture quality from cameras of this size, Canon's EOS R5 ($5,500), Nikon's D850 or Z7 II ($4,500), and Sony's a1 ($9,000) or a7RIV ($4,500) and FujiFilm's GFX100S ($9,500) can capture unprecedented detail. But you'll need top-notch (expensive!) lenses, very steady hands, and no caffeine if you want to see much difference. The Sony a7III, a7RIV, and a7SIII are interesting because they're designed to work well with lenses from other manufacturers through an adaptor. So if you've got lots of expensive Canon lenses, the Sony could still be your next camera.
Canon and Nikon have traditionally ruled the professional roost because you can rent, service and repair their gear almost anywhere, and because of their staggering range of lenses. But Sony and Fuji are developing strong professional service support (including loaned equipment if yours isn't working) and are making inroads among professional shooters. But if your livelihood doesn't depend on it, all brands offer similar quality.
If you need even more quality for demanding commercial assignments, you're looking at a “medium format” camera or even a “large format camera” – $16,000 to $50,000 for digital. Happy shopping!
We only recommend cameras that we've actually used or taught beginners how to use. Just because a camera isn't here, doesn't mean it isn't good... it might just mean that we haven't seen it yet to review it. We update this page as we see how people go with new cameras. Note that the photos on this page are not all to the same scale.
Megapixels don't feature on this page, because all new cameras have more than enough megapixels for 99% of people. See this article to find out why megapixels really don't matter anymore.
The prices are in Australian dollars and come from web searches for cameras that have full Australian warranties, from retailers that have actual stores unless otherwise noted. You can get them cheaper online if you're prepared to forego the manufacturers' warranties and service support by buying "grey imports". Many stores in Brisbane have slightly higher prices, which is justified if you're going to spend time trying the cameras, which we would recommend, and many offer good pre- and post-sale support. Some shops may match others' advertised prices too.
Our biases are:For the record, our current cameras include Nikon and Canon professional digital SLR cameras, Olympus and Fuji mirrorless cameras, Canon, Olympus and Panasonic compact digital cameras, and a range of film cameras including Hasselblad. And 25 lenses between them!
So far, the 13 major camera companies have created over 2,500 digital camera models between them, with over 40 brand-new ones announced each year. Web sites such as dpreview.com keep up with the deluge, and have an encyclopaedic database featuring almost every camera, with recommendations from experienced reviewers. If you understand the camera jargon (or want to learn it), those web sites have heaps of information.