Interested in De-googling, but I would really like a phone with a decent camera, but I can't bring myself to pay $600 for a phone. Advice?

I recently asked for recommendations elsewhere regarding a cost-effective phone with the best camera that's a reasonable price. Almost unanimous recommendations for a Pixel a couple years old. I'm a total noob for privacy stuff but joining Lemmy under the dbzer0 instance, I'm feeling more motivated to learn more and get out from under the thumb of major corps as much as possible.

Can you have a Pixel and still de-google? It seems unlikely... Any advice?