5 Best Cameras for Beginners in 2021

what's up guys it's river and today we're looking at my top five cameras specifically for beginners whether you're just starting out or you're a little bit further along in your journey i have five cameras that would be perfect for anyone that's looking to get into both photography and video and i also made sure to make all of these cameras extremely affordable and give you a really good value for your money so let's do a deep dive and find the perfect starter camera for you let's get into it [Music] by the way if you're new to the channel we talk about anything and everything to do with camera gear from entry level to high end professional gear plus filmmaking techniques to take your work to the next level so make sure to subscribe for all the fun content we have coming out this year also i'm leaving links down below in the description to all the cameras that we talk about today plus gear that i personally use to make all my work let's get into the video the first camera on our list is the canon t7 also known as the world's best-selling dslr camera why because it has an amazing 24 megapixel sensor amazing canon colors great autofocus for photos and it's also extremely extremely affordable this is the camera that i recommend to most beginners that are just starting out with photo and video as for photos it does five frames per second with continuous autofocus in full raw at this price point that's really impressive this camera is really well suited for fashion portraits lifestyle basically anything that doesn't have a lot of movement i would not use this camera for sports or action in terms of video it does full hd at 24 and 30 frames per second with 60 frames per second at 720p it's unfortunate that they don't have 60 frames per second in full hd but at this price point i'm not that upset when it comes to autofocus in this camera for photos it is fabulous it is literally impossible to get an autofocus shot but with video it does tend to struggle quite a bit it's not quite sticky and it cannot track objects or faces i would definitely use this camera in manual focus when it comes to video however what makes this camera a great buy are actually the canon colors these colors look great right out of the camera and you really don't need that much editing to get a beautiful image so if you're a beginner i definitely recommend getting a canon camera because you're simply going to save a ton of time and you're going to get great work right from the start design wise it's a really good camera it's well built the ergonomics are great and has a really solid battery life it really doesn't feel like a starter camera however there are a few things i don't like about this camera for example it doesn't have any digital stabilization it doesn't have a flip screen and it doesn't have an external audio jack but these are probably things i wouldn't need if i'm shooting photos this camera basically gives you everything a proper photo dslr would without all the fancy bells and whistles the canon t7 is a really good choice as your first photo dslr but it's probably not the best for video if you're looking to do video i have something perfect for you later in this list next up we have the nikon d3500 it's a slightly more advanced photo camera and has a lot of what the canon t7 was missing the d3500 has a 24 megapixel sensor with a really powerful raw codec plus really fantastic photo autofocus and pretty decent video autofocus plus this camera is pretty decent and low light you get 3200 iso clean which is not very common for an entry level camera as for photos it does five frames per second in continuous autofocus however that's the same as the canon t7 but the nikon does not have the same great colors as the canon camera so it's kind of a letdown in this department however the raw codec in nikon cameras is much more powerful than the canon raw codec and you can push the colors and the image overall much further in photoshop and lightroom as for video it does full hd at 24 30 and 60 frames per second which is something that was missing from the canon t7 the autofocus for video is still just decent but it's a whole lot better than the canon t7 in case you were trying to compare the two design wise it's a really well built camera with a really great layout plus a really really solid battery this camera would be totally acceptable to do professional work with and this camera has all the shortcut buttons that i would normally expect to find on my professional dslr which makes it extremely easy to use sadly this camera still doesn't have an audio jack or a flip out screen however it does have a built-in guide mode that actually teaches you how to use this camera and teaches you how to do good photography it's extremely helpful if you're a beginner the nikon d3500 is perfect for a beginner that wants a little bit more horsepower in their starter camera but they still want to maintain an affordable price point if you're interested in buying a camera that you would normally have to pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars for i have some great news for you a lot of you guys know me as the guy on youtube that reviews cameras but i've actually been a director and cinematographer working in the film industry for many many years i've traveled all over the globe to shoot projects and i've worked with some of the biggest brands out there not only that i've also helped dozens of my friends get into video and photography as a hobby but also turn into a high paying side hustle so i wanted to help i wanted to show you guys step by step how to take your beginner or intermediate level camera and turn that into a high paying side hustle probably the number one reason i hear from people as to why they don't start making money with photography and video which they love to do is that they don't have time or money to invest the camera itself is already a pretty big investment so i made this course exactly for those people someone who doesn't feel comfortable or doesn't want to quit their job right now but still wants to make a few thousand dollars a month but only working a few weekends you might be a student who already owns a camera and wants to make a little bit of money or you might be an accountant or engineer who loves their job but just wants to make a little bit of side cash for something you want to buy down the road or you might be somebody that wants to make a career out of photography and video and wants to get the best start possible in the industry you can get started with the camera you already own or the camera you're about to buy at the end of this video so if i have your attention and you know you're interested check out the link in the description down below to get started for the side hustle course also as a bonus anybody watching this video will get my lut pack for absolutely free and you can make your work and your colors look exactly like mine so be sure to check out the side hustle course and with that being said let's get back into the video next up we have the sony a6000 and its older brother the sony a6100 they're still beginner cameras but both of these cameras have a ton of horsepower at a very affordable price points both cameras have a 24 megapixel sensor and blazing fast autofocus for both photos and videos the a6000 does a whopping 10 frames per second while the a6100 does 11 frames per second both cameras are pretty comparable in power but the a6100 has a few extra bells and whistles both