7 Best Digital Camera under 200 Dollars (Compact DSLR Cameras)

Which is the Best Digital Camera under 200 Dollars?

Digital cameras are just as popular as they have ever been, and this is in spite of the fact that iPhones and Android phones are increasingly used by people to take photographs.  Regardless of how many photographs you take with your iPhone or Android, it won’t have a professional look and feel to it. That is why you should consider investing in the best camera under 200 USD.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money on a nice, best budget camera; there are plenty of decent digital cameras under 200 dollars available. You will get a great value on the digital cameras made by some of the biggest brands in the market such as Nikon, Canon, and Fujifilm.

The best camera under 200 dollars that you can buy right now will have much more features than those that were sold in the market only 2- years ago. This is because of the huge advancements in digital camera technology.

The best digital camera under 200 dollars can be taken on the trail for nature or wildlife photography. They can also be used for outdoor, nature, landscape and fashion photography, point and shoot photography and for shooting great videos. The best cameras under 200 dollars are compact, inexpensive and certainly worth a buy.

 

What Should You Look For In the Best Camera Under 200 Dollars?

You should look for the following when investing in the best camera under $200….

Who is it for? – Are you buying the camera for your children? Are you buying it for yourself? Are you a professional photographer, or someone with intermediate photography skills? If you are a beginner photographer, then a camera that costs $200 is the right one to get started with. If you are a professional photographer, then you should look elsewhere.

Ease of Use – How easy is the camera to use? Can it be used by a beginner to photography with the same efficiency as with an experienced photographer? The best camera under 200 dollars will have many intuitive automatic control options, which makes it easier for you to take great photographs. These cameras come with a touchscreen display that makes them easy to operate.

Build Quality – You will find many inexpensive cameras in the market that come with a really poor build quality and cheap design. That’s not the sort of camera you should be buying. You should invest in cameras with proper build quality, which doesn’t appear to be too light when you hold them. For example, consider the battery compartment door. Does it appear to be poorly constructed to you by any means?

Digital Zoom and the Image Quality – The digital zoom is an important feature of most digital cameras. What you don’t want is for the digital zoom to lead to any loss of image quality. For this, you will need to consider the optical zoom measurement carefully.

The best budget cameras that cost $200 or less come with an optical zoom lens- but the size of the zoom lenses has come down in recent years. You will find many older models with 50X zooms, but most of the cameras under $200 of today come with 10X or 20X optical zoom lenses.

Battery Life – Most of the cameras that cost $200 or less come with small batteries, so you cannot really expect much of a battery life from them. You can shoot up to 100 to 150 photos on a single charge. Bear in mind that the Wi-Fi can drain the battery life quickly, so keep the Wi-Fi on only when you really need to.

Camera Size – Cameras in this price range are generally smaller in size compared to the more expensive cameras. They are thinner and more lightweight, and easier to carry around.

Image Sensor – Cameras that cost $200 or less come with small image sensors of between 1 to 2.3-inches that deliver a much-improved image quality.

Resolution – You should pay attention to the resolution of these cameras. This plays an important role in the quality of the photographs that you will be getting.

Movie Recording – One of the biggest changes seen in the low-cost cameras of today is that they are capable of high-quality HD movie recording.

Display Screen – You will need the camera to have a high-resolution screen as it competes directly with iPhones and Android phones which have high-quality displays. A touchscreen display is priceless when it comes to digital cameras.

Built-in Wireless Connectivity – It helps if the camera has built-in Wi-Fi capability. But use Wi-Fi only when you really need to, as that consumes a lot of the battery life. Best trail cameras

 

Here’s a Look at the Best Cameras under 200 Dollars…

(1) Canon PowerShot ELPH 170 IS (Black)

Canon PowerShot ELPH 170 IS is a decent inexpensive camera that comes with a 10X zoom, a 20-megapixel sensor and shoots videos at 720p. It comes with a number of useful features such as image stabilization – which is why it is referred to as “IS”.

It also comes with a number of different scene modes, smart auto and works through the Canon app – which means you can trigger the camera from your smartphone without even holding it in your hands. This camera makes use of Wi-Fi for synching your photographs and sharing them.

Canon is one of the world’s leading camera makers and has a record of making top-notch cameras for many decades. They make their cameras for the budget conscious crowd or for beginners. This camera is certainly an ideal fit for amateur photographers. It features fun and interesting settings such as Monochrome effects, Toy camera, Fisheye and more and is available in red, blue and black colors.  It certainly makes for a great birthday gift for children.

