Let’s have some fun! We’ve rounded up a bunch of budget cameras that are stylish, easy to use and very reasonably priced. There’s a mix of digital SLRs and CSCs (compact system cameras), each of which weigh in at under £600/$800, complete with a kit zoom lens. Some of them cost considerably less.
Whether you’re buying a camera as a present for someone else or are just treating yourself, there are some little treasures to choose from. Even if you already own an expensive outfit, there’s a lot to be said for having one you can take anywhere without feeling too precious about it.
Best budget cameras: the contenders
1 Canon EOS 100D with 18-55mm IS STM lens £330/$500
2 Canon EOS 750D with 18-55mm IS STM lens £550/$750
3 Nikon D3300 with 18-55mm VR II lens £350/$450
4 Nikon D5500 with 18-55mm VR II lens £590/$795
5 Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 14-42mm EZ lens £475/$500
6 Panasonic DMC-GF7 with 12-32mm lens £340/$460
7 Pentax K-S1 with 18-55mm lens £420/$340
8 Sony Alpha 5100 with 16-50mm OSS lens £430/$530
Best budget cameras: Canon EOS 100D with 18-55mm IS STM lens
Canon 100D
£330/$500
Lighter than any other SLR on test and smaller even than the diminutive Pentax K-S1, this is the baby of Canon’s current line-up.
It’s a generation older than the 750D in terms of image sensor, processor and the hybrid sensor-based autofocus system for use in Live View and movie modes.
The regular phase-detection autofocus module is also quite basic. It features just nine AF points, of which only the central point is cross-type, able to resolve detail in both vertical and horizontal planes.
The image sensor’s megapixel count of 18MP is lower than in any other SLR here, but it’s still higher than in either the Olympus or the Panasonic Micro Four Thirds cameras.
Handling feels good rather than great: the 100D is a little cramped for a full-blown SLR.
Performance
Image quality is very pleasing overall, with good results in a decent range of scene modes, along with enough manual adjustments to please more experienced photographers. The maximum burst rate of 4 frames per second is the slowest in the group.
Features: 3/5
Build & Handling: 3/5
Performance: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5
SEE MORE: Canon cameras: the full and complete range explained from IXUS to EOS
Best budget cameras: Canon EOS 750D with 18-55mm IS STM lens
Canon 750D
£550/$750
The 750D is similar to the concurrently released 760D. Lacking that model’s top-panel info screen or rear-mounted quick control dial, the 750D has a more traditional layout for entry-level Canon SLRs.
Its cheaper price tag also qualifies it as more of a budget camera. It’s a larger and heavier camera than the older Canon 100D, and its handling feels more assured and comfortable as a result.
New and improved features include a 24.2MP image sensor, a Digic 6 processor, a 19-point (all cross-type) phase-detection autofocus module, and a new-generation hybrid autofocus system for Live View and movie shooting.
Even so, Live View autofocus isn’t as fast as in most CSCs. Further attractions include an articulated and touch-sensitive rear screen, Wi-Fi and NFC (Near Field Communication).
Performance
The 5fps burst rate and hybrid autofocus system are both faster than in the 100D. The autofocus system delivers better accuracy for off-centre objects, especially moving targets. Retention of fine detail is also better.
Features: 4.5/5
Build & Handling: 4.5/5
Performance: 4.5/5
Value: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.5/5
SEE MORE: Canon 760D vs 750D vs 700D – 9 things you need to know
Best budget cameras: Nikon D3300 with 18-55mm VR II lens
Nikon D3300
£350/$450
Like the Nikon D3000-series cameras before it, the D3300 offers an interactive Guide mode. It acts like a built-in photography course and makes this SLR particularly beginner-friendly.
It also adds an Effects shooting mode, lacking in the previous D3200, with options like toy camera, colour sketch and night vision for entertainment.
At its core, the D3300’s more serious upgrades include a new-generation Expeed 4 processor and the omission of an optical low-pass filter, which gives the potential for greater retention of fine detail, albeit with an increased risk of moiré patterning and false colour.
