Which are the best Canon cameras to get? Canon is one of the biggest names in photography, but it makes a wide range of cameras for everyone from beginners to enthusiasts, influencers, content creators and professional photographers and videographers.
So we've split our guide up into three sections; one for traditional Canon DSLRs – ideal for beginners and enthusiasts, Canon mirrorless cameras, which are gradually taking over from the old-school DSLR design, and simple point and shoot cameras for people who want photography without the fuss but still want a bit of quality too.
The Canon EOS R5 and EOS R6 have grabbed headlines recently, and for good reason; they're two of the best mirrorless cameras yet made. These are aimed at advanced users and professionals, and are equally adept at stills photography and video – they show how the camera market is evolving to bring together these two different creative fields.
But don't rule out the older and less expensive Canon EOS RP, one of the cheapest ways to get into full frame photography, or Canon's smaller EOS M mirrorless cameras for beginners and vloggers. And lastly, of course, there are Canon compact cameras, with everything from the affordable Ixus 185 to the video-focused PowerShot G7 X Mark III.
Many photographers still like the DSLR design, and Canon has this sector extremely well catered-for, with enthusiast-oriented DSLRs like the new Canon EOS Rebel T8i / EOS 850D (though we're a little disappointed in this model, to be honest) as well as full-frame DSLRs like the EOS 5D Mark IV or EOS 6D Mark II.
You can use the navigation bar to jump straight to your chosen section or just scroll down to browse our picks for the best Canon cameras you can buy right now!
The best Canon camera in 2020
Canon DSLRs
Lots of people will tell you DSLRs are old-fashioned and that mirrorless cameras are the future, but DSLRs still have a lot to offer, including chunky, grippable bodies, clear optical viewfinders, great battery life and good value for money. Canon's DSLRs are split into APS-C cameras aimed at beginners and enthusiasts, and full frame cameras aimed at experts and pros – and we've picked out two of each. Read our guide to the best DSLRs if you're a DSLR fan.
The pint-sized Canon Rebel SL2 (or EOS 200D) was a really big seller, but its successor the Rebel SL3 (aka EOS 250D) improves on it in every way. In fact we believe it's the best Canon camera for beginners you can buy right now. Canon’s top-of-the range APS-C sensor with 24.1MP of resolution delivers excellent image quality, and Live View shooting with the LCD screen so easy and intuitive, with such good autofocus, that we’d actually say this is one of the only DSLRs where composing shots with the screen is as easy as with a mirrorless camera. Canon also packs in 4K video, which was missing from the previous SL2, wrapped up in an ergonomically designed DSLR body that's just about the smallest on the market. The new EOS Rebel T8i is a lot more expensive but only marginally more desirable.
Read more: Canon EOS Rebel SL3 / Canon EOS 250D review
The Canon EOS 90D is an astounding APS-C workhorse of a camera, available for a fantastic price. It combines the highest resolution yet seen in an APS-C sensor of 32.5MP, with high-speed frame rate of 10fps, and it also manages glorious uncropped 4K video – none of that irritating crop that has plagued Canon cameras in the past. Its handling and ergonomics are a joy, reminding us of why shooting on a DSLR is such an enjoyably tactile experience, and it's available for a welcome enthusiast price point – not to mention the fact that you get an optical viewfinder, which many people still prefer to the electronic viewfinders on mirrorless cameras. Rumours of the DSLR's death will have been greatly exaggerated if Canon keeps on producing models as good as this.
Read more: Canon EOS 90D review
The EOS 6D II is Canon's cheapest full frame DSLR and the next step up from the EOS 90D. It might be affordable, but it's far from basic. The advantage of a full frame sensor is that it gives superior image quality, partly because you tend to get more megapixels, and partly because the pixels (photosites) are bigger and can capture more light. The 26-megapixel sensor in the 6D II offers a useful advantage over 24-megapixel cameras, it has a powerful 45-point AF system for viewfinder shooting and Canon's Dual Pixel CMOS AF for live view photography, and it has a decent 6.5fps continuous shooting speed. What we really love is the streamlined handling and control layout and the fully articulating rear screen. If you can afford the extra over the APS-C format EOS 90D (above), the EOS 6D II would be our top recommendation as the best Canon camera for enthusiasts.
