Buying your first serious camera in 2026 means walking into one of the noisiest markets in recent memory. Compact cameras are surging. Retro-styled bodies are outselling flagships. YouTube reviewers are pushing full frame. Reddit says Fujifilm. The camera store wants to sell you whatever kit is sitting on the shelf. And every recommendation answers the same question: "What camera should I buy?"
That is the wrong question. The better one is: "What camera will help me learn and keep shooting?"
A beginner camera should not be judged like a professional camera with fewer features. It should be judged by how well it teaches. Does it make exposure understandable? Does it make focusing less frustrating? Does it have affordable lenses to grow into? Does it fit the kind of photography the buyer actually wants to do? Does it leave enough budget for learning, editing, and practice? Those are the criteria that separate a camera that sits in a drawer after three months from one that changes how you see the world. Here is how to think through them.
What Actually Matters in a Beginner Camera
A Camera That Makes the Fundamentals Visible
The camera should not bury exposure and focus behind automation. It should let a beginner grow from auto mode into aperture priority, shutter priority, manual exposure, and exposure compensation without making each step feel intimidating. Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, focus mode, drive mode, and white balance should not feel like secret menus that require ten minutes of digging to find.
This is more than a usability preference. It is how beginners learn. A camera that makes it easy to switch from auto to aperture priority, take a photo at f/2.8, then take the same photo at f/11, and immediately see the difference in depth of field, is a camera that teaches. A camera that hides those controls behind nested submenus, or that does not show a live preview of how the settings affect the image, slows that feedback loop down to the point where many beginners never complete it. The best beginner cameras do not just take good pictures. They make it easier to understand why a picture worked.
Autofocus That Reduces Frustration With Real Subjects
Do not think about autofocus as a spec. Think about it as a frustration reducer. Beginners rarely photograph test charts. They photograph people, pets, kids, travel scenes, casual portraits, family events, and street moments. These are subjects that move unpredictably, require eye tracking to nail focus in shallow depth-of-field situations, and punish slow or unreliable autofocus with missed shots that cannot be retaken.
Eye detection, subject tracking, and reliable continuous autofocus reduce the frustration that makes people quit photography before they ever learn it. The Canon EOS R50 is a strong example: its Dual Pixel CMOS AF II system, inherited from the higher-end R10, tracks faces and eyes reliably even in continuous shooting, which means a beginner spends less time fighting focus and more time learning composition and light. A camera with mediocre autofocus might produce technically fine images when the subject holds still, but the moment a child runs, a dog turns, or a friend laughs mid-conversation, the keeper rate drops and the beginner blames themselves for something the camera failed to do. The good news is most modern cameras have very good autofocus.
A Lens System With a Useful Second Lens
This is one of the most important and most overlooked factors in the entire buying decision. Before buying the camera, look for the second lens.
The kit lens is enough to begin, but the second lens is where many beginners start to understand creative control. A fast portrait prime like the Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM, Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S, or Sony FE 50mm f/1.8 teaches depth of field in a way no zoom can, because the wide aperture makes the relationship between f-stop and background blur immediately visible (note that on APS-C, a 50mm lens behaves like a 75-80mm short telephoto, which is ideal for portraits; for a true normal perspective on crop, look for a 30-35mm prime like the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary). A telephoto zoom like the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD opens up wildlife, sports, and compressed perspectives. A wide angle like the Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary changes how you see architecture, landscapes, and interior spaces.
A healthy beginner system should offer at least one affordable normal prime, one portrait-friendly option, and one useful zoom that does not cost more than the camera body. If those options do not exist in the mount you are considering, the beginner may outgrow the system quickly and face the expensive prospect of switching. A cheaper body in a strong lens ecosystem is almost always a better investment than an expensive body in a thin one.
A Body That Fits the First Genre
There is no universal beginner camera. What matters depends entirely on what the buyer actually wants to photograph, and beginners who think carefully about this before purchasing tend to be far happier with their choice than those who buy whatever a reviewer called "the best."
For portraits, prioritize autofocus, lens options, and flash compatibility. For landscapes, prioritize weather resistance, dynamic range, and wide angle lens options. For travel, prioritize size, USB-C charging, lens compactness, and JPEG quality that looks good without editing. For video, prioritize screen articulation, audio input, stabilization, and autofocus that tracks smoothly during recording. For family and pets, prioritize autofocus speed, low-light performance, and portability so the camera actually comes along to the park. For product photography, prioritize lens options, tethering capability, raw files, and flash or strobe compatibility.
