Sorry not sorry – these were the WORST cameras of 2025

I hate to kick anyone while they're down but, since we've already come up with our list of the best cameras of 2025, it's only fitting that we run down the worst of 2025 as well!

Whenever people ask me for camera advice on what they should buy, I frequently remark that you can't really buy a bad camera these days. But perhaps I should stop saying that, because some of the team's picks this year really do make that sound utterly ridiculous!

That said, every camera on this list is a fixed-lens camera. So maybe that's the proviso; you can't buy a bad mirrorless camera, but pay very close attention if you're looking at cameras where the lens doesn't come off!

So then, here's our rogue's gallery of cameras that made us cry in 2025…

Yashica FX-D 300

James Artaius, Editor in Chief

While there's something to be said for Yashica's range of compact cameras, which scratch the itch for simple point-and-shoots, the brand has a very dubious track record with film-inspired digital cameras. The sour taste of the Yashica Y35 is still lingering in my mouth, but I tried to give the FX-D 300 a fair shot.

On the surface, it does things right. It looks very pretty (styled after the Yashica FX film cameras of old), it has a film advance lever that's actually ratcheted (unlike the flimsy one on the Fujifilm X-Half), film simulations (based on real Yashica film stocks), a 24-60mm zoom lens and it boasts 50MP resolution.

Upon closer inspection, though, it all falls to pieces. Despite the looks, this is a plastic fantastic camera – right down to the "leatherette" grip. The tiny 1/1.56" sensor makes the film simulations look about as appealing as the filters on a camera for kids, and they instantly zap your files down to 12MP. Likewise, the zoom – despite a deceptively sculpted zoom ring on the lens – is achieved by digital cropping.

So you only get "50MP" at 24mm, dropping "24MP" at 35mm, "12MP" at 50mm and "8MP" at 60mm. Why the air quotes? Because one look at a 50MP file from this camera instantly tells you that there is serious interpolation at play. You'd literally be better off shooting on an old 16MP mirrorless camera and just enlarging the file in Photoshop.

In fact, instead of spending the $450 / £335 RRP on the Yashica, I highly recommend you buy a 16MP Olympus OM-D E-M5 from MPB along with a lens for far less money. It has better build quality, better image quality and better everything else. Or just buy yourself an actual Yashica FX film camera on eBay!

Kodak Charmera

Kim Bunermann, Staff Writer

If there's a camera that left me scratching my head this year, it has to be the Kodak Charmera. I don't know of any other 2025 release with lower resolution. In a year where 102MP compact cameras like the Fujifilm GFX100RF made headlines and won awards, who would have thought that a 1.6MP camera could also make waves?

Technically, it's the worst-resolution camera of the year – but this very limitation is what gives it its charm. And we all noticed how popular this little compact has become in a short time. Its soft, retro vibe is unmistakably "Charmera", and the low-res images feel playful, nostalgic, and strangely celebratory, turning a potential flaw into a defining feature.

That charm comes with a frustration, though – the Charmera is notoriously hard to find. Stock vanishes as fast as you can say "instant shot". Terrible quality for pro photography, but for anyone who wants to enjoy shooting without overthinking, it's oddly perfect – if you can get your hands on one. It's a somewhat lovable headache: "bad" on paper, but kind of brilliant in practice.

Tariffs, the US DJI ban, and the Canon Elph 360 A "update"

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Hillary K Grigonis, US Editor

Okay, this isn't the worst "camera" of the year, but rather one two of the worst gear changes of the year, at least for me in the US: the DJI drone ban and the tariffs.

Politics made drones hard to find in the US even before the ban, so I'm a bit nervous to see what access to drones in the US is going to look like next year. I'm hoping DJI will get the TikTok treatment and at least get the ban postponed until someone can actually conduct a security review.

Of course, being based in the US, I have to give some weight to all the price increases in the wake of the US tariffs. Gear was already getting expensive before that, and tariffs have only made it worse.

I have to choose a camera, you say? Fine. I'll pick on the Canon Elph 360 HS A / Ixus 285 HS A. Don't get me wrong, it's not a terrible camera for the price – we gave it four stars – but it is a terrible update.

The only changes from the model without the A in the name are that the card slot has gone from an SD card to a microSD card, and the tiny card type is rather annoying. It also updates to current Wi-Fi standards, which loses the point-and-shoot's ability to connect to portable photo printers.

Still, while the update is annoyingly less than the 2016 camera, Canon's point-and-shoots are hard to find in stock, so this little non-update seems to already be selling rather well.

