Sony Alpha a5100

Unfortunately, the weather was awful on the day that I took it out, but I still managed to get some decent shots. and despite this camera not being li...

Otherwise, look for a used Sony a5100, a6000, a6100, a6300 maybe. There are other Sony APS-C cameras, but they cost too much for you. Should be many in facebook marketplace for maybe $200US and up, including an adequate kit lens. Note that Canon and Fuji also make APS-C sized cameras.

I second u/Socketlint's opinion here - I started on an A5100 and within 18 months of starting to use it extensively for photos, I really regretted not getting something with a viewfinder. The A5000 series are amazing APS-C cameras, make no mistake. I have outstanding photos from lots of great life events using it. The articulating screen and included flash are awesome.

Sony A5100 with Meike 25mm f1.8. Manual focus only so that's a little annoying but the total package is incredibly small and does kind of force you to really slow down and think about your shots. But yeah not the most convenient setup up esp if you need to make a quick snapshot (although focus peaking does help just a bit), but it is crazy cheap, crazy small and performs pretty well considering its size and price.

Cheaper overall and easier to monitor. You also get to use Sony's AF which is decent and which you're used to. If the 5" LCDs are too big, what about using your phone as a monitor?. If that's also out, the Sony a5100 goes for \~£300 on ebay.

A used Sony a5100 or a6000 would be a pretty safe way to go. Both are 24mp APS-C sized cameras, and the standard kit lens included is 16-50mm, which is equivalent to a 24-75mm lens on a full frame camera. Both should be available in your budget.

I recommend the Sony a5100 it's a bit above 500$ but it's a great camera for him to use for vlogging I believe it has a heating issue if you film for an extended period of time without stopping then it shuts itself to cool down but If he's just filming vlogs I think he should be fine. Or look up the Canon m50 another great value for the price, has in body image stabilization and supports 4k video capture. Also I agree with the gimbal suggestion if he has a great phone with great camera quality then you can get him a gimbal like Moza aircross but I'm not sure if they have one for smartphones. Another suggestion I have is the Dji Osmo pocket 2 this is very small camera that shoots up to 4k at 60fps, good sound quality, great slowmo and shoots super stabilized footage.