Cameras can be expensive, and the very best cameras can be extremely expensive. However, if you’re looking for an upgrade from the snapper on the back of your phone, but don’t intend to take pictures for magazine covers or billboards, it’s still possible to get a really good camera without first dynamiting a bank vault.
The compact camera has had a hard time recently, largely because we all carry a camera of reasonable quality in our pockets and bags everywhere we go. To stand out from this, cameras have to offer something more, and this usually comes in the form of zoom lenses - ones that can change their focal length from a wide to (usually) a narrower telephoto view - and larger sensors to capture more light and provide better image quality with less processing required.
Dedicated cameras also come with quality-of-life upgrades over phone cameras, with their controls easier to operate while wearing gloves, menus that are simpler to navigate, or full manual control of your exposures if you want to learn the science behind it.
Compact cameras like these are ideal for travel, given how easy they are to slip into a bag. And given how much the best mobile phones cost these days, cheap cameras are also useful if you’re going somewhere that has a less-than-savoury reputation. Far better, after all, to lose a £200 camera than a £1,200 smartphone.
Here are some of the best, coming in (mostly) under £300.
Best cheap cameras at a glance:
- Best for budget photos: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W800 - £130, Amazon
- Best for big zoom range: Canon PowerShot SX740 HS - £379, Currys
- Best for getting the basics right: Canon IXUS 285 - £290, Argos
- Best for making action videos: GoPro Hero9 - £200, Amazon
- Best for a first camera: Kodak Pixpro Astro Zoom AZ405-WH - £200, Amazon
- Best for instant pictures: Polaroid Now+ - £140, Amazon
- Best for fitting in the smallest pocket: Kodak PIXPRO FZ55 - £129, Amazon
- Best for vlogging: DJI Pocket 2 - £339, Amazon
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W800
Best for: budget photos
The cheapest camera available from Sony, and a low-budget camera in general, this CyberShot model pairs a 20MP sensor with a 5x zoom lens in a compact, 125g body that will slip easily into a bag or pocket. There's face-detection autofocus that will kick in if you’re taking photos of people, and an Easy mode that enlarges the icons on the rear screen.
Video shooting is only 720p, rather than the 1080p or even 4K you’d find on the best smartphone cameras, but the optical zoom ensures this camera rises above its phone-based competition.
Buy now £130.00, Amazon
Canon PowerShot SX740 HS
Best for: big zoom range
Creeping above the budget of £300, the enormous 40x optical zoom lens on this PowerShot makes it a bargain nonetheless. Behind the lens, which has image stabilisation to help keep it steady when you’re zoomed right in, there's a 20MP sensor and it can manage 10FPS bursts (though you’re limited to 7.4FPS if you need full autofocus while shooting). The camera is equipped with the same DIGIC 8 processor as the EOS R mirrorless camera for snappy performance, and the whole thing comes in a surprisingly small package considering the technology packed inside.
Buy now £379.00, Currys
Canon IXUS 285
Best for: getting the basics right
This compact metal-bodied camera offers a 12x zoom lens and a 20MP sensor, plus image stabilisation to iron out the wobbles when you’re focusing on something like a bird with the lens at its longest setting. Creative mode offers preset styles to add flair to your images, and it can focus on objects just 1cm from the end of the lens for great close-ups. Video recording tops out at 1080p, and there's built-in Wi-Fi and NFC to connect to Canon’s app on smartphones and tablets, making remote control and sharing photos to social media much easier.
Buy now £290.00, Argos
GoPro Hero9
Best for: making action videos
This tiny action camera crams in a 23.6MP sensor that shoots 5K video, with front and rear screens that make it ideal for vlogging, giving you the ability to frame yourself without resorting to guesswork or another person on the other side of the camera. This is very much a video-focused camera, with a 100Mbps high-bitrate mode that will provide excellent quality footage, and stabilisation modes to reduce shake if you’re filming a rough downhill stretch on your favourite mountain biking track. Still images are decent, and come out at 20MP, with a mode to correct the wide-angle distortion from the fixed wide-angle lens.
Buy now £200.00, Amazon
Kodak Pixpro Astro Zoom AZ405-WH
Best for: a first camera
This larger-bodied camera offers an impressive 40x zoom range with a 20MP sensor and 1080p video recording. This is backed up with image stabilisation, a full range of digital tricks such as tracking autofocus, panorama mode and the ability to edit your photos in-camera. It’s also unusual in that it takes AA batteries instead of a proprietary rechargeable unit, meaning you can easily swap in fresh cells in the field as long as you’ve got some with you.
Buy now £200.00, Amazon
Polaroid Now+
Best for: instant pictures
Polaroid is still making the instant cameras which made the company famous, and this model offers the classic vintage-style square prints via its i-Type film cartridges. It’s brought into the 21st century by adding Bluetooth connectivity to a phone app that lets you adjust shooting modes and trigger the camera remotely. There are clip-on coloured filters that go over the lens for different looks, and you can switch between lenses for standard or wider-angle views.
Despite the integrated tech, this is still an analogue camera which means it’s completely possible to mess up a shot and produce something that looks nothing like the photo you had in mind, but that’s all part of the joy of film, and learning how the different packs behave is essential. The packs are, however, expensive, so you’ll want to ration their use in a way a digital camera doesn’t require.
Buy now £140.00, Amazon
Kodak PIXPRO FZ55
Best for: fitting in the smallest pocket
This compact camera from Kodak really lives up to the name: it’s around 9cm long and weighs around 106g. Inside this petite casing lives a 16MP sensor and a 5x zoom lens, a built-in flash and a USB port for connecting it to a phone or PC. There's no image stabilisation, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and video tops out at 1080p. This is a very basic compact camera but it’s still capable of producing good images, with the optical zoom lens lifting it above smartphone cameras whose digital zoom often results in fuzzy images.
Buy now £129.00, Amazon
DJI Pocket 2
Best for: vlogging
This nifty little video camera offers a 64MP smartphone-style sensor and ultrawide lens in an ergonomic package that’s mostly handle. With the camera sticking out the top, it can be effectively stabilised in three axes by a gimbal system, and can shoot video at up to 4k/60fps. There's object-tracking autofocus alongside the stabilisation, so you get smooth footage that doesn’t let your subject go out of focus as it moves around the frame. This isn’t really a camera for taking still photos, though it’s capable of creating them, but instead a video powerhouse that can produce impressive results.
Buy now £339.00, Amazon
Verdict
You don’t need to spend a whole lot of money to get a camera that beats the one on your phone. It’s possible to get something that will create better video or images for less than £300, as cameras such as the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W800 and Canon PowerShot SX740 HS prove. DSLRs and mirrorless system cameras from the likes of Sony, Canon and Nikon may be out of reach at this price range, but it’s still possible to get a lot of camera for your money, and create some wonderful results.