In fact, it is more than that. This is an ideal camera to use if your expectations are not too high and you only need to take a few simple shots. It functions as a smart camera in a lot of ways and can be easily integrated with your phone. This camera is surprisingly easy to use and very fast. It is capable of taking the point and shoot photographs in the most effortless manner possible.

 

(2) Sony DSCWX220/B 18.2 MP Digital Camera with 2.7-Inch LCD (Black)

The Sony DSCWX220/B 18.2 MP Digital Camera is an inexpensive camera that is not as fast or as advanced as some of the models in the market. But it serves its purpose. This camera comes with an 8X optical zoom. It is not the most responsive camera in the world, so don’t expect to take great shots in a lightning fast mode – other than that, this camera is good enough for its price tag.

It comes with a number of great features such as a live view, face detection, tracking focus and more which allow you to take just the sort of pictures you need to take. You can shoot videos with this camera at 20.1 megapixels. The camera is quite small and portable and can be taken along anywhere you want.

 

(3) Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 Neo Classic Instant Film Camera

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 Neo Classic Instant Film Camera is the latest in a long history of instant cameras made by Fujifilm, a legendary camera maker from Japan, which has been in the business for many decades now.

What makes this camera so special is its authentic vintage design. You will love operating this camera as it is a digital camera but looks like something from the past when cameras were much simpler devices. This brings back fond memories for sure.

The Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 Neo Classic Instant Film camera shoots pictures fast and immediately prints the images, much in the manner of a Polaroid.  It detects the brightness of the surroundings easily and adjusts the flash and shutter speed in accordance with that. This camera is just as capable of short distance photography as it is able to capture fast-moving objects.

The best part is that this camera comes with a double exposure mode, which captures 2 images on a single film sheet. This can be combined with much different light and dark options, flash modes, timers and macros to deliver high-quality photography. Best radar detectors in the market

 

(4) Nikon Coolpix S7000 16 MP Digital Camera with 20x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom 3-Inch LCD (Black)

The Nikon Coolpix S7000 16 MP Digital Camera is one of the best cameras under 200 USD. It comes with a 20X optical zoom, which is more than decent and features NIKKOR glass lens. This is a very sophisticated lens and can capture sceneries from a distance.

The camera has an ergonomically sound design, which is similar to the traditional SLR cameras in a lot of ways. You certainly won’t be discomforted in any way when taking pictures.

It also comes with many interesting features such as 6 camera filter types ranging from Party Mode to Portrait Mode. These modes adjust the flash automatically to match the lighting that is available in the surroundings. There is another feature called as the Picture Effect, which adds a bit of creativity to your pictures during the editing.

The 2.7 inch LCD display is easy to read and makes it simple for you to compose shots and play with the settings even outside in the sun. The camera shoots videos at 720p and has a sharp picture quality, which captures pictures in vibrant color and sharp detail.

 

(5) Canon PowerShot SD960IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.8-inch LCD (Silver)

The Canon PowerShot SD960IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera is a simple point and shoot camera which has an easy navigation, simple controls, and efficient operations. It is capable of taking great shots with its 12.1-megapixel sensor.

It has a sleek and ergonomic design which makes it easy to handle. This camera is very much portable and easy to carry around. It captures photographs in reasonable detail with its 28mm wide angle lens and 4x optical zoom. It is capable of HD movie shooting through an HDMI output.

 

(6) 1080p HD Infrared Night Vision and Full Spectrum Camcorder – Ghost Hunting Camera

The Ghost Hunting Camera is a very good price to pay for this unique and original camera. It comes with many interesting features such as allowing you to take photographs at 24 megapixels – which is very good for a camera in this price category.

Here’s what makes it special – this camera claims to record ghosts, believe it or no. It shoots videos at 1080p at 30 frames per second. The only real issue is the battery life, which is never more than 1 hour on a single charge.

 

(7) Nikon COOLPIX L32 Digital Camera with 5x Wide-Angle NIKKOR Zoom Lens

The Nikon COOLPIX L32 Digital Camera is a very cheap digital camera which offers only a 5x zoom, which is not much. It is small in size and is not for serious professionals by any stretch of the imagination.

However, if you have a kid in the house and his or her birthday is approaching fast, you should buy the Nikon COOLPIX L32 Digital Camera for him or her.

Kids will love using this camera, it is an excellent camera for absolute beginners, in fact. It records videos at 720p and features a user-friendly 3 inch LCD. It has some nifty built-in effects too and is fun to use.

 

Do let us know your experience in comments if you have tried any of the “best digital camera under 200 dollars” listed above.