cameras have a really powerful raw codec the a6000 does 12-bit raw while the a6100 does 14-bit raw it may not seem like a lot but 14 bit raw is a lot more powerful than 12 bit raw the a6000 gives you full hd up to 60 frames per second and if you set up a flat profile you can color grade this camera pretty easily the a6100 blows the composition away with 4k at both 24 and 30 frames per second and full hd up to 120 frames per second at this price point these specs are absolutely insane the e6000 has pretty standard colors right out of the camera and they really don't look that great when compared to canon cameras however the a6100 has the updated sony venice color science which looks very competitive when compared to canon cameras and you get pretty good results right out of the camera if you plan on using the color straight out of the camera without much editing i would definitely go with the a6100 both cameras are well made nice and compact and really well designed however the menu system can be a little bit complex the one thing missing from both of these cameras is the lack of a microphone input it would have been really nice to see on these cameras because they're both really good video cameras however i don't think that's necessarily a problem if you're doing a music video you're going to be syncing up your audio in post anyways and you're not going to be recording any audio on set if you're doing a narrative film you can use the internal mics for scratch audio and then sync up your audio later from your sound guys so i don't think the lack of external audio is an issue but it would have been really nice to see the a6000 has a pretty decent tilt screen for high and low shots however the a6100 has a full flip-up screen that actually allows you to see yourself this is a really nice addition both cameras are really well priced with a ton of horsepower and raw speed if you're a beginner that wants a camera that can kind of do it all this camera is definitely for you and the next camera is the canon sl2 it's a slightly older camera but it is still a fantastic value as a beginner the sl2 has a 24 megapixel sensor and it does the standard 5 frames per second in full raw with continuous autofocus but where this camera really shines is video if you wanted something like the canon t7 but with all the bells and whistles for video this camera is for you this camera does full hd at 24 30 and 60 frames per second with dual pixel autofocus which is a fantastic auto focusing system specifically for video it does a fantastic job it's extremely reliable and very easy to use plus it has digital image stabilization which makes a huge difference when it comes to shooting video sadly the sl2 does not have 4k however most canon cameras tend to do a huge crop on their sensor when you go into 4k mode except for the canon 90d and i don't like the 4k in most canon cameras if you want 4k at this price point i would definitely go with the sony a6100 the canon sl3 which is the update to the canon sl2 does have 4k however i don't think that camera is worth the money and the 4k does not look very good the dual pixel autofocus in the canon cameras does a fantastic job with both photos and videos and it's pretty neck and neck with the sony cameras however i prefer the canon cameras dual pixel autofocus simply because the autofocus poles are very organic and it seems like a person changing focus rather than a robot and when it comes to building design it's pretty much exactly the same as most canon dslrs it's well made well designed the ergonomics are great you really can't go wrong with a canon camera and two things that i absolutely loved about this camera were a flip screen for high and low angle shots and also being able to see yourself plus an external microphone input for better audio these two things make this such a good video camera in a great value for both photos and videos you could use this camera to shoot food fashion small commercials food vlogging whatever your creative heart desires this camera has you covered the canon sl2 is an ideal camera for a beginner mainly looking to do video the sony cameras do have better specs however i prefer the colors coming out of a canon camera and if it came down to it i would definitely pick a canon camera because of the colors over a sony camera any day the last camera on the list is the dji pocket osmo it's for someone that wants to take their filmmaking to the next level before we talk about specs what makes this camera truly interesting unique is the fact that it has a 3-axis built-in gyroscopically stabilized gimbal which is a fancy way of saying that this camera gives you completely smooth motion that's similar to a cinematic film the 3-axis gimbal gives you smooth and cinematic motion that makes it look like a movie and immediately elevates your work by having a gimbal built right in you actually save about 500 because you have the stabilizer built into your camera specs wise this camera has a 12 megapixel sensor but despite the small sensor dji has done a great job giving you a great value for your money this camera does 4k at 60 frames per second and 120 frames per second in full hd also this camera has a built-in flat profile so you can professionally color grade your footage and this camera can also connect to your phone using the dji app which gives you a ton of cool features using the phone app you can use your phone as a monitor to see what your camera's seeing control your camera through the monitor but also it has a feature built in that will take all of your clips and compile them into an edit for you that will save you a ton of time design wise this camera is super small and compact and it only has an lcd and a record button the build quality is super solid if you take care of it it should last you a very long time however controlling this camera is definitely easier through your phone app but the lcd screen works just fine sadly this camera does not have a built-in audio jack however you can buy a 50 attachment that does give you an audio jack and this camera does also have a pretty small battery life but that's easily fixable with a 20 to 30 dollar power bank which you can plug right into the camera overall i think this camera is a fantastic value you get a camera a stabilizer and an editing software all in one for 4.99 this is one of the best values on the market today and if you're a beginner you're going to get fantastic footage right from the beginning because everything will look smooth and cinematic well guys that's pretty much it for the best beginner cameras if you guys enjoyed this video make sure to leave a like and if you guys have any questions about this camera whatsoever hit me up in the comments down below and i'll make sure i help you guys find the perfect starter camera for you as always the links to all the products we talked about today are down below in the description so be sure to check that out and last but not least make sure to subscribe for all the fun content we have coming this year filmmaking techniques camera reviews and tons of stuff about the industry in general make sure to subscribe and i'll see you guys in the next video you

Channel: Tech Through The Lens

Views: 271,170

Rating: 4.8907137 out of 5

Keywords: Tech Through The Lens, Camera Reviews, Best Cameras for Beginner 2021, Best Cameras for Beginner, Best Beginner Camera 2021, Best Beginner Camera

Id: ga_f5k4cm6o

Length: 13min 56sec (836 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 09 2021