best mirrorless camera under $500

What are the best Mirrorless cameras for under $500 for beginners?

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Probably a Sony A6XXX series camera. The best one you can get in your budget. Answer from Old_Man_Bridge on reddit.com

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r/AskPhotography on Reddit: What are the best Mirrorless cameras for under $500 for beginners?

September 24, 2024 -

I want to start on photography and I want to learn as I shoot . I always wanted to do photography as a hobby so now I’m planing to get a camera. I mainly planing on street photography and cars . What are the best options under 500 in the used market and what are the brands I should look for?

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Probably a Sony A6XXX series camera. The best one you can get in your budget.

2 of 6

If it absolutely has to be a mirrorless camera, I'd look into Sony A6xxx (lots of used ones out there, lens mount is still relevant and has a lot of lens choices), Canon M series (discontinued mount, and not as much lens choice, but because of the dead mount, you can find them relatively cheap, and they are some of the smallest, lightest mirrorless bodies out there), or maybe a used Canon R100 or R50 (the 50 is significantly better, and not much more expensive; both use the current RF mount, which has less lens choice than Sony's E mount, but this will likely improve in the future; they are however absolute entry-level bodies). You could also look into the Micro Four-Thirds system (MFT); these cameras use smaller sensors than APS-C or full frame (half the size of a 35mm sensor), so cameras and lenses can be built smaller, lighter, and cheaper. This makes them less suitable for low light applications, and getting a lot of background blur can be more challenging, but for the genres you're interested in, this shouldn't be too much of a hindrance (and especially for street photography, a small unobtrusive kit can be a huge advantage). If you're open to used DSLRs, you can get some older but still really good mid-range or even professional kits for $500. The brands to look for here would be Canon and Nikon. Street photography is maybe one of the least demanding genres in terms of gear, and (static) cars don't need obscene levels of gear either (though a CPL filter is going to be a game changer, regardless of which camera you use), so even a 10/15-year-old body will still serve you fine - and it will leave you more budget for lenses, which are much more important for image quality than the body. I'd wager that a $200 body with a $300 lens will give you better results than a $450 body with a $50 kit lens - however, the 50mm f/1.8 budget lenses from both manufacturers cost around $100 used, and they are pretty near excellent for the price. Nikon also made a similar 35mm f/1.8 that is probably more useful for street photography, especially on an APS-C body.

Luke Taylor

lukeptaylor.com › blog › you-have-500-best-pro-camera-to-buy-full-frame-apsc-and-micro-four-thirds

You Have $500 in 2025 - Best Pro Camera to Buy - Full-frame, APSC, and Micro Four Thirds — Luke Taylor - Photography

March 14, 2025 - Olympus buttons are top class and ... to buy one under $500 that would last me for the next couple years, I would buy an Olympus e-m1 mark ii....

Discussions

Looking for a low light mirrorless camera below $500

Hi all!! I'm a newbie when it comes to the world of mirrorless cameras so it would be really great to get some input into the possible choices of mirrorless cameras which I hope that those experienced ones out there may be able to help me out with. This is what I'm looking for in a mirrorless... More on dpreview.com

dpreview.com

June 27, 2015

Best mirrorless camera for $500?

Fuji X-T2, used. 24 MP for photos, and 4k for video with HD 120p slow motion. Great hybrid cam.

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