Nikon Coolpix P1100

Mike Harris, How-To Editor

I feel a little bad choosing the Nikon Coolpix P1100 as my worst camera of the year, because its predecessor (Nikon Coolpix P1000) is an absolute guilty pleasure of mine. But this second coming can hardly even be considered an incremental upgrade.

The camera is essentially an excuse to meet EU regulations by switching to a USB-C charging port, with a few additional tweaks in the form of ML-L7 remote compatibility and some extra modes.

I get it, the bridge camera market is virtually non-existent nowadays. But the P1000 is a bit of a modern cult classic at this point – and I truly hope that Nikon gets to revisit this, frankly, off-the-wall concept with a proper upgrade at some point in the near future.

Am I suggesting that you pass on the P1100, then? Not necessarily. If you don’t want to spend big on long lenses, are fine with the small 1/2.3-inch 16MP sensor, and simply want a one-and-done camera that you can use for casual wildlife photography, lunar photography or sports photography, it’s still a great buy.

I also think it stands alone as the best camera on the market for those who are wildlife enthusiasts first and photographers second. If you’re an avid birder or are going on a red-letter safari trip, and simply want to document the species you find, the P1100 is unrivaled in price and simplicity.

Fujifilm X Half

Adam Waring, Guides Editor

I’m already somewhat dumfounded by the rise in popularity of compacts we’ve seen over the past couple of years; these fixed-lens, tiny-sensored relics of the past that are outperformed by the phones that all of us have in our pockets anyway. I had a good old rant about it in my ‘What is all the fascination with compact cameras?’ piece.

If you ask me, these backwards-looking devices really ought to be consigned to the dustbin of history, but if there’s one particular model that really gets my goat (no, I don’t mean ‘greatest of all time’), then it’s the Fujifilm X Half.

Taking the trend for all things retro a step too far, this camera brings all the inconvenience of film into the digital age and charges a small fortune for it. Not only that, but it simulates one of the sorriest episodes of the film days: the half-frame camera.

Back then, when you first not only had to shell out to buy a roll of film, but then had to spend even more to get your photographs developed, every shot had a cost. So half-frame cameras, aimed at the thriftiest of photographers, came along.

As the name suggests, they only exposed half a frame of film at a time. A roll of 24 exposures became 48 shots, and a 36-exposure film gave you 72 pictures. To achieve this, the photos were not only half the size, but switched orientations, so that holding your camera in regular landscape orientation resulted in portrait-ratio shots.

The Fujifilm X Half simulates this, although of course it doesn’t only expose half its sensor at a time, but basically mounts its mediocre 17.7MP 4:3 ratio sensor the wrong way around, to output 3:4 portrait-orientation shots. And what if you want to take a horizontal shot? Hold the camera vertically. Utter madness!

And that’s just the ‘half’ of it, if you’ll pardon the pun. The viewfinder is a simple optical device that only gives an approximation of what you’re photographing. You don’t get to see your shots until you’ve taken an entire ‘roll’ of 36, 24 or 72 exposures, and you’re stuck with the film simulation you've selected until the 'film' runs out, too.

Okay, so it’s supposed to be a ‘fun’ camera that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and I’d forgive it all this if it were sold at a suitably fun price, but the launch price was an eye-watering $849 / £699 / AU$1,349 – how effing much!? At least prices have tumbled a little since then, so if you want to relive the worst frustrations of the film days at a slightly more palatable price, then be my guest!

Sigma BF

Chris George, Content Director

I feel slightly guilty picking the Sigma BF as my choice for the worst camera of 2025. I am a great believer in innovation in camera design – as after 40 years of reviewing, I have got rather tired of new cameras looking and behaving exactly the same as the ones they replace.

But for me, the Sigma BF is form over function. Its pared-down down futuristic design, carved out of a single block of aluminum, gives this full-frame mirrorless camera intrigue and an eye-catching aesthetic. But is it a camera I actually want to use? Well, no. It feels uncomfortable in your hand, and it can't really properly balance anything but the smallest L-mount lenses. And even then, there is no EVF, or tilting screen, to give me the joy of photography that I want from my camera.

Sigma has a long history of making unusual cameras – and this is one that just doesn't work as a working camera. I much prefer the previous generation of Sigma mirrorless models – the fp and the fp L. These were far more utilitarian in their simplicity, without the airs and graces of the pared-down BF, which ends up being is more a sculpture than a creative tool..

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Want to know the cameras that lived up to their hype this year? Take a look at our picks for the best cameras of 2025!