These are the best cameras in 2024 – and my top recommendations are all discounted

1. Canon EOS R7 ★★★★★
Some will balk at the notion that an APS-C camera is the best all-rounder, but prove me wrong: 32.5MP, 30fps shooting, 7K oversampled video, twin memory card slots, 8 stops of stabilization, and a crop factor that makes your lenses longer. If you want a camera that does everything, for sensible money, look no further.

Quick specs: 32.5MP (APS-C), 30fps, 4K 60p / FullHD 120p, 2 card slots, 8 stops IBIS

Pros: + Compact design | + Hi-res photo & video | + Fast bursts
Cons: - Conservative buffer | - Expensive RF lenses | Unusual controls

Normal price: 🇺🇸 $1,499.00 | 🇬🇧 £1,4499.99
Today's best Black Friday deal: 🇺🇸 $989.94 @ Walmart | 🇬🇧 £1,349.00 @ Amazon

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2. Canon EOS R100 ★★★★½
Cheap beginner cameras are a dying breed, but Canon continues to welcome newcomers with this ultra-compact and very capable body. It has streamlined controls, making it friendly to first-timers, along with guided menus that help you find and understand different functions. I just wish the screen could tilt or articulate, and it’s a shame that 4K has a few limitations.

Quick specs: 24.1MP (APS-C), 6.5fps, 4K 25p (cropped) / FullHD 60p, 1 card slot

Pros: + Super small & light | + Easy to use | + Great image qualty
Cons: - Fixed, no-touch screen | - 4K is cropped, with limited AF

Normal price: 🇺🇸 $479.99 | 🇬🇧 £559.99
Today's best Black Friday deal: 🇺🇸 $299.00 @ Adorama | 🇬🇧 £445.00 @ Amazon

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3. Instax Mini 12 ★★★★★
There are so many kinds of Instax camera available, but this is the latest, the best, and it's very affordable – and the film is reasonable, too. Photos develop in 90 secs (unlike the 15 mins for Polaroids) and shooting is as simple as pointing and shooting. I wish you could disable the flash, but this is photography at its most fun.

Quick specs: 60mm f/12.7 lens, Selfie mode, 306g, Prints 54 x 86mm (image area 62 x 46mm)

Pros: + Great photos | + Fun colors | + Batteries included
Cons: - Always-on flash | - Film is extra | No fancy shooting modes

Normal price: 🇺🇸 $79.95 | 🇬🇧 £79.99
Today's best Black Friday deal: 🇺🇸 $69.00 @ Amazon | 🇬🇧 £72.96 @ Amazon

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4. Sony ZV-E10 II ★★★★½
Sony's ZV camera line is almost incomprehensible, but this is the one you should go for. It's brilliantly designed for vlogging and streaming, with a robust battery life and great quality 4K. It misses the handy auto-framing feature of the full-frame Sony ZV-E1, which I would have loved to see, but it's way cheaper and has double the megapixels.

Quick specs: 26MP (APS-C), 30fps, 4K 60p (1.1x crop) / FullHD 120p, 1 card slot

Pros: + Super small & light | + Easy to use | + Great image qualty
Cons: - Minor 4K 60p crop | - No auto-framing | No IBIS

Normal price: 🇺🇸 $1,199.99 | 🇬🇧 £999.99
Today's best Black Friday deal: 🇺🇸 $998.00 @ Adorama | 🇬🇧 £898.79 @ Amazon

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5. Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV ★★★★★
This is the camera Taylor Swift uses! I bought one for my ex-girlfriend because it's super small, super capable and super stylish. The Canon EOS R100 above is cheaper, but much more basic; this has a 180° selfie screen, incredible stabilization, and great in-camera filters. The small Micro Four Thirds sensor makes blurry backgrounds and low light shooting more challenging, though.

Quick specs: 20.3MP (MFT), 8.7fps, 4K 30p / FullHD 60p, 1 card slot, 4.5 stops IBIS

Pros: + Tiny body | + Tiny lenses, too | + Great stabilization
Cons: - Depth of field is difficult | - Plastic build

Normal price: 🇺🇸 $699.99 | 🇬🇧 £699.99
Today's best Black Friday deal: 🇺🇸 $589.99 @ Amazon | 🇬🇧 £558.76 @ Amazon

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6. Nikon D850 ★★★★★
DSLRs may be yesterday's tech, but that tech still holds up today. So you get fantastic bang for your buck, with 45.7MP of full frame firepower for fantastic stills – though it's limited to 7fps bursts (9fps, if you buy the extra grip). While the 4K is serviceable, I wouldn't recommend this for video – but it remains a top stills machine.

