Sony Alpha a7 Black

The cheapest full-frame sensor you can buy, wrapped in a body that feels every bit of its age. Great for stills, terrible for everything else.

The full-frame sensor is the star here. It's middle of the pack in our database, but that's middle of the pack among modern full-frame sensors, which means it still crushes most APS-C and Micro Four Thirds cameras for low light and dynamic range. The EVF is a genuine standout, one of the best on the market even by today's standards. But the burst rate is a letdown. 4fps mechanical is fine for landscapes, but if you're shooting kids or pets, you'll miss moments. And the autofocus, while well above average for its age, hunts in low light compared to anything modern.

The Panasonic S5 IIX and Nikon Z7 are in a completely different league, with modern autofocus, stabilization, and video specs that make the a7 look like a museum piece. But they cost three to four times as much. The Fujifilm X-T4 is the real alternative here. It's crop sensor, but it has stabilization, a flip screen, and 15fps burst. If you shoot anything that moves, the X-T4 is the better buy. If you shoot stills and want full-frame on a budget, the a7 wins.

At $680 USD or £410 GBP, this is the cheapest full-frame ticket around. You're getting a sensor that would cost twice as much in a newer body. But factor in the cost of a stabilized lens if you shoot handheld, and the value proposition gets murkier. For pure image quality on a budget, it's worth it. For anything involving motion or video, it's not.

The Sony a7 is the camera that kicked off the full-frame mirrorless revolution, and it still holds up as a cheap entry point into big-sensor photography. The one thing to know? You're getting a 24.3MP full-frame sensor for less than most crop-sensor cameras, but you're also getting 2013-era autofocus, a fixed screen, and zero stabilization. It's a trade-off, and for the right person it's a steal.

If you're looking for a hybrid camera that does video and stills equally well, this isn't it. Go get a Fujifilm X-T4 or a used Sony a6400 instead. If you need stabilization for handheld shooting, skip this and look at the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III, which has class-leading stabilization and a much better burst rate.

Buy it if you want full-frame image quality for the price of a used crop camera and you shoot mostly still subjects. Skip it if you need video, stabilization, or fast action. It's a one-trick pony, but that trick is really good.