The 5 Best Point-And-Shoot Cameras - Fall 2023 Reviews

The Sony RX100 VII is the Swiss Army knife of point-and-shoot cameras. Though an expensive camera, it uses an excellent 1-inch sensor that captures great image quality for its class. Its stacked design allows for remarkably quick 20 fps burst shooting and minimal rolling shutter distortion in videos. The camera is also packed with extra features like a pop-up electronic viewfinder and a pop-up flash.

Though its zoom lens isn't the sharpest or fastest, it has a fairly wide equivalent focal length range of 24-200mm, giving you a ton of flexibility with framing and making it easy to capture far-away subjects. Add in a fantastic autofocus system, and this is one of the most full-featured point-and-shoots on the market. No wonder it's on its seventh iteration and counting. And if the price is too steep for you, older generations are still available on the used market at cheaper prices.

While the Sony RX100 VII is incredibly versatile, it's also very expensive for a point-and-shoot. If you don't want to spend as much and don't want to sacrifice image quality, consider the RICOH GR III. It uses a larger APS-C sensor than the Sony, capturing better image quality overall, and its minimalist design makes it one of the most portable options on this list.

This camera is aimed more at those seeking a "pure" photography experience with few bells and whistles. Some may find its fixed screen and lack of viewfinder limiting. Its fixed focal-length lens is also arguably less suited to casual snapshots than the zoom lens on the Sony. Still, it may help you become a better photographer by forcing you to get more creative with your framing and composition. If you're not a fan of the 28mm full-frame equivalent lens on the GR III, there's also a GR IIIx variant that comes with a 40mm equivalent lens.

For those who don't want to spend a small fortune on a point-and-shoot, the Canon PowerShot G5 X Mark II offers a good balance of performance and features at a lower price point. Like the Sony RX100 VII, it uses a 1-inch sensor, so image quality is solid, even if it doesn't match up to large-sensor compacts like the RICOH GR III. Its built-in zoom lens also has a 24-120mm equivalent focal length, making it versatile for various subjects.

Beyond that, the camera is super portable and, like the RX100 VII, has a pop-up viewfinder for sunny days when the screen is harder to see. Though its subject tracking isn't the most reliable, its autofocus is still generally decent and will get the job done in most situations. If ergonomics are a priority for you, its small handgrip is also one of the most comfortable we've tested among point-and-shoot cameras.

The Panasonic LUMIX ZS80 is one of the best budget point-and-shoot cameras we've tested. It uses a smaller sensor than any of the more premium picks above, meaning image quality is lacking, especially in low light. On the upside, it's a portable camera with simple controls and plenty of extra features, including Post Focus and Focus Stacking, which let you adjust your image's focus after the camera captures it. It also has a tilting screen that can flip all the way up for selfies and vlogs if needed, and it even has a viewfinder, which is good for sunny days and helps with composition.

That said, the real selling point of this camera is its zoom lens. It has a very wide zoom range that gives you a ton of flexibility to zoom in on far-away subjects or take wider-angle shots like landscapes. Battery life is also decent, and it can even record 4k video, albeit with a heavy crop. Overall, this is a great little camera for the price if you're looking for a cheap point-and-shoot with plenty of zoom.

If you want a compact vlogging camera, look no further than the Sony ZV-1. It's small, lightweight, and designed specifically for vloggers, with features you won't find on more photography-oriented point-and-shoots like those above. While the ZV-1 doesn't have a viewfinder, it's the only camera on this list with a fully articulated screen, making it easy to monitor yourself while recording. It also comes with a detachable windscreen for its microphone to help cut down on ambient noise. Sony has since replaced it with the Sony ZV-1 II, with a wider-angle lens ideal for walk-and-talk vlogs. Still, the original ZV-1 is an even better deal now and has some advantages, like optical stabilization.

The camera uses Sony's ever-reliable autofocus and has a specialized 'Product Showcase' mode tailored to product and beauty vloggers, automatically shifting focus to any object held up in the frame rather than prioritizing your face. Like most point-and-shoots, battery life could be better, especially if you're recording in 4k, which can cause overheating with longer takes. Still, the ZV-1 is tough to beat if you need something compact for vlogging or video.