The Best Budget Point and Shoot Cameras for 2023

It’s hard to escape your friends' Amalfi Coast highlights on social media. Pictures of fresh seafood and the many colourful umbrellas dotting pebbly beaches. Or perhaps they’re in the Greek Islands, sharing Santorini sunsets from private whitewashed balconies. Travel is back, and photographers are ditching their heavy camera set-ups in favour of simple and lightweight point-and-shoots that balance practicality, budget and quality. Regardless of where you’re at in your photographic journey, a point-and-shoot camera can be a great asset to your arsenal, promoting a back-to-basics approach to capturing moments.

Before we take a look at the best budget point and shoot cameras for 2023, let’s talk about the defining characteristics of a point and shoot.

A point-and-shoot camera is named after its essential function. With it, you simply point, and then shoot. These cameras rarely have any bells and whistles. They don’t have interchangeable lenses and the vast majority aren’t able to capture images in RAW. Also known as a compact camera, point-and-shoots typically incorporate a range of options for photographers who prefer shooting in automatic modes.

Point-and-shoots can be film or digital, and are extremely popular with amateur photographers who desire a lightweight, easy-to-use camera for the holidays that lets them capture moments with a little more intentionality than a smartphone.

Let’s look at some of 2023’s most popular point-and-shoot cameras.

Canon has long been a leader in digital photography systems, and their PowerShot G7X III has led the compact digital camera category, due to its portability and power. Often referred to as a professional compact camera, the Canon PowerShot G7X III offers an all-in-one solution at an affordable price. It combines 4k movie recording and slow motion capabilities. It can even process RAW images captured through its bright f/1.8 - f/2.8 lens with 24-100mm equivalent focal length.

For content creators, the G7X III boasts live streaming to YouTube and instant sharing to your preferred devices via WiFi and Bluetooth settings.

Buy the Canon PowerShot G7X III Compact Digital Camera here.

With film’s resurgence in recent years, the Kodak Ektar H35 Half Frame Film Camera is the perfect choice for those wishing to test the waters of the analogue photography medium without forking out hundreds of dollars on a potentially unreliable camera, on top of ongoing film development and scanning costs.

The Kodak Ektar H35 Film Camera is less than AUD $100 and features built-in flash and a 22mm full-frame equivalent lens. It’s retro-inspired body is small, lightweight and designed for beginners. The camera takes 35mm film, and due to its ‘half frame’ nature, means you can take 72 shots per roll, as opposed to the standard 36 shots.

Buy the Kodak Ektar H35 Half Frame Film Camera here.

The Panasonic LUMIX TZ95 is a powerhouse point-and-shoot that has versatile functionality applicable to a range of photographic genres from landscapes to portraits. Its key features include a Leica lens and a powerful 30x optical zoom (equivalent to 24-720mm), along with a high-performance sensor that ensures your pictures, near or far, are captured in vivid detail. Capable of RAW format and 4k video recording, the Panasonic LUMIX TZ95 also features a flexible, 180-degree tilting rear monitor to easily capture and review images.

Buy the Panasonic LUMIX TZ95 here.

The Ricoh GR III is a cult classic. Its fixed f/2.8 lens, with a 28mm full-frame equivalent focal length, is so suited to vernacular photography that it has become the point-and-shoot choice of street photographers the world over.

The Ricoh GR has a slim black frame that fits comfortably in your pocket. Portability doesn’t detract from the punch this camera packs, with a larger APS-C sensor that produces greater image quality than some of its more expensive counterparts.

Buy the Ricoh GR III here. Its predecessor, the Ricoh GR II, is a more affordable solution depending on the specifications you’re after.

Every point-and-shoot has its limitations. These cameras don’t aim to produce the highest resolution images, nor will they allow you the widest scope in terms of settings. But these limitations are what encourage photographers to hone the ‘eye of seeing’. Point-and-shoots encourage photographers to get creative. And often inspiration strikes at inopportune times. You may not have your heavy DSLR camera and 24-70mm lens on hand, but you may have a compact point-and-shoot in your pocket, your handbag, or waiting in the glovebox of your car for that picture-perfect moment.

If you’re heading to a far-flung corner of the world where inspiration is bound to strike more frequently, a point-and-shoot camera remains the perfect travel companion. You don’t need to fill your travel-on luggage with several lenses. When you buy a point-and-shoot camera, you are buying an inexpensive, complete camera system. It doesn’t matter if you're a professional photographer or a budding amateur, these adaptable cameras allow you to effortlessly capture scenes with great quality and great speed.