We all drool over the best point-and-shoot cameras. If money grew on trees, that’s what we’d all shoot. But camera gear is expensive, and not everyone can afford to drop a grand-plus on a camera.
There are a few cheaper options worth a look if you want to stay on the peanut-butter-and-jelly side of the $1,000 mark. They may not produce images that match the Leicas and Fujifilms over the world, but they offer a good bang for your buck.
Kodak
PIXPRO FZ55 (opens in a new window)
Available at Amazon
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Available at Walmart
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1. Kodak PIXPRO FZ55
The PIXPRO FZ55’s 1/2.3-inch image sensor and 16-megapixel specs won’t win any photography competitions. That’s fine and dandy for the price, though. The PIXPRO FZ55 is the closest you can get to buying a spanking-new point-and-shoot pocket digital camera for under $200.
It’s so small, you can fit it into a skinny jean pocket. The Ricoh GR IV may be another excellent, pocketable point-and-shoot camera with superior image quality, but it also costs seven times as much.
The PIXPRO FZ55 comes with a 5x optical zoom, which gives you a bit of flexibility in framing your shots that not all point-and-shoot cameras offer. Still, it’s no physical zoom, so you’re trading away some image quality when you zoom in.
Canon
PowerShot ELPH 360 (opens in a new window)
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Available at Newegg
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2. canon powershot elph 360
Step up past the $400 mark and you drastically improve the image quality over cheaper point-and-shoot cameras. Canon’s PowerShot series is popular and beloved by serious photographers because these cameras don’t pretend to be what they aren’t. They offer a noticeable boost in picture quality over most smartphones without costing an arm or a leg.
The PowerShot trades away the larger image sensor of point-and-shoot cameras, such as the Canon RX100 VII and Fujifilm X100VI, for a more modest package that slips into a back pocket more easily.
Moment Lenses (opens in a new window)
Available at Moment
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3. moment phone lenses
Ok, this isn’t a point-and-shoot. Not exactly. Moment makes high-quality, sharp lenses that you affix to a proprietary Moment phone case for your iPhone, Pixel, or Galaxy. These fish-eyes, macros, telephoto zooms, and wide-angle lenses are an upgrade over your phone’s built-in lenses.
If your phone doesn’t have a physical zoom lens, as on an iPhone Pro, then a zoom lens means you don’t have to rely upon your phone’s zoom, which erodes image quality.
While it may not be a standalone camera, you know the saying: The best camera is the one you have with you. And you always have your phone with you.
The post The 3 Best Point-And-Shoot Cameras for Under $1K appeared first on VICE.
