How to Choose a Digital Camera
Getting into photography? Thinking of upgrading?
Here’s most of what I know about cameras (of the digital variety) so that you yourself can make the most informed choice as you dive deeper in the world of photography.
Already know more or less what you’re after? Dive straight to the recommendations.
First Question: What are you trying to achieve?
Buying a camera can be overwhelming. Choosing a camera that allows you to capture the photos you’re actually after is the most helpful place to start. Some things to consider:
Purpose of the photos – Social media, prints, personal documentation, professional work.
Subject matter – Landscapes, portraits, travel, wildlife, street photography, or a mix.
Level of control – Do you want a camera that just works out of the box, or one that gives full manual control?
Frequency and context – Will you carry it daily, take it on trips, or use it in a studio?
Defining your goals early will immediately help rule out a large portion of the vast range of cameras on the market. If none of the above resonates, don’t worry, there are options that can be tailored to any approach, and we’ll cover those below.
Second Question: Form Factor?
No matter what your answer was to the first question; the size, weight and feel of your new camera will impact not only whether your able to achieve what you’re after - but whether your enjoying it enough to go out and actually do it.
A quick example:
You love hiking and you want to start documenting the spectacular views:
don’t pick up what might at first be the obvious choice - the ultra high resolution large camera.
You’ll simply leave it at home due to size and weight. You’ve forgotten your primary purpose of your trip - the hiking. Pick a form factor that actually allows you actually achieve your goal.
Here are the most common choices I’ll run through with you:
Compact
Point & Shoot (a smaller, simplified compact)
Professional Mirrorless (Cropped & Full-Frame)
DSLR
Medium Format
As I got through the formats and my recommendations, work out which allows you to achieve the goal you’ve worked out from above.
Compact Cameras
Compact cameras in this context are small, lightweight, and highly portable — their primary advantage. Many feature a fixed wide-angle lens, but unlike casual point-and-shoot models, they offer meaningful manual control, allowing photographers to engage deliberately with exposure, focus, and composition.
This category is aimed at those who want to take their photography seriously, whether by prioritizing creative control or appreciating the camera itself as a well-designed, stylish object.
The segment is well-populated with capable models, and for many photographers, one of these cameras is sufficient to handle a broad range of photographic goals. Popular examples include Fuji’s X100 series, Nikon ZF, and Ricoh’s GR range.
Lots of people exploring this category arrive at the conclusion that what they’re after is a Fujifilm. As a Fuji fan myself I totally get this. The looks, feel and photos output are raved about online and many people are already sold by the brand - they just need to choose a model. Don’t get me wrong, there are other options in this space (which I’ll also cover) but here is a quick guide to buying into the compact Fuji system.
You first have to decide whether you’re happy to buy used. Clearly there is more value to be had this way - at the cost of ensuring what you’re buying is in good condition + the lack of warranty. The older Fuji cameras are still impressive today - the biggest differentiator to the new stuff is the reduced number of ‘film simulations’, poorer battery life and not as good autofocus. For someone with a reduced budget I usually recommend these are compromises that are fine to take.
Then there are two choices:
Integrated lens cameras (The X100 series & X-half)
An interchangeable lens body paired with a compact lens. (X-E, X-Pro, X-M, X-Txx series)
But the choice is really: are you ok with the limitation of a fixed focal length? For a compact camera - a fixed focal length is often a blessing in disguise. It removes a choice allowing more thought to focus on the photo and composition itself. And for wandering around taking street photos or travel documentary - often having one thing always decided for you allows you to enjoy the photography more - and learn how to compose for that focal length. However if you ever fancy exploring a slighter different styles of photography that may require specialist lenses (think astro, portrait, sports, wildlife) - it can be a restriction. Not that you can’t use a fixed lens camera for these things - but there are better tools for the job. I personally love doing ‘walkabout’ and travel/documentation photography using fixed prime lenses for these reasons. But I also love landscape photography - so being able to switch to specialist lenses suits me. It all depends on whether you need one camera to do many things.
For a fixed lens choice, I would recommend the X100F, X100V and X100VI with a tentative recommendation for the X-Half. The X100 Series are superb and these three generations of the camera are all relevant today. The differences mainly being sensor resolution, battery life, number of film simulation and integration with your smartphone. If you’re budget stretches - I’d always recommend the newer version for these niceties, are they are genuinely useful features. But it doesn’t mean the older cameras will take bad photos. Especially if you’re only posting photos on instagram, most people don’t need the resolution - but things like image stabilisation found on the X100VI are very useful in low light situations, and more/newer film simulations are always fun to experiment with.
The X-half is a bit more specialist. It has a smaller sensor and natively shoots portrait when used ‘the right way round’. If you don’t need the resolution or the depth of field a bigger sensor allows for and you love shooting portrait - it can be had for a decent price nowadays. I did think the launch price was excessive.
Going down the interchangeable lense route; there are many options. And some truly great ones that mean you don’t even need to warrant any of the benefits of the interchangeable lens itself. Let’s talk camera bodies first. If the optical viewfinder is a must (this is a really cool feature - but some find they don’t use it) - then you’re after an X-Pro. They are still very expensive for how old they are though. The X-E series is almost identical if you only want to use the digital viewfinder, and the X-M5 doesn’t even have a viewfinder. Great value if you only compose using the screen. The X-Txx (30 and 50) have a few variants and are slightly bigger - but can also be great choices. It all really comes down to a few shooting preferances, budget and whether you’re after something new enough to support the Fujifilm’s newer ‘X-App’ used to transfer photos to your phone. This is a must for me for a travel camera. Below is a run down on all your options, there is a lot of choice, and it can be simpler to just go down the X100 route if you find it suits your needs.
X-E series: Rangefinder style (viewfinder to the left) - very compact
X-E3: 24 MP X‑Trans III sensor; older autofocus and video capabilities, not so great app support for photo transfer (not the new X-App). Released in 2017
X‑E4: 26 MP X‑Trans IV sensor; improved autofocus and processing over the X‑E3, newer app support for photo transfer. Released in 2021
X‑E5: 40 MP back-illuminated sensor; advanced autofocus, in-body image stabilization, modern video capabilities, full support for the new X-App for photo transfer. Released in 2025.
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Travel
Street
Casual/Social
Landscape
Documentary/Holiday
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Portability and convenience
Full manual control - differentiates this category from casual point-and-shoots.
High-quality fixed lenses - wide-angle versatility for landscapes, street, and general photography.
Stylish design / tactile experience - often desirable to own as an object in its own right.
Ready-to-go image quality - minimal post-processing required for most purposes.
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Often fixed lens - limits flexibility compared with interchangeable-lens systems.
Smaller sensors than DSLRs or high-end mirrorless - sometimes affects performance.
Not ideal for highly specialized photography (super-telephoto wildlife, macro work, etc.)
Accessories / expandability are more limited than mirrorless or DSLR systems.