The camera that is perfect for a travel photographer may be frustrating for someone who wants studio portraits, and vice versa. Identifying your first genre narrows the field dramatically and usually makes the decision obvious.
A Viewfinder, Unless the Buyer Is Video-First
For still photographers, an electronic viewfinder is not a luxury. It helps in bright sun when rear screens wash out, improves physical stability by bracing the camera against your face, encourages deliberate composition by framing the scene in an isolated window, and makes the camera feel less like a phone and more like a dedicated photographic tool. For many beginners, the viewfinder is what makes a camera feel like a camera.
A body without a viewfinder can be excellent for vlogging and content creation, where the articulating rear screen needs to face forward and the viewfinder would go unused. But those are different use cases with different priorities. The Fujifilm X-M5 is widely praised for its compact size and strong video specs (6.2K open-gate, 10-bit recording), but reviewers consistently flag the absence of a viewfinder as a real compromise for stills-oriented beginners. If you primarily want to take photographs rather than record video, prioritize a viewfinder.
Weather Resistance as Practical Confidence
Weather-sealing is not mandatory, but it is not fluff. A beginner who photographs mostly indoors or in fair weather may not need it. But a beginner who wants travel, landscapes, hiking, kids' sports, rainy cityscapes, or any kind of outdoor work will benefit from a camera that can tolerate the conditions where the most interesting photographs tend to happen.
Weather-sealing is not waterproofing, and the lens matters too (a sealed body with an unsealed kit lens is only partially protected). But weather resistance changes behavior in a way that is hard to quantify on a spec sheet. It makes the user less likely to put the camera away when the light gets dramatic, when the fog rolls in, when the rain starts creating reflections on the pavement. Some of the most compelling photographs happen in weather that an unprotected camera cannot safely endure.
Stabilization That Matches the Use Case
In-body image stabilization matters more for some shooting styles than others, and treating it as a universal requirement leads beginners to overspend on bodies and underinvest in lenses. IBIS matters most for travel, handheld low light, video, macro, and adapted vintage lenses that have no stabilization of their own. It matters less for flash-lit portraits, tripod-mounted landscapes, fast action photography (where shutter speed is already high enough to freeze motion and eliminate shake), or systems where every zoom lens includes optical stabilization.
A beginner should not simply ask whether a camera has stabilization. They should ask whether stabilization helps the way they plan to shoot, and whether the lenses they are likely to buy include optical stabilization that compensates for its absence in the body.
Battery Life and Charging That Survive a Normal Day
CIPA battery ratings are standardized but opaque. A beginner does not know what 310 shots means in practice, and the real-world number varies enormously depending on how much video is recorded, how often the rear screen is used, and whether the camera spends time in standby. The useful question is whether the camera can survive a normal afternoon of shooting, a travel day, or a family event without battery anxiety.
USB-C charging matters more than most beginners realize, because it means a portable power bank can extend the camera's life without carrying spare batteries. That said, spare batteries are cheap insurance and should be part of every beginner's kit. Check the cost of the camera's specific battery before buying; some proprietary batteries are surprisingly expensive, and third-party alternatives vary in quality and compatibility.
What Beginners Overvalue
Megapixels Beyond the Modern Baseline
Every current APS-C and Micro Four Thirds camera has enough resolution for social media, moderate prints up to about 16x20 inches, and general photography. The Nikon Z50 II's 20.9 megapixels and the Canon EOS R50's 24.2 megapixels will both produce files that are more than sufficient for any output a beginner is likely to need. Megapixels matter for aggressive cropping and very large prints, but they are rarely the limiting factor for a photographer who is still learning to compose, expose, and focus.
Full Frame for Its Own Sake
Full frame sensors offer advantages in dynamic range, low-light noise performance, and depth-of-field control. They also raise body cost by $500 to $2,000, lens cost by a similar margin, system size, and system weight. For many beginners, APS-C or Micro Four Thirds is the better learning platform because it keeps the entire system smaller, lighter, and more affordable, leaving budget for better lenses and education. Full frame is not wrong, but a beginner who spends $2,000 on a full frame body and then cannot afford a second lens has made a worse investment than one who spends $900 on an APS-C body and $300 on a fast prime.
Video Specs for Stills-First Users
6K recording, 10-bit color, log profiles, and open-gate modes are meaningful for video creators who plan to color grade, deliver to clients, or publish high-production content. They are not automatically meaningful for someone trying to learn still photography. The Fujifilm X-M5's 6.2K open-gate video is impressive, but it does not help a beginner learn exposure, and its lack of a viewfinder actively hinders stills work. A stills-first beginner does not need a video-first camera just because reviewers are excited about its video specs.
