There has never been a more affordable time to get into photography than now, contrary to the rising prices of nearly everything else in the world. The key is to find a gently used or well loved DSLR that grows more and more affordable as people migrate to mirrorless systems.

While there have been small improvements to image sensors over the past decade, image quality hasn’t progressed in the same way that auto focus or image stabilization has. Thus cameras pushing 15+ years old still produce fantastic quality images while lacking modern creature comforts.

Photography isn’t really known for being an inexpensive hobby or profession. Sometimes that can be a huge barrier to entry for anyone looking at picking up their first camera to start learning photography. As of writing this, the least expensive new camera and lens (that’s been released in the last 5 years) is the Canon R100 which costs over $600. While that camera is mostly capable, we can stretch a lot less money for even better results.

As technology has improved over the years, it means there are actually quite a lot of very sufficient cameras out there collecting dust. Everyone has moved to mirrorless technology which leaves used DSLR cameras and lenses sinking lower and lower in price. Simply put: there has never been a cheaper and easier time to start photography.

Not long ago the sub $1,000 camera was a competitive segment of the photography market but as costs increase and inflation rises, the options have become less and less. More importantly are any of the cameras you can get for under $1,000 even worth buying in 2025? In this article I’ll cover all your options for new cameras that fit a budget of $1,000 or less and exactly the ones you should consider. One of them is so good, I bought it myself!