Mid-Range Cameras Have Never Been This Good

We got not one, not two, but three fantastic mid-range full-frame cameras in 2025: the Panasonic Lumix S1 II, the Canon EOS R6 Mark III, and the Sony a7 V. These join the Nikon Z6 III, which launched just 18 months ago. The mid-range mirrorless camera segment has never been this competitive, fresh, and fantastic, which is outstanding news for photographers.

At the start of 2025, the most recent mid-range full-frame camera was the Nikon Z6 III, a great camera. It took home the Bronze in the 2024 PetaPixel Awards. But Canon and Sony’s mid-range models, the R6 II and a7 IV, were already quite long in the tooth, having launched in 2022 and 2021. As for Panasonic, I guess the original S1, released in 2019, was the company’s mid-range model, although you could argue that the S5 II and S5 IIX from early 2023 were essentially filling that role.

As we turn the calendar to 2026, photographers and hybrid creators have many more choices than they did 12 months ago. Mid-range and enthusiast-level customers across each full-frame mirrorless system have fantastic, new cameras to consider, and each of them is excellent, albeit pricey. Further, while I’m using the term “mid-range” here, make no mistake about it, the Nikon Z6 III, Panasonic S1 II, Canon R6 III, and Sony a7 V can all be used for professional work. Sure, they aren’t their respective maker’s highest resolution or most performant models overall, but each of them is fully up to the task of professional photo and video work. There’s good reason we named the Canon EOS R6 III our Camera of the Year Award for 2025 and awarded the a7 V an “Official Selection.”

I’m not here to get into which of the mid-range models available right now is the best; that’s what an upcoming PetaPixel Shootout will tackle. But it’s clear that photographers can’t go wrong with any of them right now. They are all excellent.

The Nikon Z6 III and Panasonic S1 II feature 24-megapixel partially stacked image sensors that deliver good-to-great image quality, lots of speed, and high-quality 6K RAW video recording. The Canon R6 III and Sony a7 V sport higher-res 33-megapixel sensors and are both capable of capturing great photos at high speeds with excellent AI-powered autofocus.

All four of these cameras are great. Some are better than others for certain use cases and applications, of course, but none of them are bad at anything. These mid-range cameras have many of the high-end, flagship-level features that matter to the largest number of people. As an example, the Sony a7 V doesn’t sport the cutting-edge functionality that makes something like a Sony a1 II cost $7,000, but the a7 V doesn’t cut so many corners that a photographer is ever hamstrung by its capabilities.

Speaking of flagship cameras, precisely what that is differs a bit by brand. But for Sony, it’s the a9 III or a1 II, depending on your needs. For Canon, it’s the R1 or R5 II, again, depending on what you prioritize, speed or resolution. In Nikon’s camp, it’s the Z9, although that camera is getting very long in the tooth. Panasonic’s system is a bit less clear, as the S1 II and S1R II are nearly the same price. The company doesn’t have a camera in its lineup that costs more than $3,300. The S1 II is mid-range in the overall market, not necessarily in Panasonic’s offerings.

While cameras like the Sony a1 II and Canon EOS R1 are exciting and easy to covet, they do not sell in high numbers. They are highly specialized, professional tools that can cost more than twice as much as mid-range offerings. The cutting-edge is expensive. These flagship models are important and do matter, but make no mistake, camera companies are selling dramatically more entry-level and mid-range models than they are flagship cameras, and it’s not even close.

Given how important mid-range camera models are to the overall success and health of a full-frame camera system, it’s actually shocking that this is really the first time we can look at all the systems and see relatively new, feature-rich, and competitive cameras across the board at the same time.

This is fantastic news for photographers, not just because they have so many great options, but because competition breeds innovation. The competition has never been more intense than it is right now. All the differences in features and performance between cameras like the Z6 III, R6 III, a7 V, and S1 II will undoubtedly inform the next models, which are likely to arrive in three or so years. Smaller differences may even be addressed in some way or another through firmware updates much sooner than that.

It’s also likely that some entry-level, affordable cameras arriving in the next year or two will inherit features and performance from their more expensive siblings. Will a future Canon R8-series or Sony a7 C-series model borrow from the R6 III and a7 V? Although this is purely speculation, I’d wager yes.

I understand and appreciate that perhaps some recent mid-range cameras didn’t necessarily live up to everyone’s hype or expectations. Still, I think it’s worth hammering home that the latest mid-range full-frame cameras available right now are all fantastic across the board. Photographers have never been able to get this much performance or have access to this many cutting-edge features at this price point as they can right now.

It’s easy to feel a bit of doom and gloom about the state of the photography industry, especially with the rise of generative AI images and the seemingly nonstop nonsense surrounding tariffs in 2025, so I believe it is really important to take a beat and realize just how good enthusiast-level cameras are right now. Not just from one company, but all of them, all at the same time. It’s also tempting to believe that because the overall digital camera market has shrunk so much since its peak 15-ish years ago, photographers have fewer good choices than before, but that’s just not true. It was never as easy in the DSLR era to get performance this relatively impressive in this product segment, and certainly not from four different companies at once.

It really doesn’t get better than this.

Image credits: Header photo created using an asset licensed via Depositphotos.