Best Street Camera for EVERY Budget ($100 - $1600)
I get asked all the time what camera should I buy for x budget? Well in this video I'm going to make a recommendation for every budget starting at $100 then doubling all the way up to $1600 which I think is kind of the upper threshold for a budget friendly camera depending on the individual. So let's get into it.
$100 Budget: The Beginner DSLRs
Starting off at the base budget of $100 let's reset our expectations for just a sec. We're going to need to turn back time around 20 years till we can find a solid digital camera that will produce great images for less than $100 with a lens which can be a bit of a challenge.
In the early to mid 2000s cameras definitely hit a certain threshold that is more than usable for most people today for street photography, travel photography, landscape photography. Here from this era you can definitely find DSLRs from Canon and Nikon going for less than £50 or $50 on the used market.
Recommended Models: Canon Digital Rebel & Nikon D70
Canon Digital Rebel: The original Canon Rebel comes in this very cool silver. It uses an SD card which is great if you are a modern photographer, and it already uses a CMOS sensor like most modern cameras.
Nikon D70: Has around 6 megapixels, but uses compact flash so you might need a specific reader or adapter depending on your current setup. The D70 actually uses a CCD sensor which could be interesting if you're looking for a more unique look.
Both also have a modest handful of autofocus points which was the style at the time. Lenses for both of these mounts are also crazy abundant because of just how long they've been around for and very affordable on the used market. You can get a standard kit zoom for Nikon around $60 or for the Canon for around $50 to $60 as well.
This CCD sensor technology can also be found in the Nikon D200. This also has a CCD sensor, uses compact flash and had about 10 megapixels so it's a good kind of benchmark to get some examples from if you like the D70.
$200 Budget: Entering the Mirrorless World
Next we're going to double up our price from $100 to $200 and this gets us past the world of mirrors.
There are definitely still some great DSLRs on offer here at this price, but for $200 we definitely get into the mirrorless side of things. Just with the old Canon and Nikon mounts we're going to look at one of the older mirrorless camera lens mounts, and in this specific example this is going to be the Sony E-mount which has plenty of cameras and plenty of lenses available for very little money.
We're looking at APS-C sensor cameras from the early 2010s in this category with respectable resolutions of around 14 megapixels. I would personally choose anything from the early Sony NEX cameras all the way up to the A5000 series if you can afford it or get a good deal.
I can personally vouch for the Sony NEX5. You can find deals for less than $200 for the body only, or paired with the zoom for $200 all in. Shooting with an E-mount camera like this means you have an open lens mount with a continuous stream of budget third-party lenses constantly being released, along with all the first-party lenses from Sony and kind of long-standing third-party manufacturers like Tamron and Sigma.
$400 Budget: Compact Micro Four-Thirds
Taking a moderate jump up to $400, this definitely opens up your choices from more brands depending on DSLRs, mirrorless, smaller sensors, larger sensors. But I actually want to put forward a smaller sensor camera system where you might be able to get one camera and a couple of prime lenses that I think make for a very nice pocketable travel and street photography kit: Micro Four-Thirds.
For the budget of $400 you can definitely get a body plus a couple of nice pancake prime lenses. While there are some options from Lumix that I'd recommend for over $400 like the GX7 or the GX80 or 85 depending on your region, here I'd like to suggest the Olympus EPL6.
Building an Olympus EPL6 Prime Kit
You can find the body only for less than $200 or some great lens bundles for around $300. Personally I'd suggest finding the body only for as low as possible and then going and hunting for specific prime lenses that you're interested in:
Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7
Panasonic Lumix 14mm f/2.5
You can easily build up a nice little kit with the EPL6 plus a couple of lenses like these and get some great image quality in very pocketable size. You also have a nice flexibility of prime lenses rather than just relying on a basic kit zoom.
$800 Budget: The Fujifilm Sweet Spot
Next doubling up again we're reaching probably the most ideal budget for buying a used camera, and that is $800. For this amount of money you have many options, but I want to give you one specific recommendation that I think fits the bill for any street or travel photographer: the Fujifilm X-T2.
The Fujifilm X-T2
You can find much better deals for this around $500 for the body only. Fujifilm lenses brand new and even used can be fairly expensive, but you can find affordable third-party options either new or used, or you can look for a bundle with the standard f/2.8 to f/4 variable aperture zoom in a bundle for $800.
I say the X-T2 specifically from first hand experience and because it has a nice balance of image quality, build quality, and features along with things like F-Log video (even though it's only in 8-bit and there's no IBIS). I actually think this is a very feature-packed camera for the price.
You get that lovely Fujifilm image quality, film simulations, and the kind of digital zone focus setup for street photography that I particularly love. This camera honestly to me is kind of the best balance of value and features specifically from Fujifilm.
For third-party lenses, you can shoot with a very cheap TTArtisan 23mm f/1.8 which sells new for around $130, so finding that either new or used you can still get great image quality.
$1600 Budget: Full-Frame Hybrid or Brand New Compact
Last but not least we're doubling up one more time to $1600. For this amount of money you can definitely get something full frame that's second hand or you can actually get something brand new.
Full-Frame Hybrid: Sony A7C
Personally for this price I'd lean towards a full frame hybrid option like the original Sony A7C, which can be found at this price point with extra room to afford a solid prime or a pair of prime lenses. The A7C goes for around $1000 to $1100 without a lens, so that's an additional five to six hundred dollar budget for picking up a lens or two. Or you can actually find the A7C as body only or even bundles for a thousand dollars or even less.
Then if you're on the hunt for specific street prime lenses, you have additional budget left to pick up something really nice like:
Sony 40mm f/2.5 G lens (goes for around $500)
Viltrox 40mm f/2.5
TTArtisan 40mm f/2
Help support this ad-free blog by checking out my store.
What style can I expect from these presets?
These presets are based on specific Kodak Film Stocks, Fujifilm Film Stocks and various film stocks I have shot in various lighting conditions which you can see in the preview images for each pack.
How many presets are in this pack?
30 - with low and high grain versions for each preset.
Each preset has both .xmp and .dng file types.
Which software supports these presets?
You can choose from these Adobe softwares:
Lightroom Classic
Lightroom CC Desktop
Lightroom CC Mobile
Photoshop (adobe camera raw)
