The 2 Best Point-and-Shoot Cameras That Don’t Cost a Fortune

Smartphones have dominated the consumer photography space for going on 20 years now, but they just don’t feel the same as holding up a dedicated camera to your eye. And DSLRs are too cumbersome for casual walks, vacations, and unobtrusive street photography.

Enter the humble point-and-shoot camera. Some call it the point-and-click camera, although that sounds more like if Microsoft had tried to brand a camera in the ’90s. These two cameras are the best on the market that won’t break the bank.

fujifilm x100vi

The Fujifilm X100VI is the point-and-shoot camera to beat. The Leica Q3 43 is a peach of a camera, sure, but it’s also $7,380. At $1,799, the X100VI is far easier on the bank account.

Its high-quality sensor and lens combine to offer vivid, realistic colors and sharply defined images, and the sleek chassis oozes retro appeal. Control freaks and photography degree holders can rejoice at the well-positioned controls to manually set camera settings when they don’t trust the (admittedly, quick and accurate) autofocus.

Many point-and-shoot digital cameras don’t let the shooter take the training wheels off, but the X100VI is a playground for photographers who love to tinker with camera settings.

The catch? The lens, as good as it is, is of a fixed focal length. If you want to zoom in and out, well, you’re going to have to use your legs. Plus, it’s out of stock and hard to find. You may want to consider a Fujifilm X100F if impatience overpowers you.

Ricoh GR IV

The successor to the Ricoh GR III, arguably the king of street photography since 2019, the Ricoh GR IV is similarly compact and easy to tuck away into a pocket. Even more so than the Fujifilm X100VI, the GR IV is light and slim.

That also makes it inconspicuous, which is a boon in street photography that hinges upon natural shots, not people realizing they’re being photographed and screwing up their expressions.

Like X100VI, the GR IV has a fixed lens, a 18.3mm f/2.8 model. Forget zoom; your zoom is your legs. Internal storage improves massively from 2GB in the GR III to 53GB in the GR IV, so if you forget your memory card or just don’t want to bother with one, you won’t need to.