Read more: Canon EOS 6D Mark II review
While the EOS R mirrorless models in the next section offer new wave of stills and video features, the DSLR design still has lots of advantages – including a lag-free optical viewfinder, better handling with bigger lenses, and much better battery life. Pros have long embraced the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV as a sturdy, versatile workhorse, and we believe it's even been used to film scenes on the hit TV show The Mandalorian, and while some predict it's the end of the line for the EOS 5D DSLR series, the 5D Mark IV it's likely to be one of the best cameras for professionals for some time to come. It's not a specialist camera designed to do a single type of work, but a robust all-rounder that can turn its hand to almost any assignment. The 61-point autofocus system is fast and powerful, and Canon's Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology makes Live View AF fast and snappy too. The 30.4-megapixel resolution isn't the highest, but it gives a great balance of resolution and low-light, low-noise performance.
Read more: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV review
The amazing Canon EOS-1D X Mark III turned out to be much, much more than we were expecting. Not only is it an update to the 1D X workhorse series beloved by professionals worldwide, it's also an important step forward for DSLRs generally, boasting deep-learning AF, uncropped 4K (something that had been missing from Canon cameras for quite some time), a revamped control system and much more besides. If you need a camera that just shoots and shoots, with whip-smart AF and an indomitable burst rate... well, you probably don't need us to tell you twice. But we'll do it anyway: the Canon EOS-1D X Mark III is an astonishing camera. We do hear talk that it could be the last pro Canon sports DSLR and that its replacement will be mirrorless, but in this game, nothing happens until it happens!
Read more: Canon EOS-1D X Mark III review
Canon mirrorless
As with its EOS DSLRs, Canon now makes mirrorless cameras in two sizes. This time, though, they use different lens mounts and are aimed at very different users. The smaller APS-C EOS M cameras are for non-professional hobbyists and beginners (though they also appeal to bloggers and vloggers). The newer, full frame EOS R models use a new RF lens mount and are designed for professionals and advanced amateurs. Canon's not the only company making mirrorless cameras, of course – read our guide to the best mirrorless cameras for more.
The Canon EOS M50 packs a lot of tech into its compact body, and the fact it has a viewfinder – when so many similarly priced mirrorless cameras don’t – is a big selling point. The retracting 15-45mm kit lens, however, is a little awkward to use, and the 4K video mode has some unexpected limitations, in particular it reverts to sluggish contrast autofocus at this highest video setting. Nevertheless, the EOS M50 marked a big step in the right direction for Canon’s EOS M series cameras. This is a cute and easy to use camera which is really rather versatile, and it's a great mirrorless alternative to the Canon Rebel SL3/EOS 250D, but offers similar features in a smaller camera. There is an EOS M50 Mark II on the way, but from what we can see this offers only a handful of improvements and no significant hardware changes.
Read more: Canon EOS M50 review
The EOS M series has in the past often felt a little like the unloved child of the Canon family. Happily, with the advent of the EOS M6 II, the firm can finally be said to be taking its APS-C mirrorless line seriously. The M6 Mark II sports a powerhouse of a sensor in the form of a 32.5MP APS-C chip, and can burst-shoot at 14fps or up to 30fps in RAW Burst mode. Then there's also uncropped 4K video, an expandable ISO maximum of 51,200 and a high-resolution tilting touchscreen. M-series cameras in the past have been appearing to attempt to carve out a niche as decent second cameras, but the M6 II makes a convincing case to be your primary camera, and it's really only the slightly meagre M-series lens selection that holds it back. Be aware that it doesn't have a viewfinder built in – there is a clip-on EVF, though, so make sure that's included in the deal when you buy.
Read more: Canon EOS M6 II review
The EOS RP was Canon's second full frame mirrorless camera, and it's smaller, lighter and a lot cheaper than all of the others. It's designed to be a compact, affordable and easy to use entry point into Canon's full frame mirrorless system, and it succeeds brilliantly. Its small dimensions mean it can sometimes feel overbalanced by larger lenses, though, and the 4K video mode comes with some caveats – the image frame is cropped by a factor of 1.6 and you can't use Canon's speedy Dual Pixel CMOS AF system unless you drop the resolution to full HD. On the upside, the pictures are clear and sharp, the vari-angle touchscreen display is a real advantage for both stills and video, and the inclusion of an EF lens adaptor means you can use existing Canon DSLR lenses alongside the new but growing RF lens system. What a great camera! Is this the best Canon camera for enthusiasts? We think it's right up there with the EOS 6D Mark II DSLR.