Brand Identity
Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, OM System, and Panasonic all make capable beginner cameras. Brand loyalty at the entry level is premature. The better question is not which brand is best, but which system gives this specific beginner the best combination of body, lenses, controls, durability, and upgrade path for their likely use. A Nikon beginner and a Canon beginner who both learn the fundamentals will produce equally good photographs. The system matters less than the photographer's willingness to practice.
Beginner Camera Picks by Category
Best Overall Beginner Mirrorless Camera: Canon EOS R50
The Canon EOS R50 hits the right balance of image quality, autofocus, size, and price for most beginners. Its 24.2 MP APS-C sensor is similar to the one used in the higher-end Canon EOS R10 and produces excellent images with good dynamic range and color accuracy. The Dual Pixel CMOS AF II system tracks faces and eyes without fuss, even in burst mode. It has a viewfinder, a fully articulating touchscreen, and Canon's guided UI modes genuinely help beginners learn what each setting does by displaying explanation screens when a mode is selected.
It is compact enough to carry all day and substantial enough to hold comfortably, though photographers with larger hands may find the grip shallow. It lacks in-body stabilization, which means handheld low-light shooting relies on lens-based IS or higher ISO values. The main ecosystem compromise is Canon's RF-S lens lineup, which remains thin compared to Sony E or Fujifilm X (Nikon's dedicated DX lineup is similarly limited, though both Canon and Nikon benefit from full frame glass that works on crop bodies). Third-party options from Sigma and Tamron have started to fill the gap, but check whether the second and third lenses you want actually exist in RF mount before committing.
Best for Beginners Who Know They Will Stick With It: Nikon Z50 II
The Nikon Z50 II costs more than the R50 but offers a more capable overall package for a beginner who is confident they want to invest in photography long-term. It has a brighter, high-luminance viewfinder that is easier to use in direct sunlight, a more robust body than many entry-level cameras (though it lacks a formal IP rating and should still be treated cautiously in heavy rain), Nikon's EXPEED 7 processor bringing higher-end subject-detection logic down to an APS-C body, and a fully articulating screen. The 20.9 MP sensor produces clean, detailed files. The broader Nikon Z lens ecosystem is deep, with excellent full frame options at every focal length and growing third-party coverage from Sigma, Tamron, and Viltrox, though Nikon's dedicated DX lens lineup remains more limited than Sony E or Fujifilm X.
It lacks in-body stabilization, but all of Nikon's current APS-C zoom lenses include optical VR, which mitigates the gap for most situations. Prime lenses without VR, like the Nikon Z 40mm f/2, will require the photographer to manage shutter speed more carefully in low light. The Z50 II is the pick for a beginner who wants a body that can grow with them for several years before they need to upgrade, with a lens mount that has a clear future.
Best for Travel: OM System OM-5 Mark II
The OM System OM-5 Mark II weighs about 370 grams body-only and packs IP53-rated weather sealing, up to 7.5 stops of in-body stabilization, a viewfinder, and computational photography features (Live ND, Handheld High Res Shot, focus stacking) into a body smaller than most of its competitors. The Mark II update, launched in mid-2025, adds the updated menu system from the OM-1 line, an enlarged grip for better handling, USB-C charging, and a dedicated CP button for quick access to computational modes. The weight savings compound when you factor in the lenses: Micro Four Thirds optics are proportionally smaller and lighter than their APS-C equivalents, so the entire system fits in a bag that would only hold a body and one lens in a larger format. The OM System 12-45mm f/4 Pro (24-90mm equivalent) is a standout travel zoom that covers most situations in a package barely larger than a fast prime.
The compromise is the smaller Micro Four Thirds sensor, which falls behind APS-C in low-light noise performance and total dynamic range. For well-lit travel, landscapes, and outdoor work, the difference is unlikely to matter in any print or screen output a beginner will produce. For dimly lit interiors, high-ISO situations, or heavy shadow recovery in post, the gap becomes visible. The OM-5 Mark II is the right choice for a beginner whose priority is carrying the camera everywhere without fatigue and shooting confidently in any weather. Budget-conscious buyers can also look for the original OM-5 on the used market, as the internals are nearly identical.
