We are, all of us, photographers.
We’ve been made this way by the various photographic tech placed into our hands, from the production of cellulose film at the turn of the 20th century to the development of digital camera tech at the turn of the 21st.
We’ve come a long way since the days of the daguerreotype, and today enjoy the unmitigated luxury of capturing every moment we choose. More often than not, though, these snaps don’t come out how we’d like. Ever raise your smartphone, awestruck, to a full moon, only to see a small, insipid glop of pale white on your screen?
Taking better pictures is something that even the most talented snappers take a lifetime to figure out, but everyone starts somewhere. In this highly saturated market of pocket point-and-shoots and break-the-bank pro rigs, your best bet might be a bridge camera.
What is a bridge camera, exactly?
A bridge camera is a type of digital camera designed to join the gap between consumer-friendly compact cameras and feature-rich DSLRs with interchangeable lenses. Bridge cameras share attributes of both, acting as a missing link between the point-and-shoot and the pro photographer’s tool.
Bridge cameras can be seen as a step up from compacts, offering better image fidelity and settings adjustment in favour of taking better pictures. Simultaneously, they can be seen as an accessible version of the DSLR, eschewing lens changes and confusing bells and whistles in favour of easy shooting.
This format makes the lens arguably the most important part of the bridge camera. Yes, hardware and software features are just as important as they would be with any pro camera, but here the lens is irremovable – so it needs to be able to do a lot of things, and do them well.
Camera obscura
With bridge cameras occupying a relatively awkward space in the field of digital cameras, it can be easy to discount them or overlook them entirely. This is especially true where mirrorless cameras have quickly taken centre stage, and smartphone cameras have improved to the extent that many are no longer in the market for a standalone shooter.
But there is a lot to love about the bridge format, and a lot going for it as an option over either the more basic or more involved formats that bookend it. The simple, essential sling-and-shoot nature of bridge cameras makes them immensely accessible, while the above-average DSLR-adjacent features they possess ensure far better results than classic holiday-snapper compacts.
Best bridge cameras to buy at a glance
- Best overall: Canon PowerShot SX70 HS Bridge Camera – Black - £579, Currys
- Best for all-round quality: Panasonic Lumix FZ2000 Bridge Camera - £879, Amazon
- Best for a budget learner camera: Kodak Pixpro Astro Zoom AZ255 Bridge Camera – Black - £174.99, Currys
- Best for stable zoom-shooting: Panasonic Lumix FZ82D Bridge Camera - £429, Camera Hut
- Best for telephotography: Nikon COOLPIX P1000 Digital Camera- £1622, Amazon
- Best for moving subjects: Sony DSC-RX10 IV High Performance Bridge Camera – Black - £1499, Currys
- Best for dependable and affordable point-and-shooting: Panasonic Lumix FZ330 Bridge Camera – Black - £489, Amazon
- Best for inexpensive superzoom action: Kodak Pixpro AZ425 20MP 42x Zoom Bridge Camera - Black - £229.99, Argos
- Best for ergonomic photography: Nikon VQA100EA COOLPIX P950, Black - £740, Amazon
- Best for budding scenic photographers: Kodak Pixpro AZ528 Bridge Camera (Midnight Blue) - £239, Camera World
Picking from this peculiar sub-set of digital cameras isn’t the easiest, even if four brands describe the vast majority of bridge camera models on the market. This handy round-up should make things a tad easier.
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Canon PowerShot SX70 HS Bridge Camera – Black
Best: overall
Canon is one of the better-recognised industry leaders in digital cameras. Amid its myriad DSLRs, you’ll find a single bridge camera: the PowerShot SX70 HS.
This bridge camera offers a 65x optical zoom with a refined digital zoom that enables up to 130x magnification (though the upper ends of this scale suffer from exactly the artefacts and noise you’d expect). The PowerShot uses the same DIGIC 8 image processor found in a number of its mirrorless and DSLR cameras, including the 90D and the much-acclaimed EOS R100.
