Nowadays, having a camera setup for your church is almost essential. Unfortunately, cameras aren’t the cheapest things on the planet.
On the bright side, cameras can remain extremely useful for years after they are released, meaning you can buy a used camera and still get a lot out of it. Cameras also have a habit of going on sale during the holiday seasons!
Here are 3 camera setups for you to look into for you church all under $1,000:
Panasonic G85
The Panasonic G85 was first released in 2016, making it the oldest camera on our list. The camera comes with a 12-60mm f3.5-5.6 variable aperture lens and sells for $798 USD.
The Panasonic G85 can shoot video at 30fps in 4k, and can shoot up to 60fps in 1080p HD. It comes with a flip-out screen and a 16 megapixel micro-four thirds sensor.
This camera has no record limit, which is perfect for shooting a sermon or worship night. Unfortunately the Panasonic G85 has poor autofocus, but it comes with a great in-body image stabilization which means you won’t ever need a gimbal to stabilize your shot.
Sony a6400
The Sony a6400 was first released in 2019. It comes with a 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 variable aperture lens, and you can pick one up for $998 USD.
The camera can shoot video 30fps in 4k, and up to 120fps at 1080p HD while also coming with a flip-up screen and a 25 megapixel APS-C sensor.
The Sony a6400 also has no record limit, but unlike the Panasonic G85, this camera comes with excellent autofocus, making it perfect for quick and easy focus adjustments. Something to keep in mind is that the Sony a6400 doesn’t have any image stabilization.
Canon M50
Canon M50 was first released in 2018, and comes with a 15-45mm f3.5-6.3 variable aperture lens. You can grab this camera for only $649 USD. That price-point makes the Canon M50 the cheapest camera on our list.
The Canon M50 shoots video in 4k at 24fps, 1080p at 60fps, and can even shoot up to 120fps. Although, shooting at this high of a frame-rate will pull your quality down to 720p. This camera comes with a flip-out screen and a 25 megapixel APS-C sensor.
Similar to the Sony a6400, the Canon M50 has excellent autofocus. It also comes with digital image stabilization, which isn’t as good as in-body stabilization, but still better than nothing. One of the biggest downsides to the Canon M50 is its 30-minute record limit. However, if you’re going to be shooting short videos, then the Canon M50 may be the way to go.