Best for Video-First Creators: Sony ZV-E10 II
The Sony ZV-E10 II is purpose-built for content creation. It has a 26 MP APS-C sensor, electronic Active stabilization for video, lens-based optical stabilization when using OSS lenses, a fully articulating screen designed to face forward for vlogging, a product showcase autofocus mode that shifts focus to objects held up to the camera, and video autofocus that tracks smoothly and confidently during recording. Sony's E-mount lens ecosystem is the largest in mirrorless photography, with affordable options from Sigma, Tamron, and Sony at virtually every focal length and aperture, so the path from kit lens to a more specialized setup is wide open.
It does not have a viewfinder, which limits its appeal for dedicated stills work. Composing on a rear screen in bright sunlight is difficult, and the lack of a viewfinder removes the physical stability that comes from bracing the camera against your face. If the buyer's primary goal is video and their stills needs are secondary, the ZV-E10 II is the strongest option in this price range. If they want to do both equally, the Nikon Z50 II or Canon EOS R50 with their viewfinders are better hybrid choices.
Best for Landscapes and Bad Weather: OM System OM-5 Mark II
The OM-5 Mark II earns a second mention here because few cameras near this price match its combination of IP53 weather sealing, powerful IBIS, and genuinely compact weather-sealed lens options. The OM System 8-25mm f/4 Pro gives you a 16-50mm equivalent wide-to-normal zoom in a weather-sealed package, and the OM System 40-150mm f/4 Pro covers the telephoto range at the same quality level. For a beginner who wants to photograph coastlines, mountains, forests, and winter scenes, the ability to shoot confidently in rain and snow without worrying about the camera changes what is possible and what is worth attempting.
Best for Portraits and Headshots
Almost any modern APS-C mirrorless body will produce excellent portraits when paired with the right lens. The camera matters less in this category than in any other; the lens is what determines background blur, subject rendering, and the overall feel of the image. A Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM on a Canon body, a Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S on a Nikon body, or a Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary on any supported mount will transform a kit-lens beginner's portrait work overnight. Prioritize autofocus accuracy (especially eye AF) and lens availability over body specs. A basic flash like the Godox TT685 II opens up fill light and indoor shooting for around $100 to $150.
Best on a Tight Budget
DSLRs are cheap right now for a reason: Canon and Nikon have moved their development energy to mirrorless, and DSLR systems are no longer the mainstream growth path. Buying into a system with shrinking lens development to save a couple hundred dollars is a questionable trade-off if the beginner outgrows the body in a year and faces adapter compromises or a mount switch. The money saved on the body can be offset later by adapter compromises, partial lens compatibility, or a gradual move to native mirrorless glass when upgrading.
Better options exist at every price point. A used Sony a6100 or Sony a6400 gives a beginner access to Sony's E-mount ecosystem, real-time eye autofocus, and an electronic viewfinder. A discounted or refurbished Canon EOS R50 frequently drops below $600 with a kit lens. A used Fujifilm X-T30 II puts excellent image quality and Fujifilm's film simulations into a body that regularly appears under $600 on the used market now that the X-T30 III has arrived (the III adds the X-Processor 5, AI subject detection, and a Film Simulation dial for $999 new, if the budget stretches that far). All of these options offer current autofocus systems, electronic viewfinders, live exposure preview, and lens paths that are still actively expanding. Buy from reputable dealers (B&H Used, KEH, MPB), check the shutter count and sensor condition, and put whatever you saved toward a fast prime.
The Beginner Buying Checklist
Before you buy, ask yourself these questions: What do I actually want to photograph first? Does this camera make aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and exposure compensation easy to find and understand? Does it have a viewfinder if I care about stills? Is the autofocus good for the subjects I actually shoot? What is the first lens I will buy after the kit lens, and can I afford it? Can the camera handle the environments where I want to use it? Does it charge over USB-C so a power bank can extend a long day? Is it small enough to carry but not so small that the controls feel cramped and the battery dies by noon?
And the most important question: am I leaving enough budget for a lens, a memory card, a spare battery, editing software, and education? That last item matters more than most beginners realize. A photographer who buys slightly less camera and leaves room to learn will almost always progress faster than one who spends everything on the body.
Where the Money Should Go
For most beginners, the budget should not be 95 percent camera and 5 percent everything else. The body and kit lens are the starting point, not the finish line. A realistic beginner budget makes room for one meaningful second lens (usually a fast prime in the $150 to $300 range), a spare battery, a decent SD card (64 GB UHS-I is plenty for stills-first beginners; video-heavy shooters should check the camera's required write speed and V-rating, as some higher-bitrate modes may benefit from a faster card), a simple camera bag or sling, editing software (Lightroom or a free alternative like darktable), and education.