Physically, the Canon borrows much from its DSLR flock too – including a fold-out LCD screen and a familiar control scheme. Generally speaking, the SX70 is a fantastic option for photographers after the versatility of the DSLR without the faff.
Buy now £579.00, Currys
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ2000 Bridge Camera
Best for: all-round quality
The Lumix FZ2000 is Panasonic’s most vaunted bridge camera, and an absurdly full-featured entrant into what is often regarded as a stop-gap format.
The FZ2000 has a 1-inch, 20.1MP CMOS sensor, which supports detailed and low-noise picture-taking through a 20x optical zoom Leica lens. The OLED viewfinder is a huge boon too, with a crisp image and some nifty adjustability to find a comfortable angle.
There’s also 4K video-recording capabilities here, which are very much welcome. This model of bridge camera has been kicking around for a few years now, but remains competitive as an all-in-one option for the newer photographer.
Buy now £879.00, Amazon
Kodak Pixpro Astro Zoom AZ255 Bridge Camera – Black
Best for: a budget learner camera
This from Kodak, the Astro Zoom AZ255, is the most affordable bridge camera on this list – and, indeed, one of very few you’ll find new for less than £200. The AZ255 is suitably austere for its price point, but gamely provides some key features nonetheless. As the name suggests, one such feature is its powerful zoom lens – which starts at an impressive wide angle and reaches an equally impressive 25x optical zoom.
There are constraints too, though. The AZ255’s widest possible apertures are f/3.7 zoomed-out and f/6.2 zoomed-in. These are all well and good for well-lit and outdoors situations (or indeed for static astro-photography), but aren’t quite the best for indoors point-and-shooting. 1080p film is also a little low-res against contemporary standards. But as a bargain camera with a powerful zoom, this is a great budget option.
Buy now £174.00, Currys
Panasonic Lumix FZ82D Bridge Camera
Best for: stable zoom-shooting
The Lumix series is rife with bridge cameras, amongst the cheaper of which is the FZ82D. Some concessions are naturally made with regard to sensor size, shutter speed and functionality, but some other features trump even the FZ2000. The FZ82D has a particularly impressive zoom lens, with a 60x optical zoom; it also has a minimum focusing distance of 1cm, allowing for some stunningly sharp macro shots.
In tandem with proprietary ‘POWER O.I.S.’ image stabilisation technology, the FZ82D’s superzoom capability is rendered much more usable when shooting handheld. The same tech makes shooting 4k video smoother and easier, too. This entry is a phenomenally-priced all-rounder with some quality tricks up its sleeve.
Buy now £429.00, Camera World
Nikon COOLPIX P1000 Digital Camera
Best for: telephotography
Nikon is one of the giants in pro digital cameras; its top-range DSLRs rule the roost for higher-stakes picture-taking from sports photography to photojournalism, the D6 being an especially well-liked body. Nikon’s clinical approach to quality in its DSLRs is mirrored in its approach to bridge cameras, as evidenced by this stunning example – the COOLPIX P1000.
To use the archaic definition of the word, the P1000’s optical zoom is truly awesome. It is capable of both a practical wide angle and a huge 125x optical zoom, with Nikon’s digital Dynamic Fine Zoom boosts that to as much as 250x. Nikon has some nifty answers to the obvious stability problems these raise, too, with vibration reduction tech enabling you to shoot telephoto shots from the hip with surprisingly little blur.
Buy now £1622.00, Amazon
Sony DSC-RX10 IV High Performance Bridge Camera – Black
Best for: moving subjects
Sony’s DSC-RX10 IV is the most expensive camera on this list, and perhaps even the most expensive bridge camera you will find on the market – being costlier even than most mid-to-top-range DSLRs. This high cost comes with an extremely alluring feature set, though, that makes it a compelling outlier.
