a5100

Very similar to its predecessor, the a5100 is the camera that I recommend to all my friends who want to take better pictures but don’t want to actually learn photography. I wouldn’t recommend it to friends who wanted to take sports or wildlife photos, however. The a5100 is small, reasonable priced, and full of features. It’s the little touches that make it such a great value: the touchscreen that flips backwards for selfies and the Wi-Fi/NFC for getting your pictures to your smartphone (and thus to your favorite social network). I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone more serious about photography. If someone even hoped to learn how f/stops or exposure compensation worked, I’d steer them to the a6000 instead for its electronic viewfinder and better controls. However, the a6000 lacks the selfie touchscreen, which makes this a better choice for the casual photographer, regardless of the price.