Read more: Canon EOS RP review
The EOS R6 is the serious enthusiast's model of the EOS R series, taking the place of the slightly muddled EOS R, and for those who don't need the leading-edge tech and resolution of the EOS R5 (more on which below). Its combination of speed, vieeo and low light capabilities give it professional appeal too. What you get on the EOS R6 is a top shooting speed of 20fps, and autofocus that borrows the deep-learning tech from the EOS-1D X Mark III, meaning it gets better as you use it. The resolution is just 20.1MP, which might be too low for some tastes, but this means the pixels are larger, for better low-light performance. Indeed, the R6 even edges out the R5 in this department, with a standard ISO range of 100-102,400 that's expandable to 50-204,800. When you combine this with the introduction of Canon's 5-axis in-body image stabilisation system that provides up to eight stops of effective compensation, this is a seriously capable low-light camera.It's still pretty pricey, being relatively new and all, but the EOS R6 is an amazingly capable all-rounder camera, only let done slightly by a meagre megapixel count. If you need more pixels, then the camera for you is probably next on our list...
Read more: Canon EOS R6 review
The EOS R5 is a technological bombshell. It's Canon's new flagship mirrorless camera, and at first glance seems to be trying to corner every segment of the market at once. It's got a brand-new 45MP sensor that produces images of incredible detail thanks to a new low-pass filter, as well as the class-leading autofocus system of the EOS-1D X Mark III, with a whopping 5,940 AF points for photography and 4,500 for video. Indeed, the EOS R5's video specs are nothing short of next-generation. Uncropped 8K Raw video internally at up to 29.97fps in 4:2:2 12-bit Canon Log or HDR PQ (both H.265) in both UHD and DCI – this is cinema-quality performance. But of course, there's a catch. You've likely heard about the pretty steep recording limits that afflict the EOS R5 when shooting both 8K and 4K. While firmware has been introduced to lessen the blow of this, there's no doubt that it's definitely a drawback to the EOS R5 as a professional video tool.
Read more: Canon EOS R5 review
Canon compacts
DSLR and mirrorless cameras are great, but sometimes you need something smaller, cheaper or just a bit simpler to use. Below you'll find our top two Canon compact cameras picks right now, but for a wider choice, see our guide to the best point and shoot cameras.
Not everyone needs professional features, full frame image quality, 4K video and interchangeable lenses. Sometimes you're just looking for a decent, simple and effective (and cheap!) little camera you can slip in a pocket and which the whole family can use. The little Ixus 185 certainly passes that last test, and yet delivers some rather impressive specifications at the same time. One of the key advantages of a compact point and shoot camera over a smartphone is that you get a zoom lens, and the one on this camera has a massive 8x range, from 28-224mm. It uses a small 20-megapixel 1/2.3-inch sensor, so the picture quality is going to be adequate rather than great, but it's fine for family snaps and it can go up to ISO 1600 for shooting indoors or in low light. It even looks pretty smart, so the Ixus 185 is a really appealing (and did we mention cheap?) little snapshot camera.
Read more: Best point and shoot camera
When the Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II proved unexpectedly popular with the vlogging community, Canon went all in and produced the , adding full uncropped 4K video and a 3.5mm microphone port. These features beautifully complimented lots of the strengths of the Mark II, which included a flip-out screen and a beautiful 24-100mm equivalent f/1.8-2.8 lens, making for an extremely solid all-around compact that'll do everything most vloggers need it to, and indeed many photographers, though the lack of an eye-level viewfinder is a bit of a shame. The Mark III is arguably still a little expensive, but if you can afford the outlay, you'll find it an extremely capable compact for video and stills alike.
Read more: Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III review
More buying guides
- The best point-and-shoot cameras
- Best cameras under £500/$500
- Best cameras for beginners
- The best cameras for professionals
- The best compact cameras
- The best mirrorless cameras
- The cheapest full-frame cameras
- The best full-frame DSLRs
- The best travel cameras
- Best bridge cameras
- Best selfie cameras
- The best action cameras
