What are people buying for Cyber Monday? These are the top 5 cameras at Amazon right now

Amazon logo with camera icon
(Image credit: Amazon)

With such a whirlwind of discounts since Black Friday season started, I'm really interested to see what people are actually buying as the Cyber Monday camera deals hit full swing.

Looking at the Amazon mirrorless sales chart, what's obvious is that Canon and Sony remain absolutely dominant – even with all the manufacturers desperately slashing prices to gain market share. Looking at the top 20 sellers, 11 are Canon products and 8 are Sony (with the other one being a nasty little off-brand camera).

The next big takeaway is that all the manufacturers who abandoned the entry-level segment are losing out, because both the Canon EOS R100 and R50 – two of the best cameras for beginners – are selling like hand over fist.

Lastly, it's interesting to note that all but one of the top five cameras are super-compact APS-C bodies (although there are three more full frame bodies when you look to the top ten, with the Canon EOS R6 Mark II in sixth, EOS R8 in seventh, and the Sony A7 IV in ninth).

So then, here's the top five:

Canon EOS R100 + 18-45mm lens
Canon EOS R100 + 18-45mm lens: was $599 now $399 at Amazon

The entry-level R100 with the RF-S 18-45mm lens is the top seller right now, and for good reason – this is unbelievably good value for beginners and budget-conscious buyers.

Canon EOS R100 twin lens kit
Canon EOS R100 twin lens kit: was $829.99 now $499 at Amazon

For an extra hundred bucks, this bundle also throws in the 55-210mm lens – giving most photographers all the focal lengths they'll need. I can see why everyone is buying this.

Sony ZV-E10 + 16-50mm PZ lens
Sony ZV-E10 + 16-50mm PZ lens: was $799.99 now $698 at Amazon

A great deal for anyone looking to get into vlogging, Sony's compact content creation camera comes bundled with the similarly small Power Zoom lens for maximum versatility.

Sony A7 III + 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 lens
Sony A7 III + 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 lens: was $1,999.99 now $1,498 at Amazon

Surprise surprise, Sony's perennially popular A7 III is selling like hot cakes yet again, this time with the 28-70mm standard zoom – a great pairing for just about anyone.

Canon EOS R50 + 18-45mm lens
Canon EOS R50 + 18-45mm lens: was $799.99 now $699 at Amazon

The R50 expands on the R100's offering with its fully articulating touchscreen, uncropped 4K, improved burst mode, newer sensor and more modern autofocus system.

It's times like this that it really hits home just how much of the market Nikon has lost to everyone else; Nikon doesn't even crack the top 30 (the Nikon Z8 comes in at 33), while both Panasonic (with the Lumix G7 and G85) and Fujifilm (with the X-T5) managed to creep in at the tail end of it.

Canon and Sony clearly know what customers want – even if it's product that internet experts thumb their noses at. I can't tell you the amount of nonsense I've read about the EOS R100 (a camera I've always championed) from certain websites, but it's exactly what a certain segment of the market wants, needs, and is clearly buying in huge quantities.

This sort of data is a useful reminder that, while camera geeks get very sniffy about anything other than tippy top models, the cameras that the public is interested in is actually at the other end of the spectrum.

Check out the best Cyber Monday Canon deals along with the best Sony Cyber Monday deals.

James Artaius
Editor

James has 22 years experience as a journalist, serving as editor of Digital Camera World for 6 of them. He started working in the photography industry in 2014, product testing and shooting ad campaigns for Olympus, as well as clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal. An Olympus / OM System, Canon and Hasselblad shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and he loves instant cameras, too.