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Camera buying guide

You have no idea which camera to buy? Then I’ll help you with my camera buying guide!

Since the choice of camera depends a lot on your personal preferences, you can now decide what exactly is important to you. Click on one of the buttons below to find the right camera for you.

Camera buying guide
Camera buying guide

Contents

Small and lightweight camera for travel

Are you planning an exciting and unforgettable trip? You’ll want to capture the experience in pictures, but without carrying too much extra weight. But you also want more picture quality than your cell phone camera provides. Then a very good compact camera is the right choice for you.

Here I recommend the Sony RX100 VI, which gives you an image quality that is very good for the size of the camera. The camera works wonderfully in automatic mode. However, if you want to choose settings like aperture and shutter speed yourself, the RX100 VI also gives you the option. With its 20 megapixels and good lens, you can also print your pictures a bit larger after your trip without them getting blurry.

If you want to learn more about this type of camera, you’ll find it in my article about the best compact camera.

Camera with decent image quality, but no lens change

You want to have a better image quality than that of a compact camera? Size and weight are something you take on for photography? But you don’t want to have to change lenses? Then a bridge camera is a good choice for you.

Here I recommend the Sony RX10 IV, which has a very large zoom range and still delivers decent image quality. That’s why it’s also a good option for wildlife photography. It has a fast autofocus, handles well, and can shoot up to 24 frames per second.

If you want to learn more about this type of cameras, you will find it in my article about the best bridge camera.

Very good image quality and interchangeable lenses

You want to get more involved with photography and are looking for a suitable camera for it? A good image quality is important to you and you would like to be able to use other lenses? Then a system camera or an SLR camera is a good choice for you. If you are not sure yet which of these two systems suits you, have a look at my article about it.

With such a camera you can start well in the hobby of photography. Whether you want to do portrait, sports, landscape or wildlife photography, here you have all the possibilities in the long term.

As an SLR camera, I can recommend the Canon EOS 800D. It has a 24 megapixel APS-C sensor, a fast and accurate autofocus and brings a good image quality.

I’ve been using cameras in this class for almost 15 years and I’m still very happy with them. Here you get a classic, digital SLR camera. Because these cameras have been around for so long, they are sophisticated. A big advantage here is the wide range of lenses and accessories.

A good alternative to the SLR camera is the system camera. System cameras do not have an optical viewfinder, but an electronic one.

This means that when you look through the viewfinder, you are looking at a screen inside the camera. This way, you can directly see the image including all settings, which will end up on the memory card. The autofocus is minimally worse, but totally sufficient for 95% of all photographers. The same applies to the choice of lenses and accessories.

System cameras are just replacing SLRs because they are usually smaller and lighter with the same image quality.

A good option and my current recommendation among the system cameras is the Sony Alpha 6000, which offers a very good price-performance ratio. It has 24 megapixels and you can use different lenses on it. This gives you the opportunity to delve into certain photographic directions.

If you want to learn more about this type of cameras, you will find it in my articles about SLR cameras for beginners and system cameras for beginners.

The best image quality – My top recommendation

You want the absolute best image quality? Size, weight and budget are secondary? Then a high-end system and SLR camera is the best choice for you.

A Sony Alpha 7R IV system camera delivers fantastic image quality. It is especially used by landscape and architecture photographers who want to make large prints of their images. 61 megapixels provide a suitable resolution here.

If you want an SLR camera, I can recommend the Nikon D850. 45 megapixels provide enough reserves for large prints and even crops from your images.

With both cameras you should be aware that you need good lenses to get the full resolution out of them.

For me, these two cameras are currently the best choices for maximum image quality. However, I would like to give a third camera recommendation.

The Sony Alpha 7 III can do almost as much as its big brother Alpha 7R III, with a marginally worse viewfinder and 24 instead of 42 megapixels. Still, I find the A7 III sufficient for 98% of photographers. An internal image stabilizer and high dynamic range are just two of the highlights. As an overall package, this camera is exceedingly good value for money.

If you want to learn more about this type of camera, you’ll find what you’re looking for in my articles on the best SLR camera and the best system camera. You can also find an overview of my camera guides and tests here.

I hope the camera buying guide was helpful for you. If you have any questions or if you are not sure which camera to choose, just write me in the comments.