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PhotographyThe 7 Best compact zoom cameras in 2024

The 7 Best compact zoom cameras in 2024

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Updated Nov 27, 2024

It’s sad to say, but the golden age of compact cameras is pretty much over, thanks to the rise of smartphone cameras that are, in many cases, good enough for most people. Manufacturers seem to realize this, too; we last updated this list in 2023, and since then, there haven’t really been any new additions to it. The ones that remain can also be difficult to find in stock, even when the companies that make them say they’re still a part of their lineups.

However, that doesn’t mean the category is completely dead. Even today, there are several types of compact cameras, and some have capabilities that pretty much no phone can match. This list calls out the few that are still available and looks at what they’re good for – because there are still cases where a compact camera is a great option.

Our recommendations:


Enthusiast compacts

The final niche in which it’s difficult for a smarphone to compete is for enthusiast photography. No matter how good smartphone image quality gets, it’s difficult for a phone to provide the feeling of connection to the process of taking photos that an enthusiast compact with lots of direct controls can offer.

We’ve picked three cameras with large sensors that deliver good image quality, zoom lenses and direct controls. Both Sony models have built-in electronic viewfinders, for shooting when it’s bright outside, again giving a more pleasant experience than trying to use a smartphone.


Best enthusiast compact: Canon PowerShot G7X III

20MP Type 1 Stacked CMOS sensor | 24-100mm equiv. F1.8-2.8 lens | 4K/30p video capture

canon g7xiii
Photo: Dan Bracaglia

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What we like:

  • Nice grip and well-placed controls
  • 4K/30p recording with live streaming to YouTube
  • Fast burst shooting

What we don’t:

  • Lens is soft at wide-angle
  • Limited battery life
  • Contrast-detect only autofocus

The Canon PowerShot G7X III is an enthusiast compact built around a 20MP Type 1 (13.2 x 8.8mm) Stacked CMOS sensor with a bright 24-100mm equivalent F1.8-2.8 zoom.

The large sensor, and zoom that covers a really useful range help set it apart from a smartphone but it’s really the clicking control dial around the lens and the dedicated exposure compensation dial that help you feel you’re in the driving seat of the photo-taking process that makes us enjoy it so much.

This is one of the cameras that’s frequently out of stock, but in November 2024 Canon assured us that it’s still in production and that the company is “working to meet the consumer demand of the PowerShot G7 X Mark III.”

“If you’re after a pocketable high-quality compact, the Canon G7 X Mark III is well worth a look”
Though it’s jacket-pocketable, the G7 X Mark III has a decent-sized grip and feels secure in the hand. The ‘clicky’ control rings around the lens and on the rear of the camera give good control over aperture, shutter speed and ISO, and the exposure compensation dial on the top plate is a nice touch. The touchscreen interface on its tilting 3″ LCD is polished and responsive.
Overall, we’re impressed by the upgrades on this model. The Mark III brings improved video and continuous shooting performance while maintaining excellent controls and a competitive price point. If you do a lot of wide-angle shooting, there are options with better lenses, but if you’re after a pocketable high-quality compact, the Canon G7 X Mark III is well worth a look.


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Also worth considering

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 VA is also worth a look, offering a short, bright 24-70mm equivalent zoom. This is a little shorter than the one on the Canon but we’ve found it to be more consistently sharp, on the units we’ve tested. It has a pop-up viewfinder, adding to the appeal but also to the price. The Sony’s autofocus is faster and more dependable than the Canon’s but we prefer the handling of the Canon, thanks to its exposure compensation dial and clicking front control wheel.

Best do-it-all compact: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 VII

20MP Type 1 Stacked CMOS sensor | 24-200mm equiv. F2.8-4.5 lens | Hybrid AF system

sony rx100vii
Photo: Dan Bracaglia

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What we like:

  • Industry-leading autofocus
  • Excellent image quality
  • Oversampled 4K video

What we don’t:

  • User interface can be overwhelming
  • Low light performance limited by slow lens
  • Slippery grip
  • Expensive

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 VII is built around a 20MP Stacked CMOS sensor and a long, flexible 24-200mm equivalent lens. It’s not as bright at the long end as the zooms on the Mark VA or the Canon G7X III but it provides a lot more reach, still in a compact package.

The RX100 VII is the most capable pocketable camera ever made
The RX100 VII has a limited number of direct controls, but offers extensive customization for making the most of them. A touchscreen can be used for choosing a focus point or initiating AF tracking in video. The camera also includes the single-press pop-up viewfinder we liked so much on its predecessor.
The RX100 VII is easily the most-capable compact camera on the market thanks to its great image and video quality, fast shooting, versatile lens and a highly-capable, easy-to-use AF system, though all of that comes with a high price tag.