Another bonus over the D3200 is a bigger sensitivity range of ISO 100-12,800 (25,600 expanded), matching the two Canon SLRs.
SEE MORE: Nikon D3300 vs D5300: which DSLR should you choose?
Performance
The 11-point autofocus system (with one cross-type point) is basic but effective, with similar performance in our tests to that of the Canon 100D’s nine-point module.
The D3300 has a faster 5fps maximum burst rate than the 100D, equalling the 750D, and the image quality tends to be a little more vibrant.
Features: 3.5/5
Build & Handling: 3.5/5
Performance: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
SEE MORE: Nikon D3300 vs D3200 vs D3100: which camera should you buy
Best budget cameras: Nikon D5500 with 18-55mm VR II lens
Nikon D5500
£590/$795
Nikon’s mid-range D5500 is the most expensive camera in this group. It has the same megapixel count and image processor as the D3300, the same omission of an optical low-pass filter, and the same maximum drive rate of 5fps.
A notable upgrade in the D5500 is a 39-point autofocus module, of which nine points are cross-type.
Handling is good, helped by a surprisingly slim body with an extra-large finger grip area. Around the back, the D5500 matches the Canon 750D with a fully articulated LCD that includes touchscreen facilities.
There’s an extended range of scene modes and special effects, but the D3300’s Guide shooting mode is absent.
The sensitivity range stretches all the way to ISO 25,600 in its standard range, but there’s no expanded mode.
SEE MORE: Nikon D5500 vs D5300 vs D5200 vs D5100: 13 key differences to know
Performance
Nikon SLRs over the years (including the D3300) have typically delivered very vibrant image quality. By comparison, images from the D5500 often tend to be a bit on the light side with a less richly saturated look.
Features: 4.5/5
Build & Handling: 4/5
Performance: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
SEE MORE: Nikon cameras – the full and complete range explained
Best budget cameras: Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 14-42mm EZ lens
Olympus OM-D E-M10
£475/$500
Classic retro design meets high-tech sophistication in this Micro Four Thirds camera. It’s the most full-featured of all the CSCs on test, and the only one here to boast a viewfinder and hotshoe.
The other budget cameras in this test don’t even enable the addition of a viewfinder as an extra, or the fitment of a flashgun.
Beautifully built with a tough little magnesium alloy body and automatically retracting kit zoom lens, the EM-10 strikes an excellent balance of size, weight and comfortable handling.
Despite being the most budget-conscious camera in the OM-D line-up, the 16.1MP E-M10 still features sensor-shift (in-camera) stabilisation, a tilting touchscreen, Wi-Fi and trick modes like Live Bulb, where you can see long exposures of up to 30 minutes developing as they happen.
SEE MORE: Best compact system camera: 6 top CSCs go head to head
Performance
Autofocus is fast and accurate, metering is reliable and the maximum burst rate is an impressive 8fps. The triple-axis stabiliser works well and image quality remains beautiful, even at very high ISO settings. It’s the most desirable of the CSCs on test.
Features: 4.5/5
Build & Handling: 4.5/5
Performance: 4/5
Value: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5
SEE MORE: Olympus cameras: the full and complete range explained
Best budget cameras: Panasonic DMC-GF7 with 12-32mm lens
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF7
£340/$460
Compared with the Olympus E-M10, this Panasonic Micro Four Thirds camera feels quite plasticky and downmarket. On the plus side, its lack of a viewfinder or sculpted finger and thumb grip areas make the body slim and extremely light at just 266g.
Like all kit lenses here apart from the Canon and Pentax, the Panasonic’s is retractable. It’s almost as small as the Olympus lens, but lacks powered zoom or automatic retraction.
Neat extras include Wi-Fi and a tilting touchscreen that, like the Sony’s, can be flipped through 180 degrees for selfie-shooting.
The 16MP image sensor resolution is par for the MFT course.
SEE MORE
Panasonic GX8 Review
Panasonic G7 review
Performance
A speed demon for continuous shooting, the GF7 can achieve burst rates of up to 40fps, although this sinks to a more typical 5fps with continuous autofocus.
