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Features

The Best Cameras Under $1000 for New Photographers

Chris Gampat
No Comments
07/15/2022
4 Mins read
Brett Day The Phoblographer Olympus EM10 IV

If you’re looking for more affordable cameras, then we’ve got great news for you. We’ve found a bunch in our archives that we’re sure photographers will love. Want to move up beyond your smartphone? Well, it’s easy to do with these. What about getting into content creation? Well, these cameras can surely help. But even if you want to get into photography for fun, these cameras can do most of what you’ll need. Here are the best cameras under $1000 for new photographers.

How We Chose the Best Cameras Under $1000 for New Photographers

Here’s some insight into how we chose the best cameras under $1,000:

  • Our ethics don’t allow us to talk about anything we haven’t reviewed. With that in mind, all the images in this round up were created by us. We also have links to our fuller reviews in each section.
  • The best cameras under $1,000 won’t have the highest end features. But they’ll take far better photos than what your phone can do.
  • These cameras aren’t guaranteed to have weather resistance, so keep that in mind as you go out photographing.
  • These cameras are incredibly lightweight! So you’ll want to take them around with you all the time.
  • Yes, these cameras can be good for content creation if you want to get into that kind of thing.

Fujifilm XE4

Pros

  • The same sensor and processor as the pricier XT4
  • Compact design
  • Classic look and feel
  • Addition of a P mode

Cons

  • No in-body stabilization
  • No ISO dial
  • No weather-sealing
  • Autofocus tracking is sub-par

In our review, we state:

“The XE4 isn’t Fujifilm’s best camera — but it is compact and shoots great photos for the price point. The image quality is on par with cameras that cost twice as much. It maintains the excellent color and noise reduction of pricier cameras, as well as Fujifilm’s film color profiles.”

Buy Now

Canon EOS M6 Mk II

Pros

  • Beautiful colors
  • The sound of the shutter will appeal to long-time photographers
  • It feels like a solid, impressive camera
  • Canon’s implementation of the Touch and Drag AF system is the best it’s ever been with the Canon EOS M6 Mk II.
  • Pretty stellar battery life
  • You’ve got more megapickles than you need. U DONT NEED MOAR MEGAPICKLES!!!!

Cons

  • I really wish it was weather sealed
  • An integrated viewfinder would have put this over the top

In our review, we state:

“Despite the Canon EOS M6 Mk II not having weather sealing, I’m pleased with the camera. It just means that you need to be a tad more careful with it. Photographers who are hobbyists will seriously enjoy it. But in addition to that, a professional looking for something smaller to simply toss around will be very satisfied. The camera not only takes excellent images but has a very satisfying shutter sound. I can’t get over it. It sounds and feels like an old school film camera in some ways. The autofocus is also excellent in good lighting. Once things dim a little, though, it can suffer in some situations. The face detection is very good, and I can’t really complain about that at all. Overall, I think that the Canon M6 Mk II is a great camera.”

Buy Now

Olympus EM10 Mk IV

Pros

  • Small size and weight
  • Great image quality (albeit from a now 5-year-old sensor)
  • Excellent ergonomics for its size
  • Lovely retro looks
  • Fun and easy to use One-touch Panoramic and Live Comp modes
  • New autofocus algorithms have made a big impact
  • 5-axis image stabilization works like a charm

Cons

  • Battery life is not great
  • No weather sealing
  • Quite unbalanced when used with larger lenses
  • No touch menus and poor menus overall
  • Still only contrast AF
  • Priced a little on the high side ($699 body only $799 kit)

In our review, we state:

“The Olympus EM10 IV scores a solid four out of five stars. The EM10 IV has just enough improvements over the three-year-old EM10 III to make it a worthwhile upgrade. The 20MP sensor is excellent, and the camera feels great in hand. The improved autofocus is also fantastic. Add in one-touch live comp and the new panoramic mode and you have an excellent little camera. The amount of fun you’ll have with the EM10 IV makes it a worthwhile buy. If it had weather sealing and better battery life, it would have been a homerun.”

Buy Now

The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product. We only recommend gear we’ve fully reviewed. If you’re wondering why your favorite product didn’t make the cut, there’s a chance it’s on another list. If we haven’t reviewed it, we won’t recommend it. This method keeps our lists packed with industry-leading knowledge. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

camera canon canon eos M6 Mk II fujifilm fujifilm xe4 olympus olympus em10 mk iv review Under $1000
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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