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Waterproof cameras

Waterproof cameras are another specialty that smartphones can’t necessarily displace. Many flagship phones are waterproof to a decent degree but you shouldn’t try to submerge them to any appreciable depth. Waterproof cameras also tend to be pretty rugged, designed to withstand a lot more mistreatment than a phone will withstand, meaning you can carry them with you at all times, without ever having to worry about it. Great for bikers, climbers and custodians of small, inquisitive but not necessarily careful children.

Best waterproof camera: OM System Tough TG-7

25-100mm equiv. F2.0-4.9 lens | 12MP Type 1/2.3 sensor | Waterproof to 15m (50ft)

omsystem tg7

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What we like:

  • Bright, wideangle lens
  • Built-in GPS, compass and manometer
  • Raw image capture allowing creating edits
  • Range of accessories

What we don’t:

  • 12MP is fairly low
  • Lens isn’t very bright at long end
  • Limited battery life
  • Relatively expensive

The OM System Tough TG-7 is a rugged, waterproof compact with a 25-100mm equivalent zoom lens. It is fully waterproof down to a depth of 15m (50 ft).

The OM System isn’t the only rugged waterproof still on the market, nor the cheapest, but it has several major factors in its favor. The first is that it lets you shoot Raw images, which gives you the ability to correct the white balance, which even the best cameras tend to get wrong when shooting underwater. Another factor is that there is a range of accessories for the TG-7, including a light guide that directs light from the built-in flash into a circle around the lens, letting you illuminate close-up objects.

“The TG-7 is relatively expensive but packs in a host of useful features that help it stand out”

Beyond this there are a few details that different users may find handy: it has an unusually wide-angle lens with a bright maximum aperture, helping the performance underwater and in low light. It also has a built-in GPS, compass and pressure sensor that lets you log your adventures. These all add up to a camera that’s worth the added expense, we feel.


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Long zoom cameras

Perhaps the greatest weakness of smartphones is their lack of zoom capabilities. Many of the best phones have a camera with a slightly longer focal length and then try to crop into their images and use AI algorithms to try to approximate the fine detail to give the impression of zooming, but this has its limits.

Dedicated cameras aren’t constrained by the need to slip into your pocket, which can afford them the space to have an optical zoom lens to gain you more reach than your smartphone can deliver. There can be a trade-off: the small sensors required to put lots of zoom in a relatively small camera will be outshone by the computational cleverness that modern smartphones will bring to bear on their images. But superzoom cameras can gain you the kind of reach that no current smartphone can get near.

Best long-zoom camera: Panasonic FZ1000 II

20MP Type 1 BSI-CMOS sensor | 25-400mm equiv. F2.8-4 lens | 4K/30p video capture

Panasonic-FZ1000-II
Photo: Dan Bracaglia

What we like:

  • Relatively fast lens with versatile focal range
  • Fully articulating touchscreen
  • Responsive AF performance

What we don’t:

  • “Flutter” when focusing is distracting
  • Substantial crop in 4K
  • Body feels too “plasticky” for its price
The Panasonic DC-FZ1000 II has a Type 1 sensor and stabilized 25-400mm equiv. F2.8-4 lens.

The FZ1000 II predates Panasonic’s switch to phase-detect autofocus, so it tends to hunt for focus. However, it can shoot at burst rates up to 7fps, and its 25-400mm equiv F2.8-4 lens gives you plenty of reach while still offering a fair amount of light-gathering ability.

The FZ1000 II has a comfortable grip and twin control dials, but its all-plastic construction doesn’t live up to its price. It’s extensively customizable, with an array of physical and on-screen buttons. The OLED EVF is very good.
Its versatile lens, snappy autofocus speeds, large EVF and 4K video capabilities should make it one of the better cameras in its class.
The FZ1000’s image quality is good for its class. The camera doesn’t capture as much detail as we’d like and, if you’re up to it, shooting Raw and post-processing will get the most out of the camera.
The FZ1000 II captures 4K UHD video at 30p and 24p, though there is a substantial crop which narrows your field of view (this is not an issue at 1080). The autofocus system tends to ‘hunt’ for focus on occasion. The camera has a good set of video controls and a mic input socket.
The FZ1000 was a solid camera and the improvements on its successor make it even better. While not best-in-class, its versatile lens, good image and video quality and reasonable price make the FZ1000 II well worth considering.