The autofocus system itself is pretty quick, similar to that of the Olympus, but images tend to look a little less vibrant, high-ISO shots aren’t quite as clean, and the maximum length for Bulb exposures is only one minute.
Features: 3.5/5
Build & Handling: 3.5/5
Performance: 3.5/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5
SEE MORE: Panasonic cameras: the full and complete range explained
Best budget cameras: Pentax K-S1 with 18-55mm lens
Pentax K-S1
£420/$340
This Pentax really takes the fight to Canon and Nikon. It beats all other SLRs on test by featuring a pentaprism viewfinder rather than a low-budget pentamirror design – and with 100-per-cent frame coverage, no less.
It’s the only SLR to feature sensor-shift stabilisation and, like the Nikon cameras, has no optical low-pass filter to impair the capture of fine detail.
Novelty items include multi-colour indicator lamps on the top, front and rear of the camera, and the body itself is available in a wealth of different colour options.
The design looks quite boxy but handles well, although the oversized shooting mode dial cuts into thumb space around the back. There’s no tilt or touch-sensitivity for the LCD, and no built-in Wi-Fi.
SEE MORE
Canon 1200D vs Nikon D3300 vs Pentax K-500 – which is best?
Performance
The K-S1 is the fastest SLR in the group in terms of its 5.4fps burst rate and 1/6,000 sec shutter speed, and offers a maximum sensitivity of ISO 51,200.
In contrast, the clunky kit lens has an appallingly loud autofocus system. Image quality is good overall, but colour rendition can be a bit cool.
Features: 4/5
Build & Handling: 4/5
Performance: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
SEE MORE: Pentax cameras: the full and complete range explained
Best budget cameras: Sony Alpha 5100 with 16-50mm OSS lens
Sony a5100
£430/$530
This Sony is a similar size and weight to the Panasonic GF7 that’s also on test. Both cameras lack a viewfinder (either built-in or as an optional extra), and neither has a hotshoe for adding an external flashgun.
The Sony has a larger APS-C rather than a Four Thirds format image sensor, and so the kit zoom lens is correspondingly bigger.
Like only the Olympus kit lens in this group, the Sony’s features automatic extension and retraction.
A tilting touchscreen enables easy selfie shooting, but in other areas, the touch facilities are relatively poorly implemented and aren’t available for menu navigation.
Overall handling is still an improvement over the Panasonic GF7, thanks to a sculpted and textured finger grip.
SEE MORE: Sony cameras: the full and complete range explained
Performance
Despite boasting 179 phase points and 25 contrast areas, the hybrid autofocus system is a little slower than in the contrast-area-only Olympus and Panasonic CSCs.
Metering is accurate, the image quality is vibrant, and sharing is easy thanks to the inclusion of both Wi-Fi and NFC.
Features: 3.5/5
Build & Handling: 4/5
Performance: 4/5
Value: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
SEE MORE: Sony lenses explained: which lenses to use on which cameras
Best budget cameras 2016: our verdict
For handling, performance and pleasing image quality, the Canon 750D is the best budget buy on the market. It’s beginner-friendly yet packs in plenty of features to please enthusiast photographers, all wrapped in a small and lightweight body.
We prefer the Canon’s handling and elegant interface to those of the pricier Nikon D5500, although the latter reigns supreme among this group for minimising image noise at high ISO settings.
The Pentax K-S1 is also worth considering: it combines seriously upmarket specifications with some genuinely fun elements. It’s great value for money in the US (less so in the UK). For a good-performance SLR at a rock-bottom price in the UK, the Nikon D3300 edges out the Canon 100D, and its Guide shooting mode can be a real help for beginners.
Of the three CSCs on test, the Olympus E-M10 is a clear winner. Its built-in viewfinder makes it feel like a ‘proper’ camera, and the hotshoe is a big advantage.
The newer Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II edition has several upgrades, but the original is currently better value for money and delivers practically identical image quality.
SEE MORE: Best entry-level cameras for beginner photographers
Best Budget Cameras: Spec comparisons
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