Quick specs: 45.7MP (full frame), 7fps, 4K 30p / FullHD 60p, 2 card slots

Pros: + Hi-res stills | + Tank-like build | + Integrated vertical grip
Cons: - Basic 4K | - Slow burst speed | - No IBIS

Normal price: 🇺🇸 $2,996.95 | 🇬🇧 £2,799.00
Today's best Black Friday deal: 🇺🇸 $1,959.95 @ Walmart | 🇬🇧 £1,855.52 @ Amazon

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7. Canon EOS R5 ★★★★½
It's been replaced by the Mark II, but in price:performance terms the OG R5 is still Canon's best camera – and the one I personally own. The AF system is unreal, and its 45MP sensor delivers 8K 30p video and even 400MP photos! However, 8K and 4KHQ have recording limitations, and while Canon's RF lenses are good they’re also pricey.

Quick specs: 45MP (full frame), 20fps, 8K 30p / 4K 120p, 2 card slots, 8 stops IBIS

Pros: + Pristine stills & video | + Great AF | + Superb stabilization
Cons: - Hi-res video recording limits | - RF lenses can be pricey

Normal price: 🇺🇸 $3,399.00 | 🇬🇧 £3,799.99
Today's best Black Friday deal: 🇺🇸 $2,659.95 @ Walmart | 🇬🇧 £2,529.00 @ Amazon

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8. Sony A7 IV ★★★★½
It's Sony's "entry level" full frame camera, but that's a misnomer – this is a very formidable performer with a higher-than-average 33MP sensor and Sony's great autofocus system. It's a shame that the 4K 60p is cropped, though, and while Sony cameras are technically excellent I wish they had a little more "soul" – but otherwise, I can’t fault the A7 IV.

Quick specs: 33MP (full frame), 10fps, 4K 60p (cropped) / FullHD 120p, 2 card slots, 5.5 stops IBIS

Pros: + 33MP resolution | + Great AF | + Large buffer
Cons: - Pricey for entry level | - 4K 60p is cropped

Normal price: 🇺🇸 $2,499.99 | 🇬🇧 £2,399.00
Today's best Black Friday deal: 🇺🇸 $1,864.95 @ Walmart | 🇬🇧 £1,999.00 @ Amazon

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9. Nikon Zf ★★★★½
I can see this causing controversy, but seriously: the Z6 II is the best bang-for-buck Nikon for anyone except pros… and the Zf is built on souped-up Z6 II architecture, but with a gorgeous retro design that everybody loves. Not only is this camera highly capable for stills and video, it truly inspires you to pick it up and start shooting.

Quick specs: 24.5MP (full frame), 7.8fps, 4K 60p (cropped) / FullHD 120p, 1 card slot, 8 stops IBIS

Pros: + Gorgeous design | + Clever AF | + Manual dials
Cons: - Not much grip | - 4K 60p is cropped | - Lack of retro lenses

Normal price: 🇺🇸 $1,996.95 | 🇬🇧 £2,499.00
Today's best Black Friday deal: 🇺🇸 $1,796.95 @ Amazon | 🇬🇧 £1,572.70 @ Amazon

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10. Fujifilm X-T5 ★★★★½
Fujifilm has newer cameras, but I think it hit the ball way out of the park with the X-T5 – the first APS-C body to exceed 40MP. Packing more resolution than most full framers, with great stabilization and 6.2K video, this is a killer hybrid camera that's great for content creation. The only thing that lags behind the pack is autofocus.

Quick specs: 40.2MP (APS-C), 20fps (cropped), 6.2K 30p (cropped) / 4K 60p, 2 card slots, 7 stops IBIS

Pros: + Retro design | + Hi-res stills & video | + Manual dials
Cons: - Strange tilt-screen design | - 20fps burst is cropped

Normal price: 🇺🇸 $1,699.95 | 🇬🇧 £1,699.00
Today's best Black Friday deal: 🇺🇸 $1,599.00 @ Amazon | 🇬🇧 £1,449.00 @ Amazon

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11. Ricoh GRIII ★★★½
While the Fujifilm X100VI is all the rage, it's overhyped and oversized. By contrast, the GRIII is an actual compact camera at almost half the size and just over half the weight. There are many variants but the OG version is the best value, with a 28mm lens and great image quality – but there's no 4K and battery life is pretty lean.

