If you shoot most of your snapshots and video on your smartphone, you've probably been disappointed in how some of them look. Sometimes, the light's not great—especially at a Thanksgiving dinner or holiday party—and your photo ends up underexposed, or simply dull and lackluster. In other cases, you're too far away, or you just can't freeze the action in a sports shot. In fact, unless you're shooting in relatively bright light, even very good phone cameras may just not be up to the task in a lot of shooting situations.
That's why buying an advanced camera, like those you'll find in our Ratings of SLR, mirrorless, and advanced point-and-shoot cameras, will make a world of difference. Compared to phones, these models have larger, more capable imaging sensors, which more accurately capture the scene you're shooting with less distortion. So, when you're shooting a photo of family and friends in low light, everything from your subjects' skin tones to the subtle textures, colors, and patterns of their clothes will be faithfully reproduced. Plus, these cameras offer ample controls and settings that further ensure that you'll be able to capture the shot you envision.
For many people, one of the big sticking points in buying an advanced digital camera is, in fact, the sticker price. So, we've combed through our Ratings and compiled a list of five very capable, extremely versatile advanced cameras that won't break your holiday budget, whether you're shopping for yourself or for someone on your gift lift. Some of these models have been around for a couple of years, but they're still available and they still take great pictures.
Check Consumer Reports' 2015 Holiday Guide for our picks of the best gifts, details on the latest deals, time-saving tips, and much more. And see our countdown calendar for top gift ideas for everyone on your list.
Nikon D3300 ($500)
Although it's an entry-level SLR, this Nikon is very versatile and has both an excellent quality viewfinder and LCD, so you'll never miss a moment when composing your images or checking how they look. The camera is also very fast: It can fire off 5 frames per second in burst mode, in full resolution. If you like to do a lot of cropping when you're image editing your photos, you've got 24-megapixels to work with, which means you'll have lots of pixels to spare. And it even comes in three colors—black, gray or red.
Canon Rebel SL1 ($500)
Like the D3300, this is a very compact and lightweight SLR (although it's still larger and heavier than most other types of cameras). But it's packed with powerful features. It can fire off 4 frames per second in burst mode, in full resolution, and it has a very good through-the-lens viewfinder. For those who want to experiment with effects, it includes a number of built-in creative filters, such as a water painting effect and soft focus. Like the Nikon D3300, this Canon is cheap enough that you might even consider spending a little extra money to buy an extra lens to go along with the 18-55mm kit lens.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF7 ($510)
If you're looking for a lot less bulk and weight, but still want an interchangeable lens camera, like an SLR, you should consider a mirrorless camera like this one. This Panasonic is roughly half the weight of each of the two SLRs we mention above. But it's got lots of premium features, including an excellent quality, swiveling, touchscreen LCD that allows you to set focus and shoot by touching the display. Plus, unlike both the SLRs we mention, this one comes with built-in Wi-Fi, including near-field communication (NFC), which allows you to control the camera from a smart phone or tablet or back up your photos and video to a computer. Unfortunately, this camera lacks a hot shoe and an electronic viewfinder.
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100M2 ($600)
This advanced point-and-shoot is small and compact enough to fit in a pocket. It's easy to use, yet very versatile. It's also very powerful, like an SLR or mirrorless camera: It not only lets you capture JPEGs, but also RAW files, which give you the most flexibility when editing your images in image-editing software. The camera itself offers precise, nicely designed controls for tweaking photos and capturing videos. Unlike some in its class, this model has a hot shoe, for attaching an external flash and a swiveling LCD. It also has built-in wireless and NFC capabilities.
Olympus Stylus 1S ($600)
One very nice feature on this wireless advanced point-and-shoot is that it has a long 10.7x optical zoom, which means you can zoom in close to the action without worrying that you'll degrade your image the way you do when you use digital zoom on your smartphone. It also comes with an excellent quality image stabilizer, which will compensate for handshake that can produce blurry photos or jittery video. And, it has a long battery life, so you can be out in the great outdoors longer and not worry that you'll run out of juice during your holiday photo shoot.
