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Like a real camera, not inside the phone? Or app? I suspect the phone is not allowing me to change the default camera. What do you suggest?
For stills, I am a bad source for Android camera app advice because I’m on iOS. But for video, I can tell you the Blackmagic app is incredible.
As for a dedicated camera, not gonna lie, they aren’t cheap. You probably want something used or older, depending on your shooting priorities. Stills or video? Indoor, or outdoor? Fast, or slow subjects? Do you want a lot of zoom, or do you tend to shoot close up? And how much would you spend for a camera you keep for many years?
I hardly ever take video. I take stills, just point and click, nothing fancy, when I want or need. I need a camera app for banking, id, authentication. Also, share photos on Signal and email. Just curious what you would recommend, but I am not buying a real camera anytime soon.
In a nutshell, there are five major camera brands: Sony, Canon, Fujifilm, Panasonic, and Nikon. You also have some smaller brands like Pentax, OM System, Sigma, etc., but those five are the ones most people recommend.
I have the most experience with Sony cameras. They tend to have the best AF with reasonable colours, and the E-mount is HUGE with lots of third-party options. The same mount is used for both their full frame and APS-C lineup, so you can use an APS-C lens on a full frame camera, and vice versa. Sony's naming conventions are pretty confusing, but I can try to summarise it for you:
Thanks, saved this in case I decide to get one.
Note that if you do decide to get one, make sure to look at models from other brands, like Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, and Panasonic!
For Canon, it looks like their "R" lineup is higher end with smaller numbers, e.g. R5 series is more expensive than R6 series. They have a mix of APS-C (like the R10 series) and full frame (like the R5 series). Their lens ecosystem is quite restricted, so you're mostly stuck with first-party glass.
As for Fujifilm, they sell APS-C cameras (+ medium format, but most people shouldn't be looking at those), and they lean into the mimicking analogue / film photography with lots of dials, film simulations, etc. If you're into that, Fuji is great! The X-Tx series are their "flagship" APS-C cameras, while the X-Txx are cheaper models that have fewer features. The X-Mx series are their smaller bodies, while the X-Sxx series are more video-centric. The X100 series is very popular, but it's pretty expensive and has a fixed non-interchangeable lens. If you do want something compact, I would go for either the X-Mx series or another brand's compact camera lineup. Fujfilm's X-mount has a similarly vast lens ecosystem to Sony.
Nikon sells both full-frame and APS-C cameras, and their Z-mount lens ecosystem, although not as large as Sony or Fuji, is still quite open with many third-party options available. Their Zx line is their full-frame options, where bigger numbers are higher end. So the Z9 is more expensive than the Z8, for instance. Their Zxx series are their APS-C bodies, I heard the Z30s are very good value for what you get. You also have their Zf and Zfc, which look more "retro" and have a similar design to the Fuji bodies with metal accents, they aren't the best value on features alone, but if you like that design and want to use Nikon lenses, it's a pretty neat option.
For Panasonic, you have the G lineup of M43 cameras (smaller than APS-C, larger than 1"), which are relatively compact for the most part, as well as their full-frame S lineup. For the latter, the S1 series are their "flagship" full-frame body with all the bells and whistles (+ the price tag that comes with it), while the S9 is a very compact full-frame body that is pretty divisive on the Internet. Their S5 series are their more standard full-frame option, and are quite good value for what you get. Their G series has a bazillion different models with a very difficult to remember naming scheme, not to mention how they can differ between region. A lot of the discontinued models are still very popular on the used market, like the GM1, GM5, GX800/GX850/GF9, GX80/GX85, etc. since they are compact models that Panasonic doesn't really produce anymore. All of Panasonic's lineup use the same L-mount, which is a shared mount between Panasonic, Leica, Olympus/OM-System, and many other companies. The lens ecosystem is second only to Sony's, and many of the M43 lenses are incredibly compact!
I don't have as much experience with the other brands, but from what I can tell
Canon has pretty competitive AF too, and many say their colours are better than those of Sony. Their bodies seem to be a bit more photo-centric, but they will do great with video too. Their lens ecosystem is not as diverse, nearly all lenses for modern Canon cameras will be first-party, as Canon doesn't support third-party lens manufacturers all too much.
Fujifilm only produced APS-C and medium format cameras, the latter being out of reach and impractical for most people, so you only really look at their APS-C lineup. They lean more into the analogue aesthetic with more dials, metal accents, that kind of stuff. Many people also like the built-in film simulations that mimick the look of old film cameras. All their cameras are very photo-centric in design and feel. They have a large lens ecosystem too with X-mount, and there are lots of third-party lenses available, just like with Sony.
Panasonic mainly focus on their M43 lineup (smaller sensors than APS-C, but larger than 1"), their "G" series, but they also have a full frame "S" series. Their cameras are more video-centric with best in class stabilisation, open gate recording (using the whole sensor for recording video), custom LUT support, etc. Their AF is not as good as the likes of Sony or Canon though, but it's not at all bad for their modern cameras it looks like. If you want something compact, many of the older M43 cameras by Panasonic are excellent. Note that many of their cameras have different names in different regions, especially for their older models.
Nikon cameras have very good AF, and although their Z-mount lens ecosystem is not as big as Sony or Fujifilm, there are many third-party lenses available. Nikon is known for having excellent wildlife lenses too.