Quick specs: 24.23MP (APS-C), 4fps, FullHD 60p, 1 card slots, 4 stops IBIS

Pros: + Very compact | + Great image quality | + In-camera RAW editing
Cons: - Video is poor | - Conservative battery life

Normal price: 🇺🇸 $1,066.95 | 🇬🇧 £949.00
Today's best Black Friday deal: 🇺🇸 $1,052.20 @ Amazon | 🇬🇧 £878.58 @ Amazon

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🇺🇸 You can pick up the R100 with a single lens for $449, but for an extra 50 bucks you should definitely go for this two-lens setup – which will cover almost every style of shooting. The 24.1MP APS-C sensor produces great images (I've used some for my professional work!) and the RF-S 18-45mm and 55-210mm lenses satisfy everything from landscapes and street photography to travel and wildlife.

🇺🇸 Unlike the Instax Mini 12, the LiPlay has a digital camera – so the photos it takes are more like you get on a smartphone (rather than the vintage look you get with the 12). But the cool thing is that as well as exposing the photos you take with it, you can also beam photos from your phone and make real Instax prints of them! This instant camera / printer combo is fantastic for parties.

🇺🇸 The newer DJI Action 3 and 4 versions may be more technologically up to date, but this older model is irresistibly cheap – and its 4K 60p (going all the way up to a max of 4K 120p / FullHD 240p) still produces perfectly serviceable footage today. If you're dipping your toes into vlogging, or you've never had an action camera and want to see if it's your jam, this is a great place to start.

🇺🇸 Sony's entry level vlogging camera is a fantastic buy right now. Ideal for aspiring YouTubers or streamers (just watch out if you handhold, as the stabilization isn't great) it has a built-in 20mm lens that's nice and wide for filming yourself, and has great eye priority autofocus to keep you sharp. I like the front tally light and the recording frame on the rear screen, so I always know when I'm filming.

🇺🇸 It's a bit pricey to be an impulse buy, but I know that a lot of people are scoping for the A7 III at this time of the year – and for good reason, as it's a great value full frame camera with 24.2MP sensor. The 28-70mm f/3.5-6.3 "standard zoom" lens covers a host of everyday shooting genres and is perfect to get you started, making this a great buy to get you going straight out of the box.

🇬🇧 This camera is second on my list of recommendations for good reason: it's affordable, capable and very compact. Good for beginners and budget shooters, its small size makes it great for travel as well. Throw in the equally tiny RF-S 18-45mm lens (a 28.8-72mm equivalent) and this easily fits in small bags or a car glovebox. It's not a great 4K camera, but it's ideal for pure still photography.

🇬🇧 I have this camera, and I love it. This exact combo is my everyday carry, as the 20.3MP Micro Four Thirds sensor keeps both the camera and the power zoom pancake lens ultra small (not to mention slick-looking). It has a 180° flip-down selfie screen, 4.5 stops of stabilization and a bunch of built-in photo and video filters. It even has two control dials and pop-up flash on its tiny frame.

🇬🇧 The 24MP Sony A6100 has long been a popular APS-C option for anyone after a powerful, portable camera with great autofocus and 4K capture. The A6000 is cheaper, but I think the 180° flipping LCD screen makes this a much more useful camera. Just remember that this doesn't come with a lens, so check out the best Sony Black Friday deals to find a bargain optic to go with it.

🇬🇧 You can pick up the Action 3 for £169, but honestly for the extra 30 quid I think it's worth going for the most recent model – it's still 47% off the regular price, so you're still getting a hell of a bargain! It captures video at up to 4K 120p or FullHD 240p, and it's waterproof to 18m / 60ft – which is double that of the GoPro Hero 11 (even though it lacks the 5.3K resolution of its rival).

🇬🇧 Whether you're looking for a rugged camera or a great go-anywhere, shoot-anything compact, the Tough is a great option. I bought this camera because it's waterproof, shockproof, shatterproof, freezeproof… it's a phenomenal vacation and adventure camera. And it takes great photos and 4K 30p / FullHD 120p video with its 25-100mm lens – especially with its brilliant built-in macro modes.