The education part is not filler. Understanding exposure, composition, light, and editing will do more for the quality of your photographs than any body upgrade. A beginner who understands why their photo is underexposed and how to fix it in the field is a better photographer than someone with a $3,000 body who does not know what exposure compensation does. The Fstoppers Photography 101 tutorial covers these fundamentals in depth, and for beginners who want to see how different genres demand different approaches to the same foundational skills, The Well-Rounded Photographer covers eight disciplines with eight instructors. Once you know what genre excites you, there are deeper resources for specific paths: Perfecting the Headshot for portrait and headshot work, the Where Art Meets Architecture series for real estate and interiors, Mastering Adobe Lightroom for building an editing workflow, or the Photographing the World series for landscape and travel.
The Bottom Line
The best beginner camera is the one that makes you want to keep learning after the first week. If you want the safest general learning path, buy an affordable APS-C mirrorless camera with a viewfinder and a strong lens ecosystem. If you want video first, accept that a creator camera may sacrifice a viewfinder or other stills features. If you want landscapes and travel, take weather resistance, stabilization, and lens compactness seriously. If you are on a strict budget, used mirrorless bodies from the last few years offer current autofocus and active lens ecosystems at a fraction of their original price. And if you mostly want everyday memories, a compact camera or even a phone may be more honest than pretending you need a full system.
Specs can help. But repetition is what turns a camera purchase into photography.
6 Comments
Not sure if your recommendations really work efficiently. Why are there "beginners" at all? And who are they? I know either hobby photographers, or on the other side consumers who are completely satisfied with the results they get from their smartphone. To convince people of the expensive need to get a "real camera" needs different arguments than a better aufo-focus (which is not even clearly the case). To really revive the market for cameras, a new attitude is needed, created by mental satisfaction from a hobby instead of technical excellence. The analogue trend is one example.
These days I feel that true beginners should start with manual controls on their phone. Controversial, I'm aware, but people rarely have a hefty three or four figure sum to throw around on a hobby they're not sure they'll keep. If someone knows they enjoy taking photos, maybe takes a friend's camera for a spin and loves it, then they should start investing in equipment in my opinion.
That said as a Nikonian I'd love to recommend the nikon system to those jumping onto mirrorless as the kit lenses are very, very solid. In fact I still use my 24-120 F4 S!
Beginner??? Today, just incase you have not noticed, everyone from a kid that can hold and aim his cell phone/Ipad his mom and dad gave him to even the grand parents with the same devices are capturing moments that want to remember or brag about of stills and video with no problems.
Your article long that it is is nothing more than a hawker on YouTube with suggestions of cameras new mainly and not cost effective for someone going from a cellphone to a body camera. Think for a minute how many cameras are in a Goodwill store or how many will you find at an estate sale or even a junk store of old things! These are where things start. Ever look at a collage photography class why do they start with film cameras of all types.
The best camera is the one you can afford and in the digital world also the computer you use to view the images then the software, the point is it is not just the camera but all things that make up the cost of seeing the images or people will just stick with that brick cell phone.
Have you ever been on a walkabout and come across a young couple using grand dads old Canon/ Nikon capturing their first moments, not much anymore. But what you will see is people at a drug store or big box store back in the back hooking up their cell phone and getting prints and not working at home on a computer and editor, people will get the images they want to keep for that shoe box or drawer and why this way so they can write info on the back of who. what, where and when not possible even today in the digital world to get printed on the back of an image.
My point is we as seasoned photographers have to see not only what others do not BUT what is happening around us that we forget what the basics we started out with.
I am going to do some a hawking of a set of cameras that I found back in 2013 when there was mainly paper magazines for info and books on selves of all sorts of cameras. In 2013 Sony popped up with a mirrorless camera, at the time big deal right! But what they did was have on camera apps, like "Digital Filter" (no need for a lot of filters to carry) all that helped to do affects as well as a $20 cost of a editor called Capture One when the mainly only available SW was Photoshop and Lightroom that cost $800+ each and for each full update. The cameras also could do both stills and videos selected also on that top dial was panorama selection. The second year came out with IBIS at really no extra cost so goodbye to tripods. Lens yes were few BUT Sony gave out specs to adapter makers so that new people could use old film lens or makers of lenses for the now digital cameras. Three models with different MP's A7 24MP, A7R 36MP and the A7S 12MP but a high ISO of 100–102,400, which is expandable to 50–409,600 making it the night/low light king And the same cameras a year later with IBIS. Also with night vision " Bright Monitoring" for framing in dark places a function that even few Reps knew about. Least of all things included was not just one Auto mode but two one basic and another that with a basic flash on top would do night time portraits doing two images in camera and combining in a output to a SD card.
