Staff Picks for Best Camera of 2010
By
Shawn Barnett
(Friday, December 3, 2010 - 12:27 EST)
We spend so much time as an organization evaluating and posting reviews of digital cameras that we seldom have a chance to let you know which digital cameras are our personal favorites.
So I just walked around the office and emailed our remote staff for an informal poll on which cameras of 2010 are their favorites, with an emphasis on which is most likely to earn their dollar this holiday shopping season. Here are the results: | Dave Etchells, Publisher | "It would have to be the Sony NEX-5." | | Rob Murray, SLRgear Tech | "The Canon G12." | Luke Smith,
Lab Tech | "The Sony NEX-3 with the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 Biogon." (Luke already owns this combo, so I think he really means it.) | | Shawn Barnett, Senior Editor | "I'm torn between the Canon S95 and the Olympus E-PL1 with the 17mm f/2.8. I know I will be happy with either." | | Mike Tomkins, News Editor | "I'm seriously considering upgrading to the Pentax K-5, although I'm trying to make myself wait for the price to come down a bit, because the second-hand value of my K-7 has rather tanked now that the K-5's image quality is common knowledge." | | Andrew Alexander, SLRgear | "I'd say the Nikon D7000 - Nikon's finally catching up with video, and apart from a few differences, it's a better camera than the D300s. Almost makes me stop wondering aloud where the D700s is..." | | Dan Havlik, Contributor | "Definitely the Panasonic Lumix LX5, my favorite compact of the year." | | David Elrich, Contributor | "I have a couple but my best of the year is the Sony SLT-A55V. Loved the speed, the EVF, quality stills/videos. For a smaller form factor it would be the Canon S95." | | Theano Nikitas, Contributor | "The Canon PowerShot S95 because it's small, cool and lets me be a control freak without having to lug around a DSLR, and the Nikon D7000 because it's a pretty amazing and relatively lightweight DSLR that can go from day to night or from still to video without missing a beat." | | Greg Scoblete, Contributor | "The Pentax Optio W90 was one of the few rugged/waterproof cameras that didn't feel, or shoot, like a brick. It had a nice combo of features and was sharply styled too, making this keyboard commando feel like a rugged outdoorsman. At least for the day." | | Carl Garrard, Contributor | "It's a very tough call, but I'd probably have to give it to the Nikon D7000." | | Siegfried Weidelich, Technical Editor | "Let's just say as a D300S owner, I'm wondering if I should 'downgrade' to the Nikon D7000 to get better IQ and videos in a smaller, less expensive body without giving much up in terms of features or performance." | There you have it. I tried to keep everyone to just one camera, but even I couldn't obey my own rule. Now you see why we don't publish a "Best camera of the year." The fact is, which camera is best for you is a very personal choice, and heavily dependent on the camera's purpose. It's interesting that the Nikon D7000 got four votes, the Canon S95 got three, and the Sony NEX got two. I suppose you could judge those three as the ones likely to win if we voted on cameras of the year. Happy Holidays from all of us at Imaging Resource! -Shawn Barnett
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