Filming & Production

Point-and-shoot camera

Also called: compact camera, pocket camera, fixed-lens compact

The lens does not come off and most of the settings are buried or absent, which is the whole point. Switch it on, point it, record. Compacts were the default vlogging camera for years, and the category came back hard on the strength of a second-hand boom and the look that small sensors and older processing give. For talking to camera while moving they still make sense, since a small body, a wide lens and decent stabilisation beat a better camera you left at home. In controlled conditions almost any interchangeable-lens body will out-resolve one, and in low light it will not be close.

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