Excellent live-streaming cameras do not need to come with outrageous price tags in 2024.

Which is great news for every church. 

So today, I’m giving you the 2024 winners for the Best Budget Live Stream Cameras For Churches - a list we do every year. 

Here are the categories that we’ll be exploring in this blog:

• The Best Budget Mirrorless Camera For Live Streaming

• The Best Budget Camcorder That Doesn't Sacrifice Durability Or Image Quality

• The Best Budget PTZ Camera

If you're looking for even more options for the best church live-streaming cameras of 2024, last week's blog was dedicated to my seven favorite cameras overall. 

So check that out, too!


Today, we're emphasizing budget options. 


But much like last week's video, we're enlisting the expertise and advice of someone I've trusted for many years in this space, Joel W. Smith. 

Joel's been in live production for nearly 25 years as a camera operator for broadcast television networks, including ABC and FOX Sports. 

He's spent thousands of hours with countless cameras doing corporate events, concerts, sports, theater, classroom work, and work with churches. 

Most importantly for you, though, he's spent the last decade running a fantastic website, joelwsmith.com, where he lists all his camera and production gear picks. 

So, I've taken much of his input to inject into this blog. 

Which means you're getting his history and expertise along with my own to give you the best recommendations. 

So, let’s get to it! 

Category #1: The Best Budget Mirrorless Camera For Live Streaming 


Panasonic G7
Price Point: $497 USD (with a new lens!)

If you need to go even cheaper, you can easily find one of these cameras used. 

Why? 

Because this camera model is seven years old. 

It's wild. 

We're in 2024, and this is still the best camera recommendation in this category because Panasonic did such an excellent job that no one has been able to surpass them.

Still.

This camera includes: 

• A kit lens

• Offers clean HDMI output

• Can record in 4K up to 30 minutes

• Can record 1080p as long as the SD memory card has free space

• And all for one incredibly low price!

You just want to be aware of a couple of caveats: 

• HDMI output is limited to 1080p

• HDMI output won't work if you choose to record in the camera as well

This is the absolute cheapest camera I can recommend to churches, so naturally, there will be some tradeoffs. 

But if you're on a tight budget and want better image quality than any camcorder, here it is. 

What's impressive is that this camera's tradeoffs are not dealbreakers. 

You can work with them to still have a great church livestream image on a budget.

Pros & Cons for this camera:

The Pros: 

• Better image quality than any camcorder

• Unlimited video recording time for 1080p AVCHD

• Internal recording up to 3840 x 2160 at 29.97 fps

• Clean HDMI output

The Cons: 

• Again, HDMI output is not possible during internal recording

• Continuous power is only possible with third-party dummy battery adapters

• HDMI output is limited to 1080p

Category #2: The Best Budget Camcorder That Doesn't Sacrifice Durability Or Image Quality

Canon G70
Price Point: $1,099 USD

In last week's blog, I mentioned the Canon XA65 as the best overall camcorder for live streaming in church.

Well, remove the top handle with XLR audio inputs and the 3G-SDI output, and you have this excellent bang-for-buck alternative, the Canon G70. 

Aside from those omissions, the two cameras are essentially the same. This is the cheapest camcorder I can recommend. 

So, this might be your match if you're looking for the most budget-friendly camera with servo zoom capability.

The Canon G70 is also the perfect partner to the Canon CR-N100 PTZ camera (still to come in this post) and the Canon CR-N300 PTZ camera (mentioned in last week's post).

So, if you're looking for that multi-cam setup with one camcorder and one PTZ camera, this could be the camcorder half of that partnership. 

Pros & Cons for this camera:

The Pros: 

• 20x optical zoom

• Dual SD memory card slots

• Same image quality as the XA60 and XA65

The Cons:

• No 4K output

• It's got a Mini HDMI port, and you always need to be mindful of the fragility of those

Category #3: The Best Budget PTZ Camera

Canon CR-N100
Price Point: $1,999 USD

Now, you might see the price tag here at two thousand USD and think, "That's 4X more than the mirrorless camera option. And $2,000 isn't really a budget option for us. I can get a way cheaper PTZ camera. Just Google it." 

To which I would say, yes, you CAN get a cheaper option. 

In fact, none of the cameras on this list are THE cheapest option. 

They're the BEST AFFORDABLE option in class. 

We're trying to thread the needle here between affordability and capability. 

Budget, yes, but quality also. 

You can get the cheapest PTZ camera on Amazon. 

It's gonna be junk, though. 

And if $1,999 USD isn't attainable for you - the camera I'd point you back to is the Panasonic G7 at under five hundred bucks. 

If your heart is set on a PTZ camera, though, the best budget option has a higher entry point than other best budget options in different categories of cameras.

What *is* cool about the Canon CR-N100 is that it's basically the Canon G70 Camcorder mentioned above IN a PTZ camera body. 

As a result, we get a phenomenal bang for the buck with all the same features as our top pick PTZ camera from last week's blog, the Canon CR-N300; the N100 is just missing the 3G-SDI output. 

So if you don't need that, you can save $400. 

In short, this PTZ camera will deliver well above its budget-friendly price point.

Pros & Cons for this camera:

The Pros: 

• Price

• 20x optical zoom

• Good auto tracking built-in (no additional hardware/software required)

• It's the perfect match for our budget pick camcorder, the Canon G70

The Cons: 

• Weak low-light performance

• USB-C webcam doesn't do full frame rates

Now, one more note I want to make is that two of the cameras on last week's best-of list, the Panasonic S5 [$1,197 USD] and the Panasonic GH6 [$1,697 USD], come in at a lower cost than the budget option PTZ camera in today's blog. 

Those two Panasonic cameras don't come with a lens, which is an important caveat, but if you're under the budget range of under $2,000, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention those great options.

If you want to dive deeper into other camera picks for this year, check out Joel’s thoughts at joelwsmith.com.

Moreover, if you're looking for live stream cameras, you might also be looking for the best switchers, cards, and cables, and Joel has buying guides and 'best of' lists for all of those as well! 

He's a wealth of information and gives it all away freely. 

He keeps his lists updated year after year. 

We're fortunate to have him, so check out all those resources on his site.

Conclusion

As for what's next, once you've narrowed down your budget camera choices, you've still got to figure out which video editor you will use. 

And forget the budget here for a moment.

The best video editor in the world, and the one I use is 100% free - no gimmicks, no strings attached. 

In this video, I dive into what it is, where to download it, and how to use it.

I'll see you there. 

And thanks as always for your time, attention, and trust.

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