The best compact cameras under $100 can be on hand and almost always ready even when you can’t carry around your main camera. A photographer with a DSLR or mirrorless camera can find a good reason to want an inexpensive camera. It’s not all about stepping up from a smartphone camera, though. Last but not least, you gain a tripod mount, letting you use a table top or travel tripod for even more photographic options. Couple that with the faster lens and that results in more flash range and better exposures. The flash in a small camera is often more powerful than what’s in a phone. Other features may include ultra close up macro focusing, time lapse photography, image stabilization, and even multiple video modes.įlash is another feature that smaller cameras are good at. Some of the extra features may be special exposure modes, like nighttime settings, landscape, portrait, or sports settings. Other than optical reasons, a small camera will often have extra features. All other things being more or less equal, a better lens will result in better photographs. Some of the lens designs are from very reputable optics companies like Zeiss, Leica, Schneider-Kreuznach, Nikon, and Canon. Even the least expensive current digital cameras generally have about 5X optical zoom, some will have even more.īesides the zoom range, the lens aperture is usually faster and has the ability to stop down more, too.

Some smartphone cameras don’t have optical zoom at all, relying on digital for all zooming. A cell phone camera might have optical zooming of about 3X and digitally enhanced zoom beyond that.

Best camera 2015 for about $100