The RX10 is chock-full of proprietary and intimidatingly named technology, from Exmor RS to BIONZ-X. The real winning feature here, though, is the RX10 IV’s autofocus capabilities. It has a powerful 315-point phase-detection autofocus, which is used capably to track tricksy moving subjects with ease. This, the lightning-quick speed of the autofocus itself, and the fast-paced image processing courtesy of that intimidatingly-named BIONZ-X engine makes the DSC-RX10 IV a great continuous shooter.
This doesn’t even scratch the surface of Sony’s top-flight bridge camera. Fancy controls, easy settings customisation and WiFi/NFC support make a supremely strong option even against mid-range DSLRs.
Buy now £1499.00, Currys
Panasonic Lumix FZ330 Bridge Camera – Black
Best for: dependable and affordable point-and-shooting
The Panasonic Lumix FZ330 places itself somewhere in the low middle of Panasonic’s bridge camera range. While not the most impressively featured of our bunch, it retains a user-friendly (and somewhat bash-friendly) design., as well as some mod cons that keep it relevant.
4K shooting is one such mod con, which still has a high attached value even with the unit’s relatively small 12.1MP sensor. A 24x zoom lens gives the FZ330 some wildlife-snapping credentials, and, coupled with some impressive aperture possibilities – makes for a versatile snapper. This is ultimately a dependable choice of bridge camera, that’s sure to handle a wide majority of point-and-shoot situations admirably.
Buy now £489.00, Amazon
Kodak Pixpro AZ425 42x Zoom Bridge Camera - Black
Best for: inexpensive superzoom action
Kodak’s Pixpro AZ425 is an entry-level bridge camera at the lower end of Kodak’s price spectrum. Though this time above that £200 baseline, there’s more to like about the A425 that could easily justify spending an extra £50-ish.
Here, the range of the built-in zoom lens is greatly improved on its lower-budget counterpart the AZ225, boasting a 42x optical zoom over the latter’s 25x. The CMOS sensor is an improved 20MP, making for more detailed images and a better chance at parsing those super-zoomed images. The AZ425 also performs better with respect to aperture, giving slightly better results in indoors and lower-light situations.
Buy now £229.99, Argos
Nikon COOLPIX P950 - Black
Best for: ergonomic photography
The COOLPIX P950 is a little sibling to Nikon’s ultra-zoom behemoth the P1000. It is smaller and lighter, by virtue of having a smaller built-in zoom lens – at a nonetheless-capacious 83x max zoom – amongst other body-based changes.
Though technically less capable than the P1000, the P950 is arguably more practical, being easier to handle and, thanks to its flexible screen and OLED viewfinder, much quicker to set up into your ideal shot. It’s ergonomic, enjoys a bright max aperture of f/2.8 zoomed-out and f/6.5 zoomed-in, and has forgiving autofocus settings to boot. It’s hard to sniff at this for a mid-weight camera, covering all the bases with some nifty hardware touches.
Buy now £740.00, Amazon
Kodak Pixpro AZ528 Bridge Camera - Midnight Blue
Best for: budding scenic photographers
The AZ528 is an eminently affordable low-mid range bridge camera, and still amongst the cheapest in this here round-up. The AZ528 iterates on the essential form of its slightly-cheaper sibling in the AZ425, with a slightly higher RRP buying some key improvements for the burgeoning photographer.
Here, the zoom lens is further improved, this time reaching to the stars with a 52x optical zoom. While there’s a smaller CMOS sensor here, this huge (and hugely versatile) lens is a major selling point at this price, and particularly for the wildlife-lovers amongst us. With a stable tripod, this could be an extremely affordable starter camera for the scenic snapper. The Midnight Blue finish is snappy, too!
Buy now £239.00, Camera World
Verdict
There’s a lot to like about every camera in this list, but the break-the-bank quality of the Sony DSC-RX10 IV High Performance Bridge Camera is hard to overlook.
However, it’s beaten to the top spot by the Canon PowerShot SX70 HS Bridge Camera, which provides reliability, recognisability and quality at an eminently affordable price.
