I only have experience with FPV racing drones, but a friend at work wants to find a good starter drone specifically for camera work that he can fly outdoors.

His eventual goal is to get a Phantom or something, but for now he just wants something cheap to learn out.

Requirements:
- Can fly outdoors
- Can record some type of video
- Auto-hover
- Cheap

I recommended the Hubsan X4 H107C+ to him as I have personal experience with it, but it's a little past "cheap".
I have heard good things about the Syma drones but don't really know enough about them to suggest one.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I went with the Syma when I first started. Tough as nails, easy to fly and a rather large community following. I had the X5C model which uses the TX to click photo or start/stop video. Just dont lose it because you must retrieve the SD card to access files lol. Several newer models have wifi which will stream/save straight to a smartphone (cant fly fpv due to latency, 2-3sec in some cases, but the live feed is a huge advantage over "guessing" the cameras view and clicking the TX)

A crash pack with motor holders (gears and shafts installed) 4 motors and some props plus some extra batteries and I still use it to let friends try. Over a year now and it has never been fully grounded with the extra parts I had (this is all relative due to new pilot learning curves)

Also the are several easy mods to help range as well. I get just about 200m with a 6dbi gain dipole on the TX and flat style router antenna on the RX/FC

There are so many options.
Especially now, they are a lot of good deals on 3DR Solo.
It is big for beginners but nor bad as spec for $300.
If you prefer something smaller, you can just build yourself or buy from the micro quads until you get better.