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The retired champ

In its day, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 IV offered better performance and autofocus than the Panasonic, though at a substantially higher cost. In 2024, however, it’s no longer available at retail, and the FZ1000 II is. If you manage to find an RX10 IV somewhere and are interested in a long-zoom compact, it’s still worth snapping up – it’s possible it’ll be the best of its kind that was ever made.

Best ultra-zoom camera: Nikon Coolpix P1000

16MP 1/2.3" BSI-CMOS sensor | 24-3000mm equiv. F2.8-8 lens | 4K video capture

nikon cpp1000 alt
Photo: Barney Britton

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What we like:

  • Focal range cannot be matched by any camera
  • Respectable image quality, given camera’s purpose
  • Raw support
  • Well-built, with logical control layout

What we don’t:

  • Large and unbalanced when zoom is extended
  • Lens is slow at long end, reducing sharpness
  • No touchscreen
  • Poor battery life

The Nikon Coolpix P1000 is a small sensor camera with a vast zoom lens. The Type 1/2.3 (6.17 x 4.55mm) sensor will be out-performed by a good smartphone’s clever merging of multiple images but the Nikon’s gargantuan 24-3000mm equiv lens is its selling point.

The small sensor means image quality isn’t the camera’s strength, but its frankly ludicrous zoom reach means it can photograph distant subjects in a way no other device (smartphone or dedicated camera) can.

The P1000 is a large camera that weighs a substantial 1.4kg (3.2lbs). We found it can be difficult to compose a photo at 3000mm equiv since the stabilization can’t fully correct hand movement. A ‘snapback’ function quickly zooms out so you can locate your subject. The P1000’s fully articulating LCD, is not touch-enabled. Connectivity to smartphones works well.
“When it comes to zoom power, there’s no camera that comes close to Nikon’s Coolpix P1000”
The P1000’s image quality depends greatly on the focal length. Photos are generally on par with other small-sensored cameras, with pleasant colors and a bit too much noise reduction. It offers Raw, though, so you can choose your noise/detail balance and modestly brighten shadows. Heat haze, coupled with the lens’s slow maximum aperture limit image quality at the longest focal lengths.
The P1000 has very good video quality for a camera with point-and-shoot roots. It can capture 4K video at 30p (with no crop) as well as 1080/60p and time-lapse/super-lapse clips. There’s a manual exposure mode, a zoom microphone and a socket for addition an external mic. Electronic Vibration Reduction is available at 1080p and below.
When it comes to zoom power, nothing comes close to Nikon’s Coolpix P1000. Whether it’s taking a portrait from 2 blocks away or getting up close and personal with a bird in the distance, this lens can do it. That said, while other cameras can’t match that lens, many will offer better image and video quality for the same money, especially those with larger sensors.



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Vlogging cameras

Smartphones are great for vlogging, but a dedicated vlogging camera can shoot better quality video, have more sophisticated microphones (and provide options for connecting better mics), and can autofocus very reliably, dependably delivering YouTube-ready footage.

Best vlogging camera: Sony ZV-1 Mark II

20MP Stacked CMOS sensor | 24fps burst shooting | 4K/30p, 1080/120p video

sony zv1m2
Photo: Shaminder Dulai

Buy now:


What we like:

  • Low rolling shutter
  • 3-way mic array
  • Touchscreen interface for vlogging

What we don’t:

  • Limited body buttons/dials
  • No stabilization for stills
  • 8-bit color not ideal for grading

The Sony ZV-1 Mark II is one of three ZV-1 models and is by far the best. Its wide-angle 18-50mm equivalent F2.8-4.0 lens is ideally suited to self-shot video. Its excellent autofocus includes options such as ‘Product Showcase’ that focuses on the presenter, unless an object is held up to the camera.

A vlogging beast for smartphone users wanting to upgrade to a dedicated device for more control over exposures, file workflow, sound and optical zoom without a large learning curve.
The ZV-1 Mark II is primarily touchscreen-controlled to allow control while vlogging or shooting selfies. It’s lightweight and easy to hold but has limited control points if you want to take more manual control.
The ZV-1 Mark II is a big improvement on the original thanks to a more selfie-video-friendly zoom range. Video footage and autofocus are both very good. It is a camera that thrives in auto modes, making it best suited for users seeking a simple-to-use camera.

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Why you should trust us

This buying guide is based on cameras used and tested by DPReview’s editorial team. We don’t select a camera until we’ve used it enough to be confident in recommending it, usually after our extensive review process. The selections are purely a reflection of which cameras we believe to be best: there are no financial incentives for us to select one model or brand over another.



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