There were more complaints than one could imagine but all mostly from DSLR makers trying to shut the door but all over the years were made better.
Now today when looking for one of these cameras they will be on the used market BUT I have seen lately some still new in the box at some military stores. But key is to ask if the apps are on the camera, makes it more valuable as a collectors items and hand be down camera.
Now yes I did do some hawking BUT also included some things that a new to a camera body type would like to know before reaching for the wallet.
As a note all those users of DSLR's cameras ended up having to get rid of their cameras AND lens when the camera maker they were loyal to went mirrorless and even today they are behind the Powerball with lenses trying to catch up.
This is the info a new person needs to know!!! Also what is needed to also edit that image $'s more!
What is the history of the new makes?
Outside opinion, but a great suggestion for people who want a camera that they can take anywhere, gives good quality, and doesn't break the bank is the OM TG-7. It is a very capable camera that will go places you don't want to take your smartphone or even a weathersealed mirrorless.
A camera that's worth a mention is the Olympus E-M10 Mark IV. What a phenomenal little camera that is, paired up with the 14-42EZ. It's the only stabilized beginner camera, compared to the other beginner camera at its price point the R100, E-m10 looks like a spaceship compared to that thing... Stabilization in a beginner camera is rare so the E-M10 is a gem, plus you're getting into the M43 ecosystem which has a trillion different lenses that you can find dirt cheap on the used market
The ladder has long been pulled up and destroyed for the beginner market.
The beginner/ entry level price point has been completely ruined, and the issue we see today with the PC market where DRAM and NAND price fixing has caused major issues with the consumer PC market, and attrition with the PC gaming market. The Camera industry has been doing this for years where beginners have been priced out of the entry point into the market.
This is also one area where many in the ecosystem refuse to address or find ways to dismiss it. The increases we have seen to the camera industry are worse/ larger than the increases we saw with the PC RAM and SSD prices. and often a counter to that will be people recommending that a beginner delve into the used market, which has also been ruined, with most sites that sell used gear, if you want remotely modern ILC, then there are virtually no savings vs new, and for actual significantly lower prices, you are often going with something very old, and will often be a bad experience. For example, it is not uncommon to see a used DSLR with a range of issues, with many not being immediately noticed or even understood, especially ones where a user could confuse with a skill issue. for example, a misaligned phase detect module, decentered lens, shutter that is on its last legs. dead pixels too close together where remapping cannot prevent them from showing up in photos, and much more.
When it comes to attracting new people into a product ecosystem, you need an easily affordable entry point where they can a decent range or what that ecosystem has to offer, and then when the user confirms their passion, they will value it enough to invest more into that ecosystem.
Even before the DRAM and NAND price fixing issues, you didn't see beginners and new users jumping right to a $800 CPU, $2000 GPU, and $1000+ worth of RAM.
Instead the largest increases in the PC gaming community came when people started entering with the $500 entry level gaming builds, and many of them became the high end gaming PC users we see today.
The PC industry has not experienced that lockout unwillingly due to the price fixing a few upstream industries. On the other hand, the camera industry chose to crush then entry point intentionally while thinking that they can just extract more and more out of the enthusiasts.
Also the high prevalence of the use of one tool does not indicate market rejection of something else. For example, in the past, people would pay for things like camera licenses for NVR systems because many companies would gouge you on the hardware, then try to extract additional revenue out of you on the software side, and many people paid those fees. But then we saw major shifts when when open source NAS and NVR addons became more user friendly, and now the market is rapidly shifting away from those appliance systems that nickel and dime you with every function after the initial purchase.
With that in mind, while smartphones have improved significantly to where they have replaced basic point and shoot cameras, they have not replaced ILC cameras, but the actions of the camera industry essentially made what would usually be that first step into a grand canyon sized step, it has resulted in the overwhelming majority of people not wanting to take a risk with that first step.
Think about it this way, how many people would become F1 and NASCAR drivers if the entry point into the car industry was a price like a McLaren W1 ($2.1 million dollar car), and if you wanted something cheaper, a few people in the car ecosystem, told you, just buy a used previous gen version for around 1.5 million dollars, and then if that is not good enough, buy a used 10 horsepower lawn tractor from the 1970s. I bet NASCAR and F1 racing wouldn't be doing so well.