Like other electronics products, cameras have shot up in price in the US of late due to tariffs and other reasons. Fortunately, there are still many models available for less than the price of a budget smartphone ($750 or less) that offer great features for creators and photographers alike. If its speed you want for sports or action shots of your kids, models like Canons R50 can shoot bursts as fast as many high-end cameras. Creators, meanwhile, can choose Sonys ZV-E10 for vlogging jobs. There are also great, and cheap, models in the action and gimbal camera categories. Which one to pick therefore depends not only on your budget but what you want to do with your camera. So well not only detail the best picks, but how to home in on the best model for your specific needs.
Best budget cameras for 2026
What to consider before choosing the best budget camera for you
Which camera to buy obviously depends on what you shoot. If its mostly things like extreme sports, skiing or other adventurous activities, the best choice is obviously an action camera from GoPro, DJI or Insta360. Then, you just need to decide whether you want to shoot flat or 360 video, and whether you need a tiny or regular-sized model. The same goes for gimbal-style cameras from DJI and others.
Buying a camera for travel photography, sports photos or vlogging is a bit trickier. Here, you need to choose either a compact camera with a fixed lens or a mirrorless model that supports removable lenses.
Compact cameras tend to have smaller sensors and slightly lower quality lenses, but theyre obviously easier to carry most will fit in a large pocket. So, if budget, convenience and portability is the most important to you, then go for a model in this category.
When youre trying to make the highest quality videos, though, youll want to choose a mirrorless camera with a decent lens. With the larger sensor, youll be able to create nice blurred bokeh backgrounds to separate your subject from the foreground. Lenses are usually sharper as well, and youll be able to expand your collection over time for even more versatility.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/best-budget-camera-130000653.html?src=rss
New York Attorney General Letitia James has accused Valve of promoting illegal gambling through its video games in a lawsuit filed by her office. According to the AGs announcement, her office conducted an investigation and had concluded that Valve enabled gambling by enticing users to pay for a chance at rare items from loot boxes in Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2. In the lawsuit, the New York AG stressed that Valves loot boxes are particularly pernicious, because the games are popular among children and teenagers. The lawsuit described the loot box model, which requires a player to open a mystery chest for the possibility of winning rare items, as quintessential gambling. It argued that people introduced to gambling at an early age are at a significantly higher risk of developing gambling addictions later on, based on research. In addition, it explained that gambling is mostly illegal in New York. Players have to pay for chests or boxes and the keys to be able to open them in Valves games, and the company has reportedly sold billions of dollars worth of keys for Counter-Strike alone. The lawsuit said that Valve has made tens of millions of dollars in fees from the sale of virtual items on the Steam Community Market, as well. In addition to being able to sell items on Steam for funds directly credited to their Steam Wallet, players can also sell on third-party marketplaces for cash. According to James office, Valve facilitates and even assists third-party marketplaces in their operations, based on its investigation. Engadget has asked Valve for a statement about the lawsuit, but we have yet to hear back. However, the company previously denied being involved with third-party marketplaces that allow the sales of its game items for real-world money. In a response to an inquiry by the Danish Gambling Authority, Valve explained that those third-party websites create sock puppet accounts to sell and receive items on Steam in exchange for cash. [T]his behavior is in violation of our terms of service, Valve said.The lawsuit also pointed out that theres a huge market for Counter-Strike skins and referenced a Bloomberg article from 2025, which reported that the market for those skins had already surpassed $4.3 billion. As an example of in-game items sold for real money, it cited the sale of a Counter-Strike 2 AK-47 skin in 2024 for $1 million. The Attorney Generals Office wants the court to stop Valve from violating New York laws, to give up money it allegedly earned from illegal activities and to pay a fine three times what it allegedly earned from illegal business practices. The most expensive skin in Counterstrike history was publicly sold this morning, a StatTrak Factory New AK-47 Blue Gem pattern 661For over $1 million pic.twitter.com/1FdxoNM2ov Jake Lucky GDC (@JakeSucky) June 5, 2024
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ny-ag-valves-loot-boxes-can-get-kids-hooked-on-gambling-122503556.html?src=rss
Instagram is adding a new alert for the parents of teen users of its social media platform. The network will alert the adult if their child repeatedly searches for terms about suicide or self-harm in a short time frame. From that notification, the parent will optionally be able to access resources for having conversations with their teen about these topics. These alerts will begin rolling out for parental supervision users in the US, UK, Australia and Canada next week, with later regions to be added in the future."We chose a threshold that requires a few searches within a short period of time, while still erring on the side of caution," Instagram's blog post explains. "While that means we may sometimes notify parents when there may not be real cause for concern, we feel and experts agree that this is the right starting point, and well continue to monitor and listen to feedback to make sure were in the right place." The platform reiterated that search results for terms connected to suicide and self-harm are blocked for teen younger users, and content about those topics is not shown to them under its current policies. Instagram also noted that a similar parental alert feature is in the works for its AI tools, but news on that isn't expected until later this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/instagram-will-alert-parents-if-teens-repeatedly-search-for-suicide-or-self-harm-content-120000156.html?src=rss
French AA gaming developer and accessory manufacturer Nacon has filed for insolvency after its majority shareholder Bigben failed to make a loan repayment, the company said in a press release. "To date, the company reports available assets do not allow it to meet its liabilities," Nacon wrote. The objective with insolvency, it said, was to allow "continued operation, protect employees and maintain jobs while renegotiating with its creditors."
Nacon is behind the games Styx: Blades of Greed and was set to publish Terminator: Survivors before that title was delayed. It published Hell is Us last year to some praise, but Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown was buggy on release and failed to find much of an audience. The company will stream its next Nacon Connect presentation on March 4, and will supposedly show off some new games and footage for previously revealed games like Endurance Motorsport Series and Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss.
The company also makes hardware like controllers and headsets and racing sim accessories via its Revosim brand. Those products never really caught on with mainstream gamers but did have some success with the pro gaming crowd.
With Nacon's insolvency, the future of those games and accessories is now in question. A court will decide on the company's insolvency request at a hearing in early March, but in the meantime, trading of its shares is suspended. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/gaming-accessory-maker-and-publisher-nacon-files-for-insolvency-104832702.html?src=rss
It's always a fun day for the space nerds when a NASA team has new images to share from the James Webb Space Telescope. Today's pair has brains on the brain, with a look at the fittingly named Exposed Cranium Nebula. More officially, this cloud of space dust and debris is known as Nebula PMR 1. The images shared today may capture a moment in the final stages of a star, as well as giving hints as to how the nebula got its brain-like shape. "The nebula appears to have distinct regions that capture different phases of its evolution an outer shell of gas that was blown off first and consists mostly of hydrogen, and an inner cloud with more structure that contains a mix of different gases," NASA's blog post reads. The dark line that runs vertically through the nebula, giving it the cranial appearance, could be the result of "an outburst or outflow from the central star, which typically occurs as twin jets burst out in opposite directions." Both Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) were used to document the nebula.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/new-webb-telescope-photos-show-off-the-exposed-cranium-nebula-235609619.html?src=rss
It seems like any and every industry can have its own awards show these days. And why not? Most of us appreciate a chance to bust out the sequins and satin from time to time. If you can celebrate excellent work or make some extra biz dev bucks at the same time, all the better. Snap is the latest social media company to launch its own take on the glitz and glam. The Snappy Awards Show will be held at the company's headquarters on March 31. Comedian and content creator Matt Friend will host the event.Snapchat has been adding more tools for influencers to build audiences, most recently launching individual creator subscriptions. An awards show seems to be part of that same agenda, spotlighting popular personalities from many different fields. There will be Snappys handed out for categories such as Spotlight MVP, Best Storyteller and Breakout Creator of the Year, plus awards for collaboration, cultural impact and success in single subjects.Snapchat isn't the first social media platform to honor the personalities using it. TikTok hosted its inaugural awards show in the US last year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/snap-is-hosting-its-own-creator-awards-show-221859681.html?src=rss
Full Circle, the developer behind the new Skate game, has announced that it is restructuring and laying off staff. It's not yet clear how many roles will be impacted by the changes, but the restructuring is happening less than six months after skate. launched in early access on September 15, 2025."Were reshaping Full Circle to better support skate.s long-term future," Full Circle says. "These shifts mean making changes to our team structure, and some roles will be impacted. The teammates affected are talented colleagues and friends who helped build the foundation of skate. Their creativity and dedication are deeply ingrained in what players experience today. This decision is not a reflection of their impact and were committed to supporting them through this transition."Engadget has contacted Full Circle's owner EA for more information about the layoffs. We'll update this article if we hear back.EA originally formed Full Circle in 2021 with a staff of development talent from the original Skate team. Skate was often positioned as a more realistic competitor to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, but the new studio has ultimately taken the franchise in a slightly different direction than fans may have expected. Previous Skate games were paid experiences with single-player and multiplayer modes, while skate. is a free-to-play live-service game supported with microtransactions.Recent history, both the failure of Concord and the ongoing struggles of Highguard, serves as a testament to how hard it is to launch a live service game in the 2020s. Full Circle's announcement notes the "tens of millions" of players that have tried the new game, but it's possible a struggle to keep players interested and spending on microtransactions could be why it's restructuring.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/skates-developer-is-laying-off-staff-before-the-game-leaves-early-access-220916797.html?src=rss
Ubisoft's shakeups continue unabated. The creative director of the next Assassin's Creed game, codenamed Hexe, has left the company. The departure of Clint Hocking, a 20-year veteran of the company over two stints, was reportedly announced in a staff meeting this week.Hocking's resume at Ubisoft included serving as creative director on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Far Cry 2 and Watch Dogs: Legion. The details of why he's leaving the company haven't been reported.Ubisoft told VGC, which first reported on Hocking's exit, that development on Hexe will continue. Jean Guedson, one of three new leaders of the Assassin's Creed franchise, will take over as the upcoming title's new creative director. Guedson had the same role for Assassin's Creed Origins and Black Flag, two of the franchise's most well-received entries.To say sailing hasn't been smooth of late at Ubisoft would be an understatement. Last year, the company reorganized its corporate structure under a system of "creative houses." The first, Vantage Studios, is partly owned by Tencent and now oversees Assassin's Creed. Then in October, franchise head Marc-Alexis Côté left the company. He later claimed he was "asked to step aside" and is suing his former employer.All of these changes came in the wake of layoffs, big-name flops, more layoffs, studio closures, even more layoffs, strikes and (yep) layoffs again. Earlier this month, Ubisoft even fired an employee who criticized the companys return-to-office mandate.But have no fear; some aspects of the company are doing quite well. Take, for example, nepotism. The future is looking bright indeed for a rising company star who is now co-CEO of Vantage Studios. That title belongs to Charlie Guillemot, the son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-next-assassins-creed-game-loses-its-creative-director-210119005.html?src=rss
Canadian officials summoned leaders from OpenAI to Ottawa this week to address safety concerns about ChatGPT. The crux of the government concerns was that OpenAI did not notify authorities when it banned the account of a user who allegedly committed a mass shooting in British Columbia earlier this month. "The message that we delivered, in no uncertain terms, was that we have an expectation that there are going to be changes implemented, and if they're not forthcoming very quickly, the government is going to be making changes," Justice Minister Sean Fraser said of the company and its AI chatbot. It's unclear what those government-led changes or rules might be. There have been two previous, unsuccessful attempts to pass an online harms act in Canada.A recent report by The Wall Street Journal claimed that in 2025, some OpenAI employees flagged the account of the alleged shooter, Jesse Van Rootselaar, as containing potential warnings of committing real-world violence and called for leadership to notify law enforcement. Although Van Rootselaar's account was banned for policy violations, a company rep said that the account activity did not meet OpenAI's criteria for engaging the local police. Those reports were deeply disturbing, reports saying that OpenAI did not contact law enforcement in a timely manner," said Canadian Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon ahead of the discussion with company leaders. "We will have a sit-down meeting to have an explanation of their safety protocols and when they escalate and their thresholds of escalation to police, so we have a better understanding of whats happening and what they do."OpenAI has been implicated in mulitple wrongful death suits. The company's ChatGPT was accused of encouraging "paranoid beliefs" before a man killed his mother and himself in a December 2025 lawsuit. It is also at the center of one of several wrongful death lawsuits against the makers of AI chatbots for helping teenagers plan and commit suicides. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/canadian-government-demands-safety-changes-from-openai